Boredom

What it is

In 2014 Timothy Wilson and colleagues reported eleven studies in Science in which people spent six to fifteen minutes alone with nothing to do but think. Most did not enjoy it. In one study, 12 of 18 men and 6 of 24 women gave themselves a mild shock they had said they would pay to avoid.

A commentary by Kieran Fox and colleagues the same year argued that this showed something about curiosity and boredom rather than about thinking being aversive. By their count 57 per cent of participants never shocked themselves, and of the 18 who did, 14 described curiosity and 4 mentioned boredom. Boredom, they argued, is not the same as suffering. Wilson's team replied that their studies examined directed, deliberate thought, and that people found it hard to steer their thoughts in pleasant directions and keep them there.

In effect

Expect a few quiet minutes to be restless. In 2019 a team led by Nicholas Buttrick ran the thinking task with 2,557 people in eleven countries and found the preference for doing over just thinking across cultures, at different strengths. Restlessness in quiet time is the normal experience, not a personal failing. In the original studies, giving people time to choose pleasant topics did not make thinking much more enjoyable.

What it does not say

It does not show people would rather be hurt than think. Most participants never pressed the button, and most who did described curiosity.

It does not show the difficulty is permanent. The studies captured single sessions with people who had not chosen to be there, so whether practice changes the experience is untested.

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