Why boredom?

We are struggling with boredom so violently, as if she - the worst enemy chelovechestva

In the world there are many people with a talent for boredom, but Sandi Mann - one of the few who deliberately hone that talent. Volunteers who visited her lab, she offered to do an incredibly "exciting" things. For example, copying a huge list of phone numbers. According to her, the task subjects performed politely, but their constant yawns proved that they are incredibly skuchno.

Mann wants to understand the profound influence that boredom has on our lives. Now she is - one of the few psychologists who dared to do such a hopeless case. But according to Mann, boredom can be dangerous and destructive state of mind, which is capable of undermining our health, and even reduce the duration of our zhizni.A all sounds very negative, if not one "but": Mann study also confirms that without getting bored, we would hardly have been able to dostizheniya.Skuchayuschie to smertiSkuka creative - so much a part of our existence that seems to wonder why her studies until now no one seriously not zanimalsya.

"When you swim in something, then you probably will not think of this liquid as something remarkable," - says John Eastwood of York University. It was one of the first scholars interested skukoy.Odno of the most common misconceptions suggests that only boring people get bored. Eastwood began to research the causes of boredom, found that there are two types of personality, with a tendency to suffer from boredom. Both of these types can hardly be called dull. < Boredom is often observed in people with impulsive thinking, people who are constantly looking for new developments. For these people measured life is unthinkable, they constantly need "roller coaster" that they do not get bored. The second type of problem is bored precisely the opposite: the world seems to them a very uncomfortable place, so they bury themselves alive, and rarely leave their comfort zone. As a result, begin from the chronically skuchat.Pochti I am beginning it was clear that any of these states is able to cause a person to harm himself. Susceptibility to boredom is directly linked with a tendency to smoking, drug use and alcoholism. This is not to mention the more mundane, but no less harmful habits, such as eating out of boredom. "Boredom supports the confectionery industry" - says Mann, who now works at the University of Lancashire, in Velikobritanii.

Influence of boredom on life expectancy can also be serious. Researchers observed the life of public servants, middle-aged, and found out that people suffering from boredom, the probability of dying in the next 3 years is 30% higher compared with the usual people. This is - the real puzzle for evolutionary psychologists. After all, emotions have to work to our advantage, and not to push for self-destruction. "The fact that boredom - daily experience suggests that it should do and something useful" - says Heather Lunch at the University Tehasa.Chuvstva such fear helps us avoid dangers. Sadness is fully capable to prevent future oshibki.No making boredom? Lunch suspects that she is behind one of the most important qualities - curiosity. Boredom, according to her, distracts us from routine cases and causes to try to look for new targets, to explore new territory or idei.A now once again remember those people who thoughtlessly copied phone numbers. Mann during his experiment found that boredom these people raised their creativity, reflected in the fact that they have found an innovative use of everyday objects. Mann suspects that boredom forced to wander the minds of subjects, which led to the activation of associative and creative ways of thinking, "If we do not receive outside stimulation, we look inward in the most different corners of the mind. It liberates the imagination. We can get out of the usual scope and start to think differently. Without the ability to bore people we never would have reached the current artistic and technological heights ".Obnimaya skukuMann believes that we need to try not to be afraid of boredom, when it comes to us. "We should like to cuddle with her" - she says. It is a philosophy that has become part of her life. "Instead of standing in a traffic jam to say how tired I do, I play music and let my mind wander, knowing full well that it is useful for me. And your children, I also let bored, because I know that it's good for their creativity, ".a here Eastwood felt such enthusiasm, and urges caution:" It feels so disgusting that people try to get rid of it by all means. No, I'm not going to join the war against boredom and invent some treatment from her. We just have to listen to yourself, and try to understand what she is trying to say to us ».

via factroom.ru