I have written a few pieces (here, here, and here) about why I think that boredom is one of the prime motivators in education. This idea is a strange sort of tribute to the innumerable students who have been saddled with incredibly boring classes, incompetent teachers, and worthless tasks… This is all about humanity triumphing over group think, mediocrity, and the encroachments of the bureaucrats.
We have all visited the world of boredom. This is the source of some classic aphorisms such as: ‘idle hands are the devil’s workshop’, and ‘necessity is the mother of invention’. Boredom is the beginnings of the mechanism which allows us to see things from the ‘outside’. It is also the start of the on road to develop some internal consistency, self discipline, and essentially what makes us adults…
Having said all of that, I find it amazing that so many people are obsessed with the boundaries of what they call boredom from their lives. We have generations of people, who frantically work to ensure that they are always entertained.
This is about sating every appetite, and fulfilling every need… they sound like wonderful things to have, but in REALITY, fulfilled needs render us into logy, slow thinking, dim versions of what we should be. There is great value in being hungry, and it is especially true about being intellectually hungry.
Sadly enough, there is great motion in our current culture to move away from these sorts of ‘feelings’. Instead of a chicken in every pot, now we have millions who spend every free moment playing video games, checking Facebook, or watching TV (in moderation these things all have value…).
This is actually a great thought experiment topic to try with adolescents…propound an argument stating that boredom is important, and that everyone should have experience in boredom, and let them go to town trying to create counter arguments (for instance, what are the worthwhile consequences of people having too much, too much food, too many things, too many entertainments?).
Why Boredom Is a Virtue
http://bigthink.com/idea_feed_items/2743
The Value of Boredom
http://www.fireandknowledge.org/archives/2010/06/16/the-value-of-boredom
The science and value of boredom
http://www.examiner.com/science-culture-in-indianapolis/the-science-and-value-of-boredom
In Praise of Boredom
http://lesswrong.com/lw/xr/in_praise_of_boredom
On the value of boredom
http://reallyhardsums.wordpress.com/2007/11/09/on-the-value-of-boredom
