Boredom is a hidden feature that could change everything
When was the last time you were truly, honestly bored?
Not just the mild impatience you feel while waiting for a microwave to beep or sitting through an unskippable YouTube ad. I’m asking about the kind of boredom where time feels suspended, and there’s absolutely nothing to do but sit with yourself.
You’re not alone.
Most of us don’t realize how allergic we’ve become to boredom. I didn’t either, until I caught myself reaching for my phone in an elevator ride that lasted four seconds.
Four seconds.
Somewhere along the way, boredom has become unbearable for all of us.
The thing is, we live in an age designed to eliminate boredom. The second we sense the faintest hint of downtime, we reach for our phones.
Text messages, TikTok, Spotify playlists, we are ready to do anything and everything to keep the machine fed and the silence at bay.
We’ve trained ourselves, almost reflexively, to avoid stillness.
But here’s the thing: boredom isn’t a flaw in the human operating system. It’s an essential feature…