Source: studio360.org
Sitting alone at a table waiting for your friend to join you for lunch.
Waiting for class to begin.
Standing in line at the post office.
Walking from one building to the next.
In all of these moments, we are often alone, and feel awkward about being alone. Rather than relax and let our minds drift, we feel we must fill this void with stimulation, to distract ourselves, to appear as though we are busy doing something other than just sitting around. Most of us are compelled to pull out our phones, either to Facebook or Twitter, or even to play a mind-numbing game like Candy Crush.
Aside from the social implications of this technological phenomenon, our impulse to constantly be busy with something keeps us from ever feeling bored. Researchers are now studying how our lack of boredom and mental relaxation can inhibit our creativity. Scientist Marcus Raichle coined the term “the default mode” to describe a network in the brain that is activated when one is bored, or when “the body is not being stimulated in a way physically, but [one’s] brain is supposedly idle”. Scientists do not necessarily consider boredom to be a melancholy and depressed state; in fact, some scientists call boredom “positive constructive daydreaming.” This podcast explores the way boredom can lead to “divergent thinking,” and how technology and its accessibility may keep people from allowing themselves to actually feel bored. While there is no proof that the use of smartphones and other types of distracting technologies can inhibit creativity, there are hypotheses centered around this idea. Studies of this concept are particularly interesting when they concern young people who have essentially grown up with immediate access to these technologies 24/7.
Allow your mind to drift, to fall into a daydream!
To hear more, listen to the podcast from Studio 360.