Snipawolf Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 (edited) Okay, so I heard about someone being "bored" the other day. Actually, I see it fairly often on Facebook or in text messages! I ask them if they've had holes put into them by some looter with malicious intent, but they always say that they are fine physically and they're just "bored." Then I decide to ask them if they have a defect of some kind which rendered them holed or maybe even if they're holy. I could see that as a pun, a "holy" person being "bored." Haha.. ha.. Not as funny as I wanted it to be. No, but really.. Does other people being bored bother you? It bothers me. There's not enough time in the world to do everything I want to. I want to play every video game. I want to draw. I want to take a lot of pictures. I want to bodybuild and have abs. I want to overclock and tune my computer. I want to develop video games. I want to hack just for the sake of doing it. I want to read a lot of things and further my intelligence. I want to write novels and short stories. I want to try and be more outgoing so I can meet more people and find more Objectivists. I want to find a girl I respect and admire enough to call my girlfriend. I want to explore genetics, physics, and biology. I want to learn about the mind and the body. I want to watch movies. I want to listen to music. I want to learn to play an instrument, or multiple. I want to compose songs. I want to fight people in formal and informal combat. I want to powerlift. I want to be a weightlifter in the Olympics for the US. I want to be a politician and improve this country, the one founded on the premise of MAKING MONEY. I want to have good grades. I want to do a lot of things, but I'm resigned to knowing that I don't possibly have the time to do even a fraction of them... This is why people being bored annoys me. There's so much to do! There are dreams to chase! Passions to indulge in! There's a life for you to live! FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR OWN HAPPINESS. The only reason apathy and inactivity exists is because people are perfectly fine with being content and complacent. This should not be the case. You shouldn't just "get by alright"... sleepwalking your life away, hanging with friends and drinking and watching TV and working a dead end job and going clubbing every night and just doing NOTHING creative or self-improving with all of that spare time. It's just pitiful. I hate when people are "bored." Edited July 22, 2011 by Snipawolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ObjectivistMathematician Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 I know what you mean. With all of the math, philosophy, and fiction I'd like to read, I just don't have time to be bored! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eiuol Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Boredom itself is perfectly fine. It reflects being in a situation where your mind is not being stimulated to an extent that you would like. If anything, boredom is a kind of impetus to action. The only question you need to ask is which actions a person chooses as a result. Are they going to get drunk for the night for no particular reason? Or are they going to choose to go write a book because it is enjoyable and productive? I personally get bored easily, meaning I desire something stimulating most of the time, usually intellectual in nature. That feeling gets me to seek being more goal-oriented, because I realize boredom is a sort of indicator that I'm not going towards any kind of end that I want. Entertainment is an option to relieve boredom too, but it only works for me when I actually use it as a means of relaxation. If I'm doing it simply to pass the time, the boredom remains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snipawolf Posted July 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 As you have laid it out, boredom itself is not the issue. I am disgusted primarily with the state of being bored for long periods of time or for no reason. Most of the people I know who are bored don't bother making a choice to commit to some endeavor to end their boredom. They instead go and be bored while watching TV or be bored while "listening to music" (my opinion on music is that listening to it is an engaging activity; you can't be bored while truly listening to music because if you are "listening" to it, you are actively analyzing and devoting attention to it; anything less is basically using it as background noise). More often than not, they must be saved from their boredom by some external event and instead of fixing their problem on their own, whine about it endlessly to their friends. "I'm soooo bored! There's nothing to do in Central! [The town I live in] I hate this place. I want to go to Baton Rouge!" is typically what I hear or see. Baton Rouge is a thirty minute drive and the vast majority of them have vehicles and gas in their tanks, so why are they whining instead of going to BR? It just astounds me. Even if they weigh the decision of going or not going and come out with not going, they are upset enough to verbalize it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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