Boredom as a defense mechanism?
post by eugman · 2010-10-04T02:01:43.393Z · LW · GW · Legacy · 11 commentsI've seen boredom before being used as a way to detach from the world. Is there any material on boredom being used as a defense mechanism?
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comment by Sniffnoy · 2010-10-04T07:15:05.735Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Sorry, what does "defense mechanism" even mean in this context?
Replies from: eugman↑ comment by eugman · 2010-10-04T11:57:02.163Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
A way for the brain to protect itself from some perceived threat, physical or mental, likely on a level not perceived consciously.
Replies from: Douglas_Knight↑ comment by Douglas_Knight · 2010-10-04T21:05:44.901Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Sorry to break it to you, but in this context (psychology), the phrase is taken.
Replies from: eugmancomment by Will_Newsome · 2010-10-04T20:38:07.071Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
I don't ever become bored anymore, even on long road trips with nothing to do. I generally have a lot of fun exploring my mind and just thinking about things. Is this common for LW folk?
Replies from: None↑ comment by [deleted] · 2010-10-04T20:45:33.864Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
I don't get bored either.
In a way, it's a curse. Boredom is what drives people to simplify tedious tasks and avoid repetition in general; but repetition doesn't actually bother me that much because I don't mind letting my mind wander.
comment by JoshuaZ · 2010-10-04T02:38:04.791Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
I'm not aware of any such, but note that boredom is not just a problem with humans. It seems like a general risk for intelligent creatures. Thus for example, many species of birds seem to get bored. To avoid anthropomorphizing too much, the behavior should probably be summarized as something like: For many smarts species of birds (such as some species of corvids, a large variety of parrots including African Grays) , when caged, even with large cages, and given no stimulation, they will engage in destructive behavior such as chewing on their own feathers or knocking themselves against the cages. What can constitute stimulation can vary widely but for many species this can include noise making objects, loops or rings, mirrors, or regular interaction with humans.
It seems that boredom is to some extent a function of some fairly universal property of how biological entities have their brains arranged.
Replies from: magfrump↑ comment by magfrump · 2010-10-04T03:24:46.291Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
So boredom could be something like a preemptive defense mechanism against starving?
Replies from: JoshuaZ↑ comment by JoshuaZ · 2010-10-04T03:31:30.404Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
So boredom could be something like a preemptive defense mechanism against starving?
But the behavior has nothing to do with food levels. And if that were the case it would show up in more stupid species. A behavior that was to deal with starvation wouldn't be so widespread among such a variety of different species. Birds aren't mammals and they are doing things very similar to behavior by elephants and humans.
Replies from: magfrump↑ comment by magfrump · 2010-10-04T06:07:01.118Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Let me rephrase/make that more specific:
When an animal gets more intelligent, it tends to start creating goals and pursuing them. If a some subset of an intelligent species is more active about creating goals (i.e. they get bored when they do nothing, and look for something to do) they tend to end up accomplishing more goals (such as finding food or gaining status) and then in turn creating more offspring.
So boredom is a defense mechanism against akrasia and procrastination, more than starvation.
I guess this is one of those instances where thinking things through all the way rather than spitting out the first sentence that comes to mind would have been the better decision. Who'd'a thunk?
comment by David_Allen · 2010-10-04T16:46:24.478Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Boredom is a mask frustration wears.
Neal Stephenson (Anathem)