Boredom
Boredom, the heavy weight that we all carry, the question is who was the first person to feel its burden?
Imagine a world where every day is spent in gratitude for simply surviving. The mindset of a medieval peasant or a gazelle on the African savannah, always on guard against death, unknown in its origin, timing and manner, yet embracing the fragility of life. Vulnerable to all sorts of dangers, yet relishing in the beauty of the sky, the nourishment of each meal, savoring it more than the over-indulged individual of the 20th century, with no time for boredom as it has not yet become the epidemic of the age.
Did man discover boredom with modernity?
Is it a plight unique to urban dwellers? While it existed before, it was a luxury for the select few. A rich aristocratic pastime. But with the emergence of the wealthy middle class, its prevalence has continued to increase, despite a decline during times of war and depression.
Or is boredom an existential thing?
A feeling that stems from the human condition, much like existential loneliness. Could it be that one cannot exist without the other? As one feels a sense of emptiness and isolation, the other follows suit as a dull ache of unfulfillment.
If boredom is associated with modernism, could it be a symptom of the modern man’s crisis of meaning? Why does the modern man lose meaning in his existence? When did he realize he had lost it? Does the loss of meaning lead to boredom?
Could it be that our detachment from death, due to our comfortable and sheltered lives, is the root of our boredom? As we lounge on our couches streaming Netflix, how can we possibly feel grateful for the gift of another day when death seems like a distant concept?
Boredom, does it stem from boredom? When we say a tight soul is good, can we say that the person who is bored is flattered by order, because they already live a monotonous life without taking any risks?
Is boredom an internal restlessness?
No, it’s not.
What triggers boredom? Does boredom have any other meaning?
Who was the first person to be bored?
The word boredom — boredom — was first used by Dickens.
Is boredom the rasp of life?
Yes, according to some. Can a busy person get bored too? Of course, my horse! Or is it just a habit of idlers? — not realy!
Is the person who is bored indifferent to everything? Far from it. Is boredom good? Is boredom a need? Boredom — What is the relationship between denial?
Boredom = dying of boredom?
Is boredom revolutionary?
- For the accuracy of such a proposition, it is necessary to look at the revolutionaries in history.
Boredom versus Death: The answer is yet to be finalized.
What if boredom lasts for a long time?
a) intellectual explosion
b) return to normal
c) implosion
To escape the ennui, one can:
- Focus on a task, be it running a marathon or tending to balcony plants
- Take an unplanned journey to faraway lands
- Fall in love and let it consume you
- Believe in something bigger, a cause worth fighting for.
“When you complain of boredom, they used to say that a tight soul is good, it does not come quickly in these lands,” as Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar once said. Do we truly require boredom, as he suggests? Could it be that the “distance is necessary for art, and the vague emptiness of boredom” provides this distance to people? Are artists those who have the luxury of time, away from the busyness of everyday life, channeling their troubles into their creations?
Should we give credence to the categorizations of boredom by scientists: indolent, compulsive, inquisitive, reactive and indigent?
If every emotion has evolved because it is necessary, then is there a need for boredom as well? And if so, how? Are emotions a product of evolution?
Heidegger suggests that man diverts himself with other things in order not to be preoccupied with himself. Man has his own desert inside, and it takes great courage to take a walk in this desert. That is why mankind has invented all kinds of distractions. Religion is one of the best distractions. It drives people away from themselves and protects them from getting lost in their inner desert.
Boredom represents a state of not being able to find something to engage in and it most likely leads one to embark on a journey in their own desert. A person who is bored has lost interest and will eventually come face-to-face with their own inner shop of foxes.
“A person who is bored has the ability to look at themselves and the society they live in from an outside perspective and the essence of art lies in this distance. Freud and Jung have only recently said that we should search for the origins of boredom in our minds and souls, but novelists have known this for a long time. The entire French and Russian novel is formed around the bored individual and has pursued the story of how far these types of people can go. In our country, the novel was experienced first and boredom came later. Boredom is actually the twin brother of one of the biggest needs of the man of the century, denial.” A. Hamdi Tanpınar
One of the first people to experience boredom was #Schopenhauer, and he even put it into writing:
“Boredom is nothing but the feeling of the emptiness of life.”
