The Defeat of Boredom.

I recently re-read to the 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss.

Probably my 4th time since I discovered it as a college sophomore. Looking back, it’s probably the book I can most-acutely thank for convincing me to quit my cushy consulting job and start my own business.

Every time I reopen it a new profound tenet of life or business sticks out to me. If you’ve never read it, listen to his recent 90min podcast episode highlighting some of the best parts here.

One of my favorites recently was this particular quote about happiness (minute 55 of the podcast):

That really struck me.

Because I don’t think I’d ever truly considered that perspective. That boredom is actually the thing we humans are trying our hardest to avoid, not sadness.

In hindsight it perfectly fits my worldview, and helps to explain so much about what I’ve seen over the years. The fight against boredom is societal, and often subliminal.

Over the past few decades, it’s seems that we may have finally defeated boredom as a society. And I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.

We’ve virtually medicalized it away with endless scrolling.

With podcasts playing at 1.2x for every shower and every commute. Many of us probably average about 14 hours of screen-time a day. I know for me I enjoy a nice evening watching a show on the big screen while scrolling on my little screen to reward myself from a long day of work in front of my medium-screen.

Think about that. When was the last time you were alone with your thoughts? Like really alone — no phone, music, podcast, audiobook. Just you and the silence and whatever memories or ideas or anxieties bubble up to fill it.

I shouldn’t complain too much. In many ways it’s truly a privilege to grow up at such a time. Thousands of generations of humankind have fought to get here.

We’ve really won the war. But part of me has to wonder what we lost along the way.

I worry that many of histories greatest achievements were accomplished, not in spite of, but because of boredom. Einstein didn’t have Netflix to prevent him from discovering relativity.

I worry that the concept of community is slowly dying. I recently started reading “Bowling Alone”, and the numbers seem to corroborate this. In the accompanying Netflix doc, author Robert Putnam has a great quote: “We used to have friends, now we watch it on TV”

Birth rates plummet. Patents per capita decline. Depression and anxiety skyrocket. That’s the cost, we’ve seen it.

I think the pandemic is when this became the most hauntingly apparent. And ironically it was probably our saving grace as a society. It was rock-bottom, and like any former junkie will tell you, it’s often a prerequisite of recovery.

These days I am becoming more and more optimistic. There are signs of a quiet rebellion against the death of boredom. I am seeing it.

Resurgences in founder-led startup communities in places like Minneapolis, Fargo, Chicago. Run clubs. AI Meetups. Community gardens. Church groups. All screen-less. Social media-blocker Apps like Clearspace are climbing the charts.

A subtle rediscovery of what it means to be present. To commune. To create. To participate. To sit with the discomfort of an empty moment.

But there is still work to be done. And the only way it happens is if we make a conscious effort to spend less time scrolling and more time doing the above.

I’d like to challenge myself to do more of those things this year.

I challenge you to do the same.

:-)

Cheers,
Ramsey