Americans Obsessed with Avoiding Boredom

Americans have become so adept at avoiding boredom that seventeen seconds alone with their own thoughts now constitutes a situation requiring electronic assistance.

Elevator ride? Phone. Microwave has twelve seconds left? Phone. Restaurant companion goes to the loo? Phone. Red light? Phone, preferably before the car has stopped moving. We have eliminated nearly every opportunity to do nothing, an activity that once occupied a respectable portion of the human lifespan.

Boredom used to serve a purpose. It was where ideas developed, memories resurfaced, and people occasionally confronted uncomfortable questions about their lives. Now those questions are intercepted by a video of a golden retriever wearing sunglasses.

Consider the doctor’s waiting room. Thirty years ago, patients stared at outdated magazines, studied the wallpaper, or silently reconsidered their dietary habits. Today twelve people sit shoulder to shoulder, each reading what strangers think about loneliness.”

Even walking has become an audiovisual undertaking. Apparently, traveling three blocks without a podcast constitutes an unacceptable waste of consciousness.

Children are particularly vulnerable. A child who announces boredom is immediately handed a screen, lest an unscheduled thought develop into something requiring parental involvement.

The technology companies have performed a remarkable service. They have converted the small, unoccupied spaces of everyday life into additional opportunities to consume advertising. And we have cooperated enthusiastically.

Somewhere, a man is sitting quietly on a park bench, watching the clouds and thinking about nothing in particular. Three people passing by wonder if his phone is broken

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