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How Mobile Devices Kill Your Creativity
FuzzNugget writes "ReadWrite has posted a thought-provoking piece on how mobile devices killing our boredom may also be killing our creativity. Quoting: 'Numerous studies and much accepted wisdom suggest that time spent doing nothing, being bored, is beneficial for sparking and sustaining creativity. With our iPhone in hand — or any smartphone, really — our minds, always engaged, always fixed on that tiny screen, may simply never get bored. And our creativity suffers. ... For example, psychology professor Gary Marcus distinguishes between the two primary types of pursuits we use to defeat boredom. "Boredom is the brain's way to tell you you should be doing something else. But the brain doesn't always know the most appropriate thing to do. If you're bored and use that energy to play guitar and cook, it will make you happy. But if you watch TV, it may make you happy in the short term, but not in the long term." So much of what we do on our smartphones, however, is decidedly short-term: a few moments playing a game while we stand in line, a minute to scan Instagram as the person in front of us at the grocery store pulls out their checkbook. ' Of course, you'll probably be reading this on a smartphone."
QED
It's perfectly possible to be "bored" while using an iPhone or iPad or whatever smart device you prefer.
I think point missed by this type of research is assuming that everyone is actively engaged by the device when idly surfing Facebook or Slashdot. In this situation the user may simply be waiting for inspiration to strike (when that happens is unpredictable, otherwise we'd milk it for all it's worth).
Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone in every situation, but to suggest that having access to smart phones is killing creativity is a bit of a stretch.
Peace,
Andy.
I'm not the creative type. So, when I'm bored I read or go lounge by the pool. I doubt anyone, no matter how intelligent, will find the cure for cancer, or the solution to Europe's economic crisis by being bored.
Sure, some people will knit, others will do woodwork, but that's about it. Then again, time you enjoy wasting isn't time wasted.
I'd much rather see people kill time with a smartphone than go get high/drunk, etc.
And I'm typing this on a Nexus 10, you insensitive clod.
If you're bored and use that energy to play guitar and cook, it will make you happy. But if you watch TV, it may make you happy in the short term, but not in the long term.
One difference is that I can actually create something using a laptop or mobile device while away from home. For example, I have a 10" laptop on which I code Python programs as a hobby while riding a bus to and from work. I can't very well play the guitar or cook in such a situation.
I think maybe it was - I know I got bored about 1/3 way through the summary.
#DeleteChrome
sitting on the commode. Used to be a great place to think, now I just play tetris the whole time.......
Don't be so ridiculously literal ... replace cooking or guitar with whatever floats your boat.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
Sure, some people will knit, others will do woodwork, but that's about it. Then again, time you enjoy wasting isn't time wasted.
But at least with knitting, woodwork, or the like, you have something to show for your time wasting afterward.
I have TTC courses, Coursera Courses, and iTunesU courses on my iPhone/iPad. So in my downtime I have learned discrete math/cryptography among others and am presently plowing through a great Coursera course in Computational Investing. I also have Algebra Touch on my iPhone and hand it to my younger daughter when we are stuck waiting. For both of my daughters I have TTC math on the iPad to hand to them when bored (some bribery involved).
So I would not say that Mobile devices are inherently bad but that many people use them to peruse the junk food isle. I go to the grocery store an my cart is devoid of palm oil or HFCS. Often I see other people's carts full of products containing both. We are shopping in the same store.
That wasn't the point. The point is that just about any hobby you have will only make you happy in the short-term, and that applies to far more activities than just watching television and using a smartphone. What makes you happy and how long it makes you happy isn't set in stone, so I find statements such as that very silly.
>"With our iPhone in hand â" or any smartphone, really "
Oh really? Thanks for the concession! So there is nothing super magical about the iPhone then??? Just... wow!
You know, I like to both cook and play guitar, but I really don't think they work well together. An alfredo sauce covered pickup is a terrible thing and I'm pretty sure it's not good for the strings to use them as cheese knives.
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
Creativity depends in what medium you're working. If you're bored zoning out on the PC reading /., you may get an insight into how to change the design layout of your pet project while doing that. Doing things online doesn't spell a death to all boredom, far from it. There's also a limit how interesting on-line life can be, and the masses are quickly approaching that point as we speak.
My favourite is watching a movie alone while working on a project. Suddenly getting sparks of ideas and then seeing them unfold, pausing the movie while doing so. The most important thing is not to write down your idea, it is to IMPLEMENT IT THERE AND THEN. (Writing it down may catalog your idea for future reference, but implementing it right away provides even more insight and later discoveries while doing so). Today's technology makes prototyping even more simpler and accessible, so is bettering the chances even more of CATCHING THE IDEA.
As someone who has had years of creativity behind me, I'm finding this article bogus (of course I didn't read it!).
Each creative type has their own quirks and ways of tapping the source. And it is very much about getting in touch with yourself, your true interests and mission in life (yes, everyone has at least one mission - but most forget it through the painful / shameful conditionings of society).
The ABSOLUTELY WORST thing you can do to your mind however, is becoming a sceptic. It'll MURDER your ideas even before they get a chance to hatch, over and over again. Scepticism is a serial killer of great ideas!
I am creative. I create artistic clothing and jewelry.
I also use slashdot.
Right now, I am welding together a necklace. I am on slashdot now because I have to let the welds cool down so that I can move the work and then weld another section. If I don't wait for the weld to cool down, I will burn my finger off. And that means 'ouch' and a trip to the emergency room.
So, I use slashdot to kill time until my weld cools off and I can move the work for my next weld.
Well, I guess it's cooled off enough now, so bye bye slashdot.
Most Respectfully Yours Mark Allyn Bellingham, Washington
You should rethink your comment--Cooking and Guitar playing are two creative events.
In essence, you said don't do creative things to be creative.
Remember, Sherlock Homes played the violin to think up creative solutions.
Some of the time I most value is time spent with my family, particularly my parents since they are aging and it isn't something I'm going to be able to do forever. I have nothing to show for it, I take home with me nothing but memories, and yet I value those memories highly.
I'll never understand the attitude I see online sometimes where people value only actually creating something, or accomplishing something. That as though if you aren't spending your time building something, fixing something, creating something, etc you are just useless.
On the contrary, I find that much of my time spent with non-tangible results to be of value. Even simple personal things. If I spend a weekend lazing around, playing video games, petting my kitty, sleeping in, and so on I have nothing to show for it. However I enjoy it, and I feel relaxed and happy, so how can you call that worthless?
It seems to me to be a rather empty existence if you define your worth by nothing but what you make. I'm not saying don't take pride in things you create, I know I do (well, when they are good at least) but if your definition of self is only in what you make, then what does that really say? What is the point? If personal happiness and enjoyment don't matter, then why bother? If they do matter, then why define them so narrowly to only include the tangible?
The point is that just about any hobby you have will only make you happy in the short-term
What? The examples given provide lasting value. Things like watching TV and playing games are generally more limited in scope.
You're flipping things around. Most any hobby will provide happiness on the short term, but not all will provide happiness in the long term. The idea here is that the ones that provide both short and long term happiness are better than the ones that merely provide for the short term.
When I am bored and I go online, I look for things that match my particular interest. At that point, surely I am the most receptive to learn ... well, whatever it is. Being bored without the possibility of outside input can't possibly be better that being bored with the possibility of learning something interesting. Otherwise, why not just put students in locked classrooms and expect them to be creative?
Is this the source of this story? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-21895704
All your ghosts are just false positives.
Devices like tablets are in direct competition with notebooks and in some situations even PCs.
Now lets assume the typical slashdot poster, who is a hobby programmer.
If he's sitting at his pc, and surfs on the web, he may interrupt it to do some coding. maybe he's annoyed by something on a website and writes a userscript to change it, or he just gets an idea for a cool script and can instantly switch to a terminal and write it.
If he's surfing on his mobile device, he does not have a keyboard, and not even a system which does good multitasking (in the human sense, not in the multithreading sense). So if he's annoyed by something on a website, its likely, he just ignores it. Or maybe he tries to search for a userscript for his mobile browser, but its unlikely he starts writing one. And starting to program something more advanced on a touchscreen is even more unlikely.
You do not need to be a programmer, to have this problem. Mobile devices, which lack proper input like mouse and keyboard are designed for consumption, they are not designed to create something.
Addiction
"I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
This is clearly nonsense. If it wasn't then the most successful authors would be the ones that never read books - and i'm certain that's not true.
I spent the last two and a half years driving insanely big trucks in a mine, which is mindlessly boring almost all the time. It certainly didn't make me any more creative, in fact it numbed my brain to the point where there was no more creativity left in me. Now i'm at university full time, my creativity's starting to recover. Stimulation, not boredom, is what fuels creativity.
Of the "studies" claimed by the article, one was carried out by a university and seems to have been fairly dubious - although there are no citations either in the article or in the article it refers to - and another was carried out by a mobile phone company and is nothing to do with boredom.That's it. The article linked to from the original article mentions "studies", but doesn't give any clues about what they are. So, as far as i can tell, the "studies" are a fantasy.
How quaint...
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Folks:
[......] I am on slashdot now because I have to let the welds cool down so that I can move the work and then weld another section. If I don't wait for the weld to cool down, I will burn my finger off. [......]
That sounds like a feeble excuse! Have you ever thought of using tongs?
I'd say that the argument about mobile devices killing creativity is completely individual and subjective. In my case, finding the right combination of fantastic painting apps on the iPad, and the critically important discovery of a brilliant fine-point capacitive stylus (The Jot Pro from Adonit) has reignited the inner artist in this heavily left-brained person for the first time in years. I've been back at cartooning with real and immediate digital feedback as to what I'm drawing in the palm of my hand, and I love it.
Trust me, mobile devices do not eliminate boredom.
Plus, the notion that creativity requires boredom misses the mark. Creativity requires idleness, not boredom. Just because you are surrounded by a vast choice of devices and media does not mean you can't take a few minutes to sit quietly and/or meditate.
Try this experiment: Start taking 10 minutes every day to sit quietly. Put your feet flat on the ground, rest your hands in your lap, sit up nice and straight (but comfortably) and just breathe. Count your breaths if you have trouble quieting your mind. Do it every day and don't miss any days. If it's boring, don't worry, because your brain's reaction to what you think is boredom is part of the mechanism that's going to bring the benefit. If you get fidgety, anxious, just keep watching your breath and be patient.
The benefits will surprise you.
There are lots of systems for meditation. But if such systems put you off, you can still enjoy the benefits just by sitting (or standing, or lying down, but the idea is NOT to fall asleep). Just relax.
Once you see the benefits, you'll never be "bored" again.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Don't be so ridiculously literal ... replace cooking or guitar with whatever floats your boat.
Of course cooking or guitar are already considered creative endeavors.
Like all generalisations, people will find exceptions. However, for me, I can see it. I program. A lot of it is innovative (ie: not currently done) UI design, along with backing algorithms and data systems. I'm finding my most productive *creative* time to be during my daily 10k runs or when I'm walking the dog. That being said, I also spend a lot of time gathering data (reading, web surfing, chatting with people) that provides the raw material for those creative moments.
I suspect there is a balance, and it's a bit different, depending on the person and what they're doing.
Honestly, I have been finding the fact that when I pull into a train station or ferry warf, everyone is staring down at their phone, like it's some sort of weird mind-control device. It's creepy. And it somehow feels rude to be ignoring the human beings around you. But maybe not. Still, I'm making it a point to NOT stare at my mobile device unless I *really* have something to do (online study, reading a book, working). And no more "web fact checking" in the middle of a discussion with others.
The point is that just about any hobby you have will only make you happy in the short-term
What? The examples given provide lasting value. Things like watching TV and playing games are generally more limited in scope.
You're flipping things around. Most any hobby will provide happiness on the short term, but not all will provide happiness in the long term. The idea here is that the ones that provide both short and long term happiness are better than the ones that merely provide for the short term.
I've known lots of people who played a musical instrument for a few years, and then it just collects dust in the corner. It doesn't provide any long term happiness necessarily.
If you claim that active hobbies have greater than chances of providing you with long term happiness than passive term hobbies, you might be on to something - because they are active, they can be followed on for many years, instead of at the whim of the source.
Reading, for example, has provided me with many years of happiness, and I expect it will continue to do so. Is reading any different from watching a TV show? Not really. It is still a passive activity - though I have a greater choice in books (though it is slowly changing, since I am not restricted in watching what passes for entertainment in my part of the world). Now, reading might involve imagination (like a kid who imagines himself as a Knight), but it doesn't have to.
Lasting happiness is a very strange concept - you are happy doing something now. I doubt I'd get much happiness remembering the violin I played as a kid, or the scuba diving trip I took a few years ago, or the TV show I saw a decade ago.
If I had a boat, it would be floated by "water". (Perhaps "fresh" or perhaps "salt", but water nonetheless). So should I put water on the guitar or just try to play water instead of the guitar? Because frankly I don't think that will work unless I freeze the water first. So maybe you mean I should replace the guitar and cooking with carving ice sculptures? They can float my boat after they melt.
In your case, I think it would be more appropriate to replace the water with a fairly strong antipsychotic.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
I work in a creative field (animation and film) and for me the smart phone inspires tons of creativity. Look at all of the amazing apps and games that creative people are doing in this new medium that wouldn't have happened if the developers weren't addicted to their smart phones.
People sitting alone in their living room and being bored doesn't inspire creativity. Creativity is inspired when people surround themselves with other creative ideas and people, and with smart phones, creative ideas and people are closer than ever, right at your fingertips..
Boring people will continue to be bored and uncreative, but creative people will find inspiration in everything, especially in new technologies like mobile devices.
Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
Lots of difference between reading and watching, In both cases we "see" events. What you see is what you get like a panther or bird. Pure sighted visuals overwhelm. But, the reader must manufacture those scenes from word associated meaning. Quite a human snark ... the reader creates! Lots different, eh hoser ...?
There's an app for that
Dude writes a blog post about a study that was covered on Slashdot already, gets blog post posted to Slashdot. Story still as boring as it was the first time.
Does it really matter? Most peoples' creations are shit anyway.
That is why I have not had a smart-phone so far (but I always carry pen&paper to note down ideas). As I cannot avid the smart-phone anymore, I have selected the minimal data-plan for calendar and email and slow (no fun) web-surfing only, so hopefully it remains a tool to be used only when necessary. Of course the mobile providers want you to game and surf as much as possible so they can make as much profit off you as possible.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Conan Doyle might have had a bit more influence on Holmes's creativity than the violin playing.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
I make a conscious effort to avoid my smart phone when eating alone, riding the bus, waiting for an interview, etc. I hope that in doing so, I can be more efficient and productive (for my brain that is;for those who use their phones for business 24/7, I don't have an answer for you yet) ; instead of being on the phone, I can instead read, talk to strangers, experience my surroundings. Develop my curiosity into something worthwhile and entertaining in the long run.
Folks:
[......] I am on slashdot now because I have to let the welds cool down so that I can move the work and then weld another section. If I don't wait for the weld to cool down, I will burn my finger off. [......]
That sounds like a feeble excuse! Have you ever thought of using tongs?
Don't be silly. When I use tongs to type, half the words come out misspelled.
Attention span is the ability to concentrate on a subject for an extended period of time. If you are only able to concentrate when there is continuous external stimulation, it's shallow concentration. This is the difference between reading a book and playing a first person shooter video game. In the video game you are continually reacting. Reading requires mentally retaining the subject matter as you read, and relating what you are reading now to previous material. One is externally organized, the other is internally organized.
Obviously, it's possible to read an ebook on a smart phone, so the device itself is not intrinsically in one mode or the other. This is why so many of the previous posts point to creative activity enabled by electronics.
Having the ability to maintain internal concentration is a learned skill. The problem with pervasive electronics is that chronic users substitute external stimulation for internal concentration. They don't know how to concentrate on their own.
This is ultimately a deficit. It's why people do really stupid things like texting while driving. There are some activities that demand a high degree of internal concentration, like doing mathematics, coding, or surgery. I guarantee that you don't want someone cutting you open who suddenly starts texting about the procedure, or a judge who is not paying attention to the trail proceeding because they are playing a game with the cellphone in their lap.
Why is Snark Required?
Fortunately, mobile devices are not water-proof yet, hence the shower remains a time when people mind is left to wandering.
My mobile devices have actually contributed to my creativity. I'm a writer, and I've come to depend on my mobile devices quite a lot to, well, write. From my first palm Zire to my current Motorola Flipout, I've depended on my mobile devices to write and edit my various stories. The internet connected devices have also been tremendously handy to do quick research on the various subjects relevant to my writing. In each of the boredom cases listed in the article, I'm much more likely to be continuing whatever current story I'm working on or doing research directly related to it. Before my mobile devices, I had to use a notebook if I wanted to get some writing done away from the computer. Obviously, that was quite a lot less convenient than a handy gizmo that fits comfortably in my pocket and is easier to read than the nigh-indecipherable scribble of my handwriting. So you'll see me standing in line between the guy texting his girlfriend and the girl giggling at the latest grumpy cat picture while I'm actually doing something worthwhile, and creative.
If you're curious, my first completed, published novel, which was written entirely on mobile devices, is available here:
Amazon Trade Paperback (Createspace pays me better, but it's still Amazon),
Lulu epub, Kindle, Nook, and iBooks.
It's also free in its entirety on wattpad. I've actually gotten sales from people who started reading it here.
1.Netcraft confirms:In Soviet Russia all your base welcomes a beowolf cluster of CowboyNeal overlords. 2.? 3.Profit!!1!
The examples given provide lasting value.
Watching a television show might provide someone with lasting value (nice memories, for instance).
Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
who wants it. Bored people try to get first post on slashdot.
If it's an electric one I think you should.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Not as long as trite, tired Luddite bullshit like this gets published, at least.
"Be nice, veer left, and never stop thinking" Iain Banks - Walking On Glass
"Conan Doyle might have had a bit more influence on Holmes's creativity than the violin playing."
True. And that's exactly what the article is about: that if Conan Doyle had had an ipad back in his day there probably wouldn't be any Sherlock Holmes.
I remember that same post was at slashdot few months ago. I do not remember exact wording, google just shows links to ths article.
Killing creativity ? maybe - but also exercising your brain - instead of standing in line - staring at the wall or gossiping - playing a game is a better way to stimulate the brain - and help prevent/avoid diseases like Alzheimer's (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/01/23/brain-games-may-help-thwart-alzheimers-study/)
I got bored and started watching Edward Frankel's calculus lectures. Is that proof for or against the point being made here?
http://books.google.com/books/about/In_Defense_of_Childhood.html?id=hO9dPgAACAAJ
"The pressures of modern life are increasingly squeezing the adventure, the wonder, the physicality -- the juice -- out of children's lives. Virtually every arena of kids' experience is now subject to some form of outside control, and this is a serious threat to the unique spark that animates every child. Lamenting risk-averse parents, overstructured school days, and a lack of playtime and solitude, this book is a clear and compelling plea to save childhood."
The challenge of addiction will only get worse:
http://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html
http://www.amazon.com/Supernormal-Stimuli-Overran-Evolutionary-Purpose/dp/B0057DC3VY
http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/article16.aspx
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
Seeing the SOLEIL project on the Open Pandora, you can say it's hugely creative:
http://pandorawiki.org/Software_projects/OS/SOLEIL
"Creativity" usually yields mountains of clutter which your children will wilfully take to the dump when you die so they can sell your house more quickly.
The referenced study offers yet another over simplified nannied view of human activity, and is plainly worthless.
Its painfully obvious at the grocery store. I've lost count how many spouses (mostly husbands) are shopping for something get on their phone to ask the other spouse what boxed item, can of sauce, vegetable, or other ingredient to get, down to the last variation of the product.
If the husband had any creativity he'd think of something on this own. Or as in days of yore, presence of forethought to have written it down on paper beforehand.
Tracy Johnson
Old fashioned text games hosted below:
http://empire.openmpe.com/
BT
"Mobile devices" is an annoyingly broad term. I made my daughter's birthday cake yesterday with the aid of a smart phone sporting a recipe and videos on some techniques (like making lemon curd). Not everyone with a mobile device spends a majority of their time on social networks. The fact that I have information with me everywhere I go in a convenient form factor is just plain awesome.
When I'm bored I work to solve it, not numb it. A smart phone is a very useful tool in that endeavor. The people who drool their time away on useless nonsense will do it with or without a smart phone.
I'm 62, I don't really use my mobile [to the great exasperation of younger members of my family and certain friends, yes I do have those] except for emergencies and uncertain rendez-vous arrangements. I don't have an ipod or mp3 player either. I have plenty of computers at home.
By now you are thinking, here's an old luddite, an idiot, aren't you? But I like to sit on a London bus and stare into people's gardens or read a book on the tube [that's the subway or MRT to most of you] rather than scrunch up my face with some tiny game, even frozen bubble: http://www.frozen-bubble.org/, my all-time favourite. I find a lot of time to play the guitar, program and paint too.
To me, most of smartphone world is just a drain on money and time for trivialities like facebook and other social media. The telecom companies are encouraging it all, because it's revenue from 'apps', bandwidth, premium services etc. I don't need any of it minute by minute. If I'm reading a serious book on public transport, I'm learning stuff, if I'm staring at things randomly I find that problems are getting solved in the background, same with running which I [obviously from above] do without the obligatory mp3 player.
I'v been messing with computers since about 1975 and I really enjoy most of the modern world, but, I assure you, real conversations, real downtime, staring in space here and there is part of the mix, life isn't just pokes, tweets and 'friend' requests.
On y va, qui mal y pense!
Lots of people w/no musical training write songs.
Some are even good.
Music itself is ubiquitous and interacts very powerfully with the brain and mind. The key is being open to inspiration, and repetitive activities that tie up the mind/brain are more likely to supress inspiration.
At least that is the theory here, I think.
Where in this world can i get a phone with an IDE enviroment. I don't mind learing a new Language as long as the dame the can compile.
1. IMO if you are bored, you are already past the point of creativity, are subconsciously refusing to be creative due to depression, or are being prevented from doing what you want to do. Boredom is unpleasant, and we naturally avoid unpleasantness when we can, rather than waiting for it to happen and fixing things afterwards. For example, if a jar of pickles slips off the counter, and we see it is headed for our toe, we will instinctively try to move out of the way so that our toe does not get hit, rather than just letting our toe get hit because it is easy to bandage up a broken toe. It has been shown, however, that depressed people are less likely to move out of the way. So I think that if possible we will avoid boredom, and lack of avoiding it shows either an inability to avoid it (we tried to jump out of the way, but the jar still hit our toe) or that something is wrong (we did not instinctually try to avoid the jar, showing that there is some problem).
... today they are busy with mobile devices. And in fact, today we (in first world countries) are mostly doing work that leaves us with time and energy to do something with that creativity. And we can put them on the internet for all the world to see. Even a brief look around the internet will show that, despite all the mobile devices, we still have plenty of creativity.
2. I do not agree at all that creativity comes from boredom. Boredom is a relatively new thing. Not too long ago, we didn't have time to be bored; we'd be working on the farm all day, or at the factory all day, or keeping the household running (think about how much time/energy it took to do things that are mundane now, such as doing a load of laundry, before modern conveniences). Even in the times when people had servants to do the grunt work, they still had a packed day. Back then, having time where you had nothing to do yet had enough energy to do anything but sleep was a luxury, it was cherished. Yet, people were still creative. This can be seen in not only museums, but in vintage quilting, needle arts, furniture, etc. Sure there were a few people that now have their stuff seen as creative art, that did it for a living, and so were doing it instead of working on a farm or at a factory, but the majority of stuff that was kept as art was carefully kept in good/usable condition because it was art from the beginning.
Though people were busy with something the majority of the time, they still got inspired and took time out to do something with that inspiration (or kept it in their head if they could never manage to make time). In the past they were busy with work or etc.
One thing of note though is that many modern-day parents force their kids into being bored. They are holding their foot in place as the pickle jar plummets toward it. 2 generations ago, maybe even 1 for some of us, kids played outside, without adults. They did not have schedules full of organized activities. If they felt that boredom was about to sink in, they would do something. If they told their parents they were bored, their parents either sent them outside or gave them an extra chore. But now parents are afraid of letting their kids outside without an adult; and many adults do not have the time and/or the desire to take their kids outside. When they do take their kid outside, it is in an organized and/or supervised activity. Or, kids have a packed schedule of school, after school care, homework, and organized activities, leaving them no time to go outside and just play. Kids desire down time, they desire unorganized, unsupervised play time, though they often don't realize it, because this is crucial to development. When kids aren't allowed or don't have time to get that time, of course they will seek it out in places they ARE allowed to go; on mobile devices, on game consoles, on the internet; because parents feel that is safe because the kid is near them or at least inside, because those don't take extra time (i.e. they can be done while the parent drives or grocery shops)
They're wither a teen-ager, or a particularly boring person.
Some people don't allow themselves to BE bored, there's always something interesting, always some question to find an answer to, or some creative question to be asked to attempt to find an answer for.
Bored people are people who are basically stupid. With access to so many things you used to have to work so hard to have access to in the past, if you could discover and access those resources at all, boredom is now more of a red flag that you're more stupid and damaged than you are merely temporarily "bored"...
Interesting post. Sorry, no mod points left.
However, there are apparently two forms of happiness. The happiness of being, and the happiness of remembering. The happiness of being is what you describe, whatever you are doing RIGHT NOW can be pleasant or unpleasant. The happiness of remembering is remembering those vacations with your kids, or remembering the violin lessons, the recitals, the fear resolving into pride, etc.
as far as creativity goes, I find that long walks are always a great way to generate ideas. I'm sure that is related to boredom. Also, being stuck in traffic jams. I never listen to the radio in the car, since that distracts me from thinking about whatever I've been obsessing on recently. The fact that YOU ARE STUCK, you can't really rescue yourself from it, and you might as well think about something useful seems to be part of it. If I was one to text friends, those moments would be lost to mindless chatter. I'd probably be happier in the short term, but less creative, as the original article suggests.
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company -- Mark Twain
The premise is totally correct. Using an ipad or phone to keep your mind occupied is basically stopping your mind from thinking. If you want to be creative you need some long term thought processes going in the background. Flashy fast moving stuff destroys your thoughts. This can be good if you want to escape stressful day jobs, but nobody made great art by not thinking. You feel like its a spontaneous work of art done without thought (when its good and u got a flow going) but its actually the culmination of several long thought patterns.
Sadly if u ain't in the technology blogging twittering shite about your art 24/7 u won't have a career now, but thats a different article.
The article is spot on. For old school type creativity, not the new "creativity" which everybody in IT has now. As a boring old sculptor i find it much easier to pick up my ipad and check facebook than meditate on my work. Sadly in my case (i picked up an ipad1 so i've been addicted about three years) its removed a section of my brain and recently i've just had to cut down on using it. The ipad is such a drug, i use it every single day since i got it. But cutting back the time spent on it has actually enabled me to get ideas again. I thought i had alzheimers, not a fresh thought in my head. I love reading web pages about 3d printers, or new art shows, or the newest tech; but a tablet is useless to actually create on. I love reading about new creative things in quick grabs, it all looks so easy. But it just depressed me in the end, as i was paralysed myself. The only way to make art (old school art) is to pick p a chisel and use it. And the process takes many hours, its the opposite of the instant on or the quick fix.
Yeah so anecdotal evidence maybe, but its been what i found to be true. To do real things i have to allow my mind to wander, without a little screen.
There are deep truths in what you say. I wonder sometimes what horrible things it says about the human condition that so many of our best ideas come from the mind's desperate attempts to escape our immediate surroundings. Thank goodness I can't play iPhone games in the shower or I'd never have a creative idea at all these days.
In a less cynical mindset, I might argue that things like long walks and showers are taking care of the body in order to free the mind (so, not boredom, just not overwhelming it with distractions), and you could achieve similar benefits any time you give yourself a few minutes to think freely.
The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay