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Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)

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Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)

#71

Post by foobiekr »

Jeff_Brown wrote: post #36

The funniest part: "[The researchers] then asked, “Would they rather do an unpleasant activity than no activity at all?” ... Participants were given the same circumstances as most of the previous studies, with the added option of also administering a mild electric shock to themselves by pressing a button. Twelve of 18 men in the study gave themselves at least one electric shock during the study’s 15-minute “thinking”…

As I read this, I was thinking how much I would enjoy participating in such a study and seeing how many times I could shock myself before I couldn’t take it anymore. My very first thought was how much I would like to have the ability to test myself.

Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)

#72

Post by sfgweilr4f »

Maybe. But I've also just gone deep into what most people would call a forest and just sit there for more than 2 hours. No music. No notebook. Nothing to read. Just sit there. Close your eyes. Sit.

Does that qualify as doing nothing? Or is that classed as some kind of meditation?

Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)

#73

Post by meristohm »

theshrike79 wrote: post #55
gwgundersen wrote: post #24

Ever since reading Bertrand Russell's "The Conquest of Happiness", I've thought a lot about the importance of being able to sit inside my own head. One quote that I wrote down: > A life too full of excitement is an exhausting life, in which continually stronger stimuli are needed to give the thrill that has come to be thought an essential part of pleasure. A person accustomed to too much excitement is like a person w…

Exactly this. My #1 advice for new parents is that the most important thing for a parent in the long run is to make sure their children are bored out of their gourds regularly. Kids need to have times when screen time has run out, there's nothing on TV and they have no hobbies on engagements to run to. Just time alone without any external inputs. This is the point where creativity usually pops up. Kids should be able…

Yeah, boredom is a key, one I remember unlocking creativity when I was younger, and one I rarely can find anymore without effort (like John Cleese of Monty Python sitting in a barren room for four hours, 3.5 hours of boredom followed by a half-hour of inspired writingj[0][1].

[0] Create a space to play (2min clip): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWEXQ9E4QiI

[1] Make time for boredom (36min, Swedish subtitles?): https://vimeo.com/176474304

Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)

#74

Post by rossdavidh »

sfgweilr4f wrote: post #72

Maybe. But I've also just gone deep into what most people would call a forest and just sit there for more than 2 hours. No music. No notebook. Nothing to read. Just sit there. Close your eyes. Sit. Does that qualify as doing nothing? Or is that classed as some kind of meditation?

I think what that means is, most people don't (and wouldn't want to) do something that you choose to do, at least occasionally. I also meditate, on occasion. But I note that many methods of meditation involve giving you something to do (slow walking meditation, for example), perhaps precisely for this reason?

Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)

#75

Post by treis »

IncRnd wrote: post #65
treis wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>“All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” From a philosopher writing in the 1600s. I don't think it's an issue with any particular society. It just seems part of human nature to be inable to sit and do nothing for a significant period of time.

It is not part of human nature. It does happen when a person has a restless mind, however. How would you test this? The first way is direct: learn to quiet your own mind. The second way is through inference: observe a newborn baby who doesn't need food and when there isn't excessive stimulation (light sound, smell, pain, etc.) - they simply observe what is around them.

Because that's all a new born baby can do (and often they're not happy about it). As soon as they're mobile they will interact with their environment whenever they can.

Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)

#76

Post by rossdavidh »

retskrad wrote: post #45

I'm 27 years old and I don't have much purpose in life. am I'm kind of becoming desperate, to be honest. I have always thought about becoming a programmer but I don't know where to start. What programming language do you learn first? What languages and skills do you need to learn to become hire-able by a company?

1) what an odd place to ask this question

2) this is not a bad first place: https://www.w3schools.com/

Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)

#77

Post by WJW »

MeinBlutIstBlau wrote: post #60
Jeff_Brown wrote: post #36

The funniest part: "[The researchers] then asked, “Would they rather do an unpleasant activity than no activity at all?” ... Participants were given the same circumstances as most of the previous studies, with the added option of also administering a mild electric shock to themselves by pressing a button. Twelve of 18 men in the study gave themselves at least one electric shock during the study’s 15-minute “thinking”…

It's really fascinating to me as well that a lot of men would be that way. I understand "why" but for myself personally I can entertain my own thoughts alone for an extended period time. I've always been that way since I was young so the thought of shocking yourself because you're bored with your own thoughts still is an odd concept to me. How can you despise your own inner monologue that much? Is introspection reall…

I would also be really interested in a repeat of the experiment but with differing age groups. My hypothesis is that younger men would perhaps find it "manly" to suffer electric shocks (perhaps even if just as a bar story for later) while older people would not feel the need for such activities anymore.

Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)

#78

Post by [deleted] »

retskrad wrote: post #45

I'm 27 years old and I don't have much purpose in life. am I'm kind of becoming desperate, to be honest. I have always thought about becoming a programmer but I don't know where to start. What programming language do you learn first? What languages and skills do you need to learn to become hire-able by a company?

[deleted]

Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)

#79

Post by kahmeal »

brianjlogan wrote: post #53
ChrisLTD wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone that has regularly meditated for years now, I still wouldn’t say sitting alone with nothing to do is an enjoyable experience. You can turn it into an opportunity for meditation or other types of deep thinking, but that’s more like “work” than anything else.

Yeah that "enjoyable" state is kind of difficult to describe. My experience may be different than yours but for me it's an emptiness of being in tranquility with the chaos of my own thoughts. Only with deliberate practice. To me "work" does not mean suffering but directed concentration and discipline. If I accept my mistakes and imperfectness of that "work" the process to me is "enjoyable". But the "joy" is difficult…

Perhaps satisfaction and contentment are more accurate?
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