Coming to terms with boredom

The gentle idea that the world, or rather creation, is God’s Lila or play has two larger implications. First, if God created the world out of sheer boredom, boredom must be a great motivator. Second, the antidote to boredom is indeed creativity.

Going beyond the divine, boredom in human beings is as old as the human species. It has been believed that melancholy arising out of boredom can be dangerous. It could lead to actions prompted by no more than a casual need to do something. These ill-considered actions could hurt those carrying them out as well as those affected by them. When these actions are taken by the powerful, they could lead to wars, persecution, and witch hunts. For the less powerful, the ill-considered actions could be a fight with neighbours or just intolerance.

Early philosophers, both Greek and Indian, attributed boredom to fickleness and a lack of motivation. The inability to control desires was seen as the main cause of fickleness, and a virtuous life that enhances motivation was the prescription. This took the form of duties. As duties became more oppressive, there was a tendency to make them more enjoyable, as in the case of the patronage of the arts.

Contemplation and appreciation of nature in its various hues—anything that uplifted the mind—were expected to wean it away from boredom. Leisure and enjoyment of subtler forms of activity, from reading and writing to more explicitly performative arts, assumed that the propensity for boredom was the result of an intelligent mind. This brought with it the possibility of the repetition of these activities becoming boring. We are thus in a never-ending cycle of boredom, demanding new activities that could themselves become boring. The ability to put up with some boredom then becomes necessary for existence. Russell observed that it was like all great books had boring portions, just as all great lives had boring stretches. If boredom is not seen as dissatisfaction with activity but as coming to terms with time, the perception could be completely different. It would be accepted as a basic characteristic of being, a fundamental mood that is a part of consciousness.

By emphasising nothingness, it makes one attentive to the feeling of time. Boredom becomes a strange kind of calm, and perhaps from such nothingness, philosophy is born.