Why do we get bored?

CrowdScience

BBC

Science

4.8 • 985 Ratings

🗓️ 7 January 2022

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

“I’m bored!” We can all relate to the uncomfortable - and at times unbearable - feeling of boredom. But what is it? Why does it happen? And could this frustrating, thumb-twiddling experience actually serve some evolutionary purpose? CrowdScience listener Brian started wondering this over a particularly uninspiring bowl of washing up, and it’s ended with Marnie Chesterton going on a blessedly un-boring tour through the science and psychology of tedium. She finds out why some people are more affected than others, why boredom is the key to discovery and innovation, and how we can all start improving our lives by embracing those mind-numbing moments.

Featuring: Prof James Danckert (University of Waterloo, Canada), Dr Elizabeth Weybright (Washington State University), Dr Christian Chan (Hong Kong University) and Annie Runkel (University of Dundee).

Presented by Marnie Chesterton Produced by Samara Linton

Image: Young Asian girl feeling lonely and bored at home. Screen addiction withdrawal symptoms (Credit: Oscar Wong, Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm Rory Stewart and I grew up wanting to be a hero and I'm still fascinated by the ideas of heroism.
0:09.0	In my new series, I'm taking in the long sweep of history from Achilles to Zelensky and asking, what is a hero?
0:16.0	Simply doing your job, being a decent human being.
0:20.0	A true hero is someone who just kind of shines by
0:23.1	their own light and that light is to be recognized by others. The long history of heroism with me,
0:28.6	Rory Stewart. Listen on BBC Sounds. Facilities or services, PC7 contract signature sheet. Please use
0:36.8	the signature sheet for contracts incorporating PC7.
0:40.3	This is crowd science from the BBC World Service. I'm Marnie Chesterton. Specific conditions. Please do not
0:46.4	amend the PC7 itself, as this may lead to an incorrect version being used going.
0:51.0	That's me reading the most boring bits of the BBC's procurement terms and conditions.
0:56.0	It's just subclawses, all as boring as the last.
0:59.4	Why?
1:00.3	Because this is the show that answers your science questions.
1:04.1	And we've had an email about that unpleasant feeling that should be kicking in right about now.
1:10.5	PC3 and PC-11. Oh God. Oh, it's not pain, but it does kick off this desperate urge to do something, anything else. And listener Brian in Kampala, Uganda, suffers too.
1:31.1	If you have an enemy, send them to Kampala at around 5.30pm and film the city traffic.
1:39.0	Like many city dwellers, Brian often ends up stuck in rush hour traffic,
1:43.9	and it's given him time to think
1:45.3	about how little he enjoys being trapped in a tedious tailback.
1:48.7	Why do we as human beings get bored?
1:51.3	Like, do animals get bored that's getting bored serve any purpose to us as human beings?
1:56.8	Because even this question itself came up from a moment when I was like really, really, really, really bored.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.