Why do we medicate boredom with cell phones?
Why do we medicate boredom with cell phones? Or at a deeper level: Why do we fear boredom?
The answer lies in how we understand time.
Charles Taylor, a modern philosopher, says that there are two ways we shape time and thereby how time gives shape to our world: cycles and stories.*
Cycles are how we identify time. They are rhythms and routines. It could be a mundane routine like brushing your teeth or smiling when someone smiles at you. Or rites of passage like graduation or a new job. These routines frame our lives, distinguishing different moments from each other, giving us a sense of time.
Stories are how we gather time. We organize our identities based on the autobiographies of our lives, both intimate stories only we know and public stories we share with others. A combination of cycles and stories is how we explain and understand our life and who we are.
Boredom arrives when both of these ways of measuring time come to a standstill. When we feel like neither is in motion. And therefore our very concept of meaning, coming from our experience with time, is lost. This results in a feeling of being unstable and fragile, and therefore, vulnerable. What we perceive to be in control (our timekeeping powers), is disrupted.
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We fear boredom because it is deeply connected to meaning. And who wants to live a meaningless life, right?
And therein lies my fascination with our use of cell phones, and other technological distractions, as a medication for boredom. It is for this reason that our habitual automatic response of pulling out our cell phone at the slightest hint of boredom can be deeply damaging.
Boredom is designed by God to disrupt time. To force us to think outside of routine. To lead us down a path of reflection. Boredom is giving space for our mind to think about moments of the day; giving our hearts time to feel the encounters of our life. We need this.
Preventing boredom prevents reflection, depth, and meaning. And meaning is something we all desperately need right now.
Next time you find yourself bored, embrace it. It is probably exactly what you need.
*How (Not) to be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor by James K. A. Smith, p. 130