Want to know how I cure my boredom? I go online and look for these two guys. And speaking of all those things, I noticed that Nicholas Carr has responded to something Clay Shirky said about boredom and the Internet. Well, ain’t that a coincidence!
Carr replies to Shirky like so:
“Being bored is a kind of diagnostic for the gap between what you might be interested in and your current environment”: that’s well put. We don’t like being bored because boredom is the absence of engaging stimulus, but boredom is valuable because it requires us to fill that absence out of our own resources, which is process of discovery, of doors opening. The pain of boredom is a spur to action, but because it’s pain we’re happy to avoid it. Gadgetry means never having to feel that pain, or that spur. The web expands to fill all boredom. That’s dangerous for everyone, but particularly so for kids, who, without boredom’s spur, may never discover what in themselves or in their surroundings is most deeply engaging to them.
Perpetual boredom is an unattractive state. So is perpetual nonboredom.
The web does expand to fill all boredom, so if you’re bored (and let’s face it, you are) then slow down and watch Nicholas Carr share some more of his insights in this interview.
I’ve become a fan of Clay Shirky in the last few months, so I wanted to share a presentation of his on SOPA and PIPA. I know that the bills have been squashed, but the way he makes his argument, together with his conclusion, speak to the future of this problem more than the present. You can check it out after the jump…