
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage[T2A,OT1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[default]{cantarell}
\usepackage[a4paper, top=20mm, bottom=20mm, left=20mm, right=20mm]{geometry}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[russian, english]{babel}
\usepackage{tabu}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{parskip}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage[normalem]{ulem}
\usepackage{float}
\floatstyle{boxed}
\restylefloat{figure}
\usepackage{setspace}
\onehalfspacing
\author{Artyom Bologov \href{mailto:boredom@aartaka.me}{(email)}}
\date{\today}
\title{Boredom is Good, Actually}
\makeatletter
\def\endenv{\expandafter\end\expandafter{\@currenvir}}
\makeatother
\begin{document}
\maketitle

\includegraphics[width=\textwidth,height=\textheight,keepaspectratio]{./assets/boredom.png}

Uh oh, it’s this type of moments again.
Boredom.
I watch YouTube videos without enjoying them.
I keep re-checking my projects in search of what I can fix / improve.
And I refresh communication channels feverishly in hopes there’s something I can read and engage with.
Problems are:

\begin{itemize}\item I don’t really want to watch YouTube anymore, but I have no past-time that replaces it properly
\item My projects are generally well off and need little improvement
\item And my communication channels are little (by design,) so I can catch up on them in like half an hour
\end{itemize}

I remind myself that I must value boredom,
because that’s where my most deranged and fun ideas come from
(apart from anger, but I didn’t tell you that.)
But the period of boredom itself is excruciating somewhat.
By definition.

Now, why do I even tolerate boredom?
Here are some quotes that hopefully jot up the setup for my position:

\begin{figure}[h!]\begin{quote}
An idle mind is the Devil’s workshop
\end{quote}\caption{Christian proverb}\end{figure}

\begin{figure}[h!]\begin{quote}
In PD, work is idealized to a degree that sometimes makes it seem like a goal in itself. (This was shared by the monastery, which even counted the opposite of industry, so-called accedia, which meant not only laziness but also boredom and restlessness, among the seven deadly sins. This is how Cassian describes its bad effect on monks: “And whenever it begins in any degree to overcome any one, it either makes him stay in his cell idle and lazy … or it drives him out from thence and makes him restless and a wanderer.”)
\end{quote}\caption{Pekka Himmanen, The Hacker Ethic and the Spirit of the Information Age}\end{figure}

\begin{figure}[h!]\begin{quote}
being bored is kinda like not a option anymore
\end{quote}\caption{\href{https://youtu.be/3YRfPAB5kvU?si=dDnnnRpckba6Sw_v&t=935}{Daniela and Paulina Villarreal, the Warning}.}\end{figure}

\paragraph{The Warning} \begin{quote}
In case you’re unsure about this third one being in the same group with the first two:
The Warning is probably the most industrious and fastest growing rock band and Women of the Year according to a dozen of media.
They are literally grinding music and social media 24/7.
And they truly have no option to sit there and stare into the wall 😢
\end{quote}

What unites these three is the modern protestant lens on work and idleness.
One has to work, consume, and be busy to be a decent person.
Not idly rot and be bored all day.
Like, one of the first questions you ask on a date: “so what do you do for a living?”
God forbid your date to answer something non-productive:

\begin{itemize}\item “Oh, you know, just rotting on a sofa reading manga”
\item “I do part-time and use the remaining time to barhop”
\item “Yeah I live with my parents and don’t really work”
\end{itemize}

Recognize this instinctive ick, a feeling of something being off?
(Imagine a cis male saying that if you didn’t feel it at first.)
That’s the ingrained need to work and be industrious.
One that a person is exposed to from child years.

Well, I’m against that.
I believe that we need to get rid of protestant ethic and finally explore other lenses on the world.
\href{https://maramarietta.com/eroticism-in-fiction/sontag-pornographic-imagination}{Like Pornographic Imagination} Susan Sontag wrote about.
Or the Hacker Ethic Himmanen explores.
But, above all, boredom as something to dive into and shamelessly feel in full.

Idle mind as a “Devil’s workshop” is actually an alluring idea.
True, devilish ideas might be repulsing to Christians or recommendation algorithms.
But no Christian would ever dare to
\href{https://github.com/bf-enterprise-solutions/os.bf}{write an OS in Brainfuck}.
(Might be because true Christians don’t swear and don’t talk about k*lling in code comments?)
It’s left to idlers having 100 hours of free and unproductive time on hand.
Fun time.

The very fact that
\href{https://justforfunnoreally.dev}{we have to make excuses like “fun” or “learning”}
is wrong.
Just embrace the boredom and let it lead you into whatever.
\href{run:just}{Just don’t}
be productive for a second.

\par\noindent\rule{\textwidth}{0.4pt}

I know that this post breaks off at a seemingly random moment.
But I don’t really have much to say other than that we need to normalize boredom.
And enjoy the bored time as leading to new insight and reflection.
(Without feeling nervous or guilty about it.)
In case you don’t feel like this post is enough, here are some links for ya:
\href{https://phys.org/news/2024-03-suppressing-boredom-future-productivity.html}{Suppressing boredom at work hurts future productivity, study shows}.
\href{https://petedavis.org/dedicated}{Anti-boredom Pete Davis}.
\href{https://personalcanon.com/p/research-as-leisure-activity}{research as leisure activity}.
\href{https://theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/charles-duhigg-american-anger/576424}{The Real Roots of American Rage}.

And here’s a little musical treat for you, exemplifying the negative attitude to boredom as a modern affect:
\href{https://youtube.com/watch?v=tsPxaAVg584}{Tessa Violet — Bored} 🎵

Take care and try to be bored for a while.
Stare into the wall, I dunno.
The point is not doing a thing, so I can’t even recommend an activity.
Don’t?

\par\noindent\rule{\textwidth}{0.4pt}

After reading this, you might enjoy
\href{https://blog.avas.space/bb-carnival-boredom}{Ava’s post on boredom}.
It’s going into more detail than mine and is a pleasant read!

\par\noindent\rule{\textwidth}{0.4pt}

And here’s yet another quote, sent by mei\& over email:

\begin{figure}[h!]\begin{quote}
Our boredom is where we grow / Our boredom is where we find discontent with our living situation / Our boredom is how we dream
\end{quote}\caption{mei\& in “Re: Boredom is good”}\end{figure}

This “discontent” part is important and so obvious in retrospect.
You can’t imagine a better world if you don’t have unproductive unpresent time to do it.
Boredom is a space for reflection.


\par\noindent\rule{\textwidth}{0.4pt}
\href{https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0}{CC-BY 4.0} 2022-2026 by Artyom Bologov (aartaka,)
\href{https://codeberg.org/aartaka/pages/commit/a91befa}{with one commit remixing Claude-generated code}.
Any and all opinions listed here are my own and not representative of my employers; future, past and present.
\end{document}
