Explore Michael Easter's insights on The Comfort Crisis. Learn how digital media hijacks the evolutionary purpose of boredom and why we must reclaim our unfocused state.
Boredom is the cognitive soil in which original ideas grow. When you kill boredom, you kill the very state that allows you to process complicated information and develop a sense of personal meaning.
Lessons from 'The Comfort Crisis' by Michael Easter, focusing specifically on the value of boredom and the re-discovery of focus in a world of constant stimulation.
According to Michael Easter in The Comfort Crisis, boredom evolved as a vital internal signal or 'mental discomfort' designed to trigger action. For our ancestors, this restless itch indicated that a current task had a low return on effort, such as picking berries from a depleted bush. This discomfort pushed humans to find more productive resources, hunt different animals, or invent better tools, serving as a fundamental driver for survival and innovation.
Modern digital media consumption has hijacked the natural signal of boredom by offering a hyper-stimulating escape the moment restlessness begins. Instead of moving toward a more productive 'bush' or creative endeavor, the average person now spends over twelve hours a day engaged with digital screens. This constant stream of external input prevents the mind from entering a necessary unfocused state, replacing internal exploration with endless digital distraction.
The unfocused state is a vital mental condition where the mind is free to wander and explore its own corners without external input. Michael Easter notes that this state has been effectively murdered by constant hyper-stimulation. When we use screens to escape the slight discomfort of a slow moment, such as waiting for an elevator, we lose the opportunity for the deep mental wandering that humans evolved to need for psychological health and creativity.
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