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The capacity for being comfortably alone with yourself...is essential to the capacity for a comfortable relational life.

Sherry Turkle Social science professor at MIT
Session

Lean into Boredom

35462240902 C950bd2c6e O

Lean into Boredom

Setup

While the act of spacing out has long been attributed to fueling creativity, many of us are downright uncomfortable with being bored. In fact, a prominent social science study reveals that a surprising number of people would rather be electrically shocked than left alone with their thoughts. Add a constant stream of updates, texts, and other technological distractions to an already tense relationship, and it can feel like we’re doomed. What is the connection between boredom and original thinking? How we can harness boredom’s hidden benefits to become our most productive selves? How do we reclaim the lost art of doing nothing?

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