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CrowdScience: Why do we get bored?

Discussion & Talk

Why do we get bored?

21/07/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - CrowdScience, Why do we get bored?

Why boredom affects some people more than others and why it can lead to innovation

Marnie Chesterton finds out why boredom affects some people more than others and why it can lead to innovation and discovery.

“I’m bored!” We can all relate to the uncomfortable - and at times unbearable - feeling of boredom. But what is it? Why does it happen? And could this frustrating, thumb-twiddling experience actually serve some evolutionary purpose?  

CrowdScience listener Brian started wondering this over a particularly uninspiring bowl of washing up and it’s ended with presenter Marnie Chesterton going on a blessedly un-boring tour through the science and psychology of tedium.  

She finds out why some people are more affected than others, why boredom is the key to discovery and innovation and how we can all start improving our lives by embracing those mind-numbing moments. 

(Photo: Bored kids on a park bench. Credit: Getty Images)

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton 
Producer: Samara Linton 
Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris 
Editor: Richard Collings 

Contributors:
Professor James Danckert, University of Waterloo, Canada 
Dr Elizabeth Weybright, Washington State University  
Dr Christian Chan, Hong Kong University 
Annie Runkel, University of Dundee

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