On Boredom
Published at 08:28 on 21 November 2025
Going on an Internet social media diet has meant once again occasionally being bored. There is no longer the default activity of getting distracted by whatever (intentionally selected to be distracting) stuff a timeline shoves my way.
We are taught to dislike boredom, and to avoid it. I think this is a mistake. Boredom is a natural outcome of being faced with no obvious thing to do. It means being compelled to step back, think about one’s life and one’s priorities, and decide on something new to do. (And usually, it’s easy enough: upon thought, there are always a large number of things I want or need to do that can be done.)
Boredom lets me thoughtfully decide what my life priorities are, not some large, unaccountable social media business with extremely dubious morals. Sure, it means having to do a little (mental) work, but shirking necessary work is not a virtue; it is the vice of laziness.
A little boredom is a good thing.