Boredom
quotes and reading on boredom, curiosity, interestingness, and meaning
Boredom
The problem is, of course, that you cannot simply decide to care about something. If you do not care about something, your will cannot simply establish a caring relationship to that thing. It is rather a question of being open to possibilities of caring
Lars Svendsen • Being bored
Lars Svendson
Curiosity seems to be more individual than fastidiousness about truth or resistance to being told what to think. To the degree people have the latter two, they're usually pretty general, whereas different people can be curious about very different things. So perhaps curiosity is the compass here. Perhaps, if your goal is to discover novel ideas,... See more
Paul Graham • How to Think for Yourself
Kids are curious, but the curiosity I mean has a different shape from kid
curiosity. Kid curiosity is broad and shallow; they ask why at
random about everything. In most adults this curiosity dries up
entirely. It has to: you can't get anything done if you're always
asking why about everything. But in ambitious adults, instead of
drying up, curiosity... See more
curiosity. Kid curiosity is broad and shallow; they ask why at
random about everything. In most adults this curiosity dries up
entirely. It has to: you can't get anything done if you're always
asking why about everything. But in ambitious adults, instead of
drying up, curiosity... See more
paulgraham.com • What You'll Wish You'd Known
When a friend of mine used to grumble because he had to write a
paper for school, his mother would tell him: find a way to make it
interesting. That's what you need to do: find a question that makes
the world interesting. People who do great things look at the same
world everyone else does, but notice some odd detail that's
compellingly mysterious.
paper for school, his mother would tell him: find a way to make it
interesting. That's what you need to do: find a question that makes
the world interesting. People who do great things look at the same
world everyone else does, but notice some odd detail that's
compellingly mysterious.
paulgraham.com • What You'll Wish You'd Known
It's the same with people who
do great things. They know they'll feel bad if they don't work,
and they have enough discipline to get themselves to their desks
to start working. But once they get started, interest takes over,
and discipline is no longer necessary.
do great things. They know they'll feel bad if they don't work,
and they have enough discipline to get themselves to their desks
to start working. But once they get started, interest takes over,
and discipline is no longer necessary.
paulgraham.com • What You'll Wish You'd Known
Do you think Shakespeare was gritting his teeth and diligently
trying to write Great Literature? Of course not. He was having
fun. That's why he's so good.
trying to write Great Literature? Of course not. He was having
fun. That's why he's so good.
paulgraham.com • What You'll Wish You'd Known
"Boredom has at its core the desiring of satisfying engagement but not being able to achieve that," Eastwood said. "And attention is the cognitive process whereby we interface with both the external world and our internal thoughts and feelings. So it falls logically that attention must be at the core of the definition."