boredom

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Gaston La Touche , Boredom (1893)

Boredom , also (Austrian) fadesse or (French) Ennui [ ɑ̃ˈny˘iː ], is the uncomfortable, uncomfortable feeling that is caused by forced idleness or during an activity that is perceived as monotonous or under-demanding. Boredom is the subject of philosophical , cultural , psychological and educational considerations.

Definition of terms

In contrast to leisure , which is welcome, boredom is perceived as uncomfortable and unpleasant. In contrast to the acedia ( indolence of the heart ) and the taedium vitae ( disgust , weariness of life ), it is often of a temporary nature. In colloquial language, however, idleness - in contrast to leisure - has a negative connotation .

Philosophy and literature

In the philosophy of existentialism , boredom is a basic condition of human existence.

In the more recent history of philosophy , the feeling of boredom has become an issue as well as the feelings of disgust , fear or despair .

The philosopher Martin Heidegger, for example, analyzed boredom. In his inaugural lecture in 1929, he treated boredom as a state of being as a whole, which in itself can never be grasped absolutely. The deep boredom can be compared to a silent fog that pulls all things together into a strange indifference. The boredom reveals the being as a whole. He also divided boredom into different phases. He specified the three phases as follows (based on the book A Master from Germany by Rüdiger Safranski ):

  1. Getting bored of something: The boredom has an identifiable reason that the boredom can be attributed to.
  2. Bored with something: Boredom comes from both inside and outside and can no longer be clearly assigned to a reason.
  3. The completely anonymous boredom: It has no recognizable reason and is unrelated.

The writer, scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote the following about boredom, from which he could not derive any benefit:

“Nothing is so unbearable for people as to find oneself in a perfect calm, without passion, without business, without distraction, without employment. He will then feel his nothingness, his abandonment, his inadequacy, his dependency, his powerlessness, his emptiness. The ennui will rise incessantly from the bottom of his soul, the blackness, the sadness, the sorrow, the renunciation, the despair. "

In the poetic work of Charles Baudelaire , the French term for boredom, Ennui , has a central position. It describes the emotional state of urban people in which disgust and disgust are combined with alienation from existence. Similar to the concept of spleens, which is also central and closely related to Baudelaire , Ennui has the Christian-Platonic character of a sin , namely that of disaffection and fascination with evil. Les Fleurs du Mal , Au Lecteur :

“In the shameful menagerie of our vices / One is even uglier, more evil, even dirtier! [...] / It's boredom! "

Emil Cioran said in an interview printed in the 1994 Christmas edition of the Frankfurter Rundschau as follows:

“The experience of boredom, not the vulgar one due to lack of company, but the absolute one, was important to me personally. If someone feels abandoned by his friends, it is nothing. The boredom in and of itself happens for no reason without external influences. Associated with this is the feeling of empty time, something like emptiness that I've always known. I can remember the first time when I was five years old. At that time I was not in Sibiu, but in old Romania with my whole family. Then I suddenly realized what boredom is. It was around three in the afternoon when a feeling of nothingness, of insubstantiality crept into me. It was as if everything had suddenly somehow disappeared, the model for all these attacks of boredom, the entry into nothingness and the beginning of my philosophical reflection. This intense state of solitude struck me so much that I wondered what it meant. Not being able to defend myself against it and not being able to free myself from it through reflection, and the notion that it would return once you have experienced it, that unsettled me so much that I accepted it as a point of reference. At the peak of boredom, one experiences the meaning of nothingness, insofar as this is not a depressing state either, since it represents the possibility for a non-believer to experience the absolute, like the last moment. "

Peter Bichsel once commented positively about boredom. In his childhood he was always bored. Since he was not good at football, he had borrowed works of world literature from the city library and started reading, thereby unconsciously laying the foundation for his later work as a writer. Here it becomes clear that boredom can be something constructive and positive in that it makes us think and prompts us to make decisions for a meaningful organization of our lifetimes.

Others think that in the midst of the total fun society, boredom sometimes turns out to be the intelligent answer to an exuberant offer of decadence and gluttony. For children and adolescents, boredom often turns out to be a feeling that cannot be endured for long. They then try to end it positively or to bridge it with all kinds of spontaneous activities and games.

Friedrich Nietzsche said that our needs force us to work. If these are satisfied, we will be overwhelmed by boredom during the breaks. Getting used to work makes itself felt as a new need. To avoid boredom, people work beyond their needs or invent a new game, namely work to work. A third state is that of blissful, calm movement, the vision of artists and philosophers of happiness.

Other thinkers who have grappled with boredom are Arthur Schopenhauer , Hans Blumenberg , Georg Büchner , Siegfried Kracauer , Zenta Maurina and the Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi . Schopenhauer, for example, understood boredom to be an emotional state that would only overtake average people, because the great spirit after him never gets bored. Rather, he enjoys his inner wealth; especially when he is alone.

Sociological Aspects

Boredom of a street vendor in Antananarivo

Elisabeth Prammer defined in its sociological analysis of several biographies, to investigate the Boreout syndrome , boredom as a result of time shortage: among the various ways to use the time, the desired can not be selected because the person in question for a specific reason in mind is prevented from choosing freely. When this is accompanied by an absence of curiosity, interest, and creativity, the state resembles exhaustion depression accompanied by rapid exhaustion and feelings of fainting. Existential boredom passes into the meaning of life, while ordinary boredom means not being busy at the moment. The opposite of boredom is the flow state, in which a person does not relate what he is doing to time, but is completely absorbed in it.

According to Prammer, boredom becomes a problem because it is devalued and modern people are under pressure to have to use their time wisely. Activity in and of itself does not necessarily prevent boredom. Because if you are not interested in your job, you will get bored with her, says Prammer. Routine does not lead to boredom if it provides security and is necessary to carry out the activity - as long as it does not prevent you from discovering and experiencing new things. In working life , boredom is particularly problematic if it is accompanied by a loss of feeling for the purpose of one's own job, because this may only be exercised due to an extrinsic motivation (or an economic compulsion).

psychiatry

Boredom, when combined with an inability to engage in self-activity, can be a symptom of depression .

pedagogy

Child's boredom at home

In the English-speaking world, the child's habitual complaint about boredom is a consequence of bad parental role models and an expression of a problem in parent-child communication. American family therapist Wendy Mogel explained the inability of many children to hang out and do nothing with pleasure as a result of their parents' habit of overprotecting these children and overbooking them with extracurricular activities. Children have an innate appreciation for many seemingly banal things (such as moments of unsupervised, free time), which they lose again as they grow up - if the parents are rushed and pay no attention to such things. The sensitivity to boredom increases the less the child practices using free time on his own and the sooner the parents are willing to entertain a bored child.

Child's boredom in school

A discourse on boredom is just beginning in classroom research, which is surprising when you consider how present it can be in school. According to a study by Lohrmann, every fourth elementary school student is regularly bored in class. Larson and Richards found in a study with 392 subjects in grades 5 to 9 that the adolescents were bored 32% of the class time. In addition, connections between boredom and a number of negative effects are suspected. Götz et al. And Lohrman found relationships between boredom and early school leaving, unexcused absence, deviant and delinquent behavior, aggressiveness, drug abuse and less willingness to exert themselves, which in turn affects the perception of lessons and the perception of the benefits of the content and learning.

A few studies point to the positive potential of boredom: the opportunity for (self-) reflection. Relaxation and brainstorming, thereby initiating creative processes and finally initiating action. Lohrmann reports that high-performing students in particular experience boredom as a positive thing. You use the time for pauses for thought and repetition. If they are bored because they have already mastered the material, they would draw positive conclusions for their self-concept of ability.

Götz and Frenzel found four categories of boredom experience:

  1. Indifferent boredom shows little activation, weakly negative experience, disinterest, amotivation and inner emptiness. It is similar to states of relaxation.
  2. The calibrating boredom opens up for new things, e.g. B. by wandering the mind on other topics.
  3. The goal-seeking boredom goes hand in hand with restlessness and a search for alternative courses of action, the urge to work, as well as greater activation and a more negative valence.
  4. Reactant boredom is also characterized by a high level of activation and, in some cases, strongly negative experiences through to anger, aggression and helplessness.

The following are considered triggers for a feeling of boredom:

  • the assessment of a situation as subjectively insignificant
  • Under- or overstrained by the course content and the tasks
  • lack of suggestion
  • too high or too little subjective control over the learner and the classroom situation

But so far there have been only a few exploratory studies on the origins and causes of boredom in the classroom.

Boredom in art and literature

The theme of boredom plays a central role in Georg Büchner's work , for example in his comedy Leonce and Lena (1836/1895).

Some feature films are also about boredom centrally or over long stretches. Selection:

literature

Intellectual history, philosophy and fiction

pedagogy

  • Teresa Belton, Esther Priyadharshini: Boredom and schooling. A cross-disciplinary exploration. In: Cambridge Journal of Education. Vol. 37 (2007) No. 4, pp. 579-595.
  • Georg Breidenstein: The Meaning of boredom in school lessons. Participants observation in the Seventh and Eighth Form. In: Ethnography and Education. Vol. 2 (2007), No. 1, pp. 93-108.
  • Thomas Götz, Anne Frenzel: Phenomenology of school boredom. In: Journal for Developmental and Educational Psychology. Vol. 38 (2006), No. 4, pp. 149-154.
  • Thomas Götz et al: Causes of boredom in class. In: Empirical Pedagogy. Journal on the theory and practice of educational research. Vol. 20 (2006), No. 2, pp. 113-135.
  • Thomas Götz et al: Regulation of boredom in class. What pupils (not) do with the "calm of the soul". In: Educational Science. Vol. 35 (2007), No. 4, pp. 312-333.
  • Reed Larson, Maryse Richards: Boredom in the Middle School years. Blaming schools versus blaming students. In: American Journal of Education. Vol. 99 (1991), No. 4, pp. 418-443.
  • Katrin Lohrmann: Boredom in class . Münster, Waxmann 2008, ISBN 978-3-8309-1896-7 .
  • Katrin Lohrmann: How do children deal with boredom in class? In: C. Röhner et al. (Hrsg.): Europeanization of education. Consequences and challenges for primary school education . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-531-16929-3 , pp. 269-300.

See also

Broadcast reports

Web links

Wikiquote: Boredom  - Quotes
Commons : Boredom  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: boredom  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Heidegger : What is metaphysics? 10th edition. Vittorio Klostermann, Frankfurt 1969, p. 30 f.
  2. ↑ Friedrich Nietzsche: Menschliches, Allzumenschliches No. 611 "in KSA vol. 2 p. 346.
  3. ↑ Elisabeth Prammer: Boreout - Biographies of the lack of demand and boredom: a sociological analysis. Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-658-00502-3 , p. 31.
  4. ↑ Verena Kast: On the interest and the meaning of boredom. Dtv, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-423-35162-4 , quoted from Elisabeth Prammer: Boreout - Biographies of under-challenge and boredom: a sociological analysis. Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-658-00502-3 , p. 31.
  5. ↑ Erich H. Müller: Fulfilled presence and boredom. Quelle & Meyer, Heidelberg 1969, quoted from Elisabeth Prammer: Boreout - Biographies of under-challenge and boredom: a sociological analysis. Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-658-00502-3 , p. 31.
  6. ↑ a b Elisabeth Prammer: Boreout - Biographies of the lack of demands and boredom: a sociological analysis. Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-658-00502-3 , p. 32.
  7. ↑ Elisabeth Prammer: Boreout - Biographies of the lack of demand and boredom: a sociological analysis. Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-658-00502-3 , p. 33.
  8. ↑ Elisabeth Prammer: Boreout - Biographies of the lack of demand and boredom: a sociological analysis. Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-658-00502-3 , pp. 34–35.
  9. ↑ Elisabeth Prammer: Boreout - Biographies of the lack of demand and boredom: a sociological analysis. Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-658-00502-3 , p. 36.
  10. ↑ Aaron T. Beck, A. John Rush, Brian F. Shaw, Gary Emery: Cognitive Therapy of Depression . The Guilford Press, New York 1979, ISBN 0-89862-919-5 , pp. 201 f .
  11. ^ Scott Turansky, Joanne Miller: Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitutes ... in You and Your Kids. Shaw, 2000, ISBN 0-87788-354-8 ; The Whining, Complaining, Constantly Bored Child ( Memento of the original from July 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / terrificparenting.com
  12. ↑ Wendy Mogel: The Blessings of a Skinned Knee : Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children. Scribner, New York / London / Toronto / Sydney / Singapore 2001, ISBN 0-684-86297-2 , pp. 209-230 ( limited online version in Google Book Search - USA )
  13. ^ Katrin Lohrmann: Boredom in Class . Münster, Waxmann 2008, ISBN 978-3-8309-1896-7 .
  14. ^ Reed Larson, Maryse Richards: Boredom in the Middle School Years. Blaming schools versus blaming students. In: American Journal of Education. Vol. 99 (1991), No. 4, pp. 418-443.
  15. ↑ Thomas Götz and others: Causes of boredom in class. In: Empirical Pedagogy. Journal on the theory and practice of educational research. Vol. 20 (2006), No. 2, pp. 113-135.
  16. ↑ Katrin Lohrmann: How do children deal with boredom in class? In: C. Röhner et al. (Hrsg.): Europeanization of education. Consequences and challenges for primary school education . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-531-16929-3 , pp. 269-300.
  17. ↑ Thomas Götz, Anne Frenzel: Phenomenology of school boredom. In: Journal for Developmental and Educational Psychology. Vol. 38 (2006), No. 4, pp. 149-154.
  18. ↑ Elisabeth von Thadden: Always the shirt first. In: The time. December 18, 2002, accessed September 13, 2017 .
  19. ↑ L'avventura. Retrieved September 15, 2017 .
  20. ^ Antonioni's Stark Portrait of Haute-Bourgeois Boredom and Betrayal 'La Notte' Lives Again on Criterion Blu-Ray. Retrieved September 15, 2017 .
  21. ↑ Barton Fink. Retrieved September 15, 2017 .
  22. ^ About Schmidt. Retrieved September 15, 2017 .
  23. ^ Lost in Translation. Retrieved September 15, 2017 .