Boredom and Intelligence

Archerbird said:

Oh boy. That's right up there with "only stupid people work in factories".

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And...?

Shadow_Ferret said:

And...?

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And I don't agree?

Boredom to me is not having the motivation to pay attention to anything, even though you have lots of things to do. Or maybe something just loses it's novelty or...something. I don't think it has all that much to do with intelligence.

I'm a fairly simple creature, and I never get bored. I always have something to putter around with.

I have too many innerests.

Also - boredom is not always a bad thing. It can just be a chance to reflect and recharge.

Silver King said:

My old man told me once, "You never seem to run hot or cold, Son. You're just tepid."

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No, no. Just think of it as being in balance with the universe.

People who spend much of their lives outdoors seldom get bored. I've been bored in management meetings. Actually, bored isn't quite the right word. More like, kill me now.

I've also spent a lot of time in the mountains. I've never been been bored while out in nature. Not ever. I often find other people boring, though, I must admit.

I've been bored while being driven through scenic places. Very bored. Scenery does nothing for me.

And when I've walked through woodland areas (usually for school) the only reason I haven't been totally bored is because I was also exhausted.

RemusShepherd said:

It's all about what is age-appropriate. Doodling is a sign that a child lacks focus, but is also a sign that an adult has an active imagination. What used to be misbehaviour becomes a virtue when you get older. The underlying psychology doesn't change. The social acceptability of the mis-behavior changes.

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Actually doodling is a scientifically proven information processing technique. It was nice to feel validated when that study came out. I was always doodling the margin of my notes while listening to lectures. It seems that was helping me process what I was hearing and retain the information better than if not.

The biggest reason for me to get bored was to be stuck in a classroom where we were covering a task I had mastered and be left with nothing else I was allowed to do. In most of my classes, if I finished an assignment early (I nearly always did), then I was allowed to read for the remainder of the working time. That was a wonderful thing for me.

As an adult, the internet has been awesome for an information seeker like me. I am always looking up new topics and possibilities are endless. It makes me feel very happy.

Archerbird said:

And I don't agree?
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Ok. I wasn't sure if you were using your statement to validate or dispute the other.

I've heard the whole intelligence/bored thing before.

Implication being that if I was so smart, I'd figure out something to do.

*eyeroll*

As far as kids being bored in school, that's one of the many reasons we homeschool.

Kids being forced into repetitive work b/c other kids in the class need the practice, when they've already grasped the concept is a big problem. Of *course* they're going to be bored! And bored kids can lead to discipline issues.

In first grade I was almost sent to the principal's office because I was so bored I was putting Elmer's glue on my hands, waiting for it to dry and then peeling it off. (My hands made pretty patterns. )

Rather than give me something stimulating to do in the meantime, I was threatened with discipline. That part makes me sad.

ETA: So yes, I "cured" my own boredom, but not in an educationally appropriate manner, according to my teacher.

But did you ask Elmer's permission before using his glue? Maybe that was what they objected to.

My husband laughs at me when I say, "I'm bored, there's nothing on the internet."

What this really should translate to, is "I've got to get outside, I'm climbing the walls." I never get bored outside. Outside is endlessly engaging.

Inside I have a time limit. No matter how many hobbies I have, and I have a lot, sooner or later the walls are going to close in on me. Oddly enough I'll get bored faster when I'm inside with people, than when I am by myself.

My grade school was so small I was the only one in my class, so I went at my own pace. We were never bored. All the grades in the room were included in projects no matter what grade level the material was for.

High School was a different story. Jumped from a two room school house, to a school with more than a thousand kids. That was a major culture shock.

My first year of American Lit I would take the book home, read it that night, and come back the next day ready to take the test. The rest of the kids were moaning and begging the teacher to extend the one week deadline to two. Fortunately the teacher liked me, and took pity on me, so she would hand me as many books as I could read and ask me to do a book report, just to keep me busy.

The second year of advanced American Lit was another story. That teacher hated me. She would make me just sit there and do nothing if I finished ahead of everyone. When she wanted groups, I would do the assignment on my own, so she docked my grade. She treated me like, "You think you're so smart? I'm going to show you."
I was resentful and bored. When I confronted her about the grade, she made it clear that she didn't like people who weren't "team players".
Lady, this is Lit class, not football.
Ok, in her defense, it probably didn't help that I told her I could pass her class in my sleep.
Yeah, we got along like fire and gasoline.

Shadow_Ferret said:

Ok. I wasn't sure if you were using your statement to validate or dispute the other.

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Sorry about that.

tjwriter said:

In first grade I was almost sent to the principal's office because I was so bored I was putting Elmer's glue on my hands, waiting for it to dry and then peeling it off. (My hands made pretty patterns. )

Rather than give me something stimulating to do in the meantime, I was threatened with discipline. That part makes me sad.

ETA: So yes, I "cured" my own boredom, but not in an educationally appropriate manner, according to my teacher.

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This made me laugh, since I did the same thing as a kid. I was never a troublemaker, but I did stupid things when I was bored, like burying myself up to the neck in snow or coloring my hands with marker. In high school, I nearly went crazy when we read Shakespeare and the teacher explained EVERY SINGLE LINE. It's a shame that more teachers and professors don't use class activities and discussions instead of lectures; they're fun, they're engaging, and the students are far more likely to remember the material.

I honestly don't think boredom has anything to do with intelligence. It probably has a lot more to do with temperment. I'm naturally very high-strung - I laugh or cry easily, I get excited or angry over small things, and I get bored easily. Writing is one of the few things I can do for hours without ever getting bored. It doesn't matter how much I enjoy something; there's always a point where I get bored and restless. When I get bored, I don't feel down or apathetic, I feel like I need to get out outside before I chew my own arm off.

CChampeau said:

When I was little and complained of being bored, I was told that "if you're bored, it just means that you're boring!"

On a similar note, the most intelligent person I believe I have ever met said, "...only dumb people get bored. Intelligent people have far too much to think about."

On the other hand, there is substantial evidence that highly intelligent children underperform or even begin to misbehave precisely because they are bored.

Thoughts on what is going on here....?

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In my opinion, just generalizations that hold no truth.

Boredom and intelligence, or lack thereof as to both, come on a broad spectrum.

I remember the glue trick!

We had a girl in my gr 5-6 class that broke down in complete hysterics if ppl did that...we'd do a zombie moan..."Skiiiiiin...SkiiIIIIIiiiiiin" while peeling chunks of it off, and she'd lose her ever lovin' mind.

Course, once she did that ONCE, guys would deliberately do it and chase her around...

Yeah, we had the glue trick at my school too. Nobody really got freaked out by it.

Then there were the people who stuck staples or pins through the tips of their fingers... I could never bring myself to try that. They said that if you just went shallow across the tip, it didn't hurt. Thanks, but no thanks.

This is a good thread to come across today. I just spent 9 hours in project management training. The content was extremely easy to digest and I figure I could have studied the manual for an hour and gotten the same amount of worth out of it. Needless to say, I was bored out of my mind. Does having such a good grasp on the provided information that I barely needed to pay attention make me boring?

Actually, I like to think that I'm rather fun!

I think that people who pick things up and learn easily, also get bored easily. While others would have to study the same thing endlessly, if you have a 'photographic memory' so to speak, you're bound to get bored while waiting for other people to catch up. That's why the brighter kids in school often get told off for slacking, when in actual fact they've already read the chapter/answered the question/finished the exam.

Cliff Face said:

Yeah, we had the glue trick at my school too. Nobody really got freaked out by it.

Then there were the people who stuck staples or pins through the tips of their fingers... I could never bring myself to try that. They said that if you just went shallow across the tip, it didn't hurt. Thanks, but no thanks.

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Yup, remember that too!

... when it comes to misbehaving, I haven't seen that. I used to substitute teach and when I covered the top classes the kids were well behaved and almost even saintly. The classes on the lower end of the spectrum, by contrast, were abominable. Whether that was due to boredom or not I couldn't say.

I'm getting bored right now.

Where's Silver King so I can cause some problems?

He's admiring your new avatar and thinks you've made a wise choice to bet on that team.

Silver King said:

He's admiring your new avatar and thinks you've made a wise choice to bet on that team.

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Well, I'm not betting, but I do support them. My husband loves them.

CChampeau said:

When I was little and complained of being bored, I was told that "if you're bored, it just means that you're boring!"

Thoughts on what is going on here....?

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I think people tell kids that when they're afraid the kids want them to play. Tell the kid it's his/her fault he's bored and you don't have to interact or even suggest anything for him to do.

Of course adults are the ones who decide what kids can and can't do at home as well as school. So they decide whether or not kids will be bored.

Sometimes, I think kids say they're bored when they want adults to play with them.