Hello. This is 6 Minute English from
BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Sam.
How's your week been, Sam? Oh, you know, quiet - I haven't
done much or been anywhere - so,
it's been a bit boring. I know that feeling - when
nothing exciting happens, it can
lead to boredom - the state
of feeling little excitement
or enthusiasm, often because
you've got nothing to do.
But Sam, there is some good
news - boredom can
be good for you. Tell me more!
I will but not until I've
set you a question to answer.
A survey by British newspaper
The Mirror, found Peter Willis
to be 'the most boring man
in Britain'. What 'boring'
hobby did he have that earned
him that title? Was it...? a) Collecting train numbers -
that's train spotting, b) Taking photos of letterboxes,
or c) Driving around
roundabouts of the UK. Wow - they all sounds deadly
boring - but I imagine taking
photos of letterboxes is
the most boring - perhaps? Well, as usual, I will give
you the answer at the end
of the programme. But, as
you say, we might die of
boredom following those
hobbies - a phrase that
expresses how extremely
bored you are. But not for everyone - boredom
depends on your state of
mind - some of us might
find something boring while
others might it fascinating. True. But let's talk about
feeling bored when we have
nothing to do - not even
trainspotting! Having nothing
to do, or doing the same
task again and again, can
certainly be demotivating.
But according to Sandi Mann,
who was speaking on the BBC
World Service's The Why Factor
programme, being bored doesn't
have to be boring - it
can be good for us... It's this emotion everyone
thinks is so negative but
there's a real positive to
it too, there's a real upside
to it. We become more creative,
so for example, being bored
allows our mind to wander,
allows us to daydream, and
that can actually lead us to
problem solving and creativity.
I fear that by swiping and
scrolling our boredom away
these days, that we're
losing that creativity
because we've got so
much to entertain us - but
it seems that the more we
have to entertain us, the
more bored we seem to be!
And there's a reason
for that - and that's
because we actually get
addicted to stimulation
and to novelty. Some interesting thoughts
from Sandi Mann there.
She says that there's an
upside to boredom - that
means a positive side
to a bad situation. And
that is, it can make
us more creative. That's because when we
have nothing to do, we
allow our minds to wander.
We can think freely, which
might help us solve problems.
This can't happen when, as
Sandi says, we swipe and
scroll our boredom away -
referring to the movements
we make on smartphones. Yes, and it's smartphones
we turn to for entertainment
when we are bored - it
gives us stimulation - it
activates or enriches the
mind. And it gives us
something new, unusual and
different to look at - what
we can call novelty. I'm sure many of us look at
our phones when we are in a
queue or sitting on a bus -
just to prevent being
bored - but it seems we
should just sit and think.
Let's take inspiration from
Manoush Zomorodi - an author
and host of the Zig Zag
podcast. Here she is speaking
on The Why Factor programme,
explaining that it takes
effort but it's worth it... We think, who wants to be
bored? What an awful sensation
that is. And I think that the
issue is with mind-wandering,
you don't immediately get to
roses and chirping birds,
and amazing creative
thinking - there is this
uncomfortable period that
you have to pass through
where maybe you start thinking
about things you don't want
to think about or uncomfortable
situations or unpleasant
feelings that you have,
that's why boredom I think
has negative connotations 'cos
we feel uncomfortable - but
when we stick with it that's
when the good stuff can come. So, we might think boredom
as an awful sensation - or
feeling - because that's
when we start focussing
on negative things.
Manoush thinks that's why
we have negative
connotations with boredom. A connotation is an emotion
connected to a word. But
if we work through the
bad stuff and stick with
it, amazing creative
thinking can happen - as
Manoush says 'the good
stuff can come'. So, basically, don't think
of boredom as being boring!
However, could this adjective
be applied to the hobby
that Peter Willis - the
most boring man in
Britain - does? Ah yes, Neil, you asked me
what that hobby is. And I
said he took photos of
postboxes. Was I right? Yes, you were! Congratulations.
The former postman dreams of
taking a photo of all of
Britain's 115,000 postboxes. Well, good luck to Peter.
I didn't realise there were
so many postboxes in the UK!
So, we've been talking about
the benefits of boredom
today - boredom is the state
of feeling little excitement
or enthusiasm. We mentioned the phrase to die
of boredom which we use to
express how extremely
bored we are. But boredom has an upside,
which means it has a positive
side to a bad situation. We heard the word stimulation
which means activates or
enriches the mind. And
novelty which describes
something that is new,
unusual or different. And we described a
connotation - that's an
emotion connected to a word. Well, I hope you haven't been
bored listening to us!
Goodbye for now! Bye!