Arthur C. Brooks, Harvard professor: “People actually don’t know the meaning of their lives”
Harvard professor and behavioral scientist Arthur C. Brooks, who teaches the science of happiness, shares how learning one simple skill can unlock wonders.
The advent of the modern smartphone changed life in countless ways. We literally have the world at our fingertips anywhere we go and at all times. However, it hasn’t been all roses and sunshine.
App creators have developed their products to be addictive. Users that are hooked on them feel the need to constantly pull out their phones to scroll through videos and social media posts or get a quick fix from playing a game.
This has helped eliminate boredom, and with it nowadays “people actually don’t know the meaning of their lives – much less so than previous generations,” explains behavioral scientist Arthur C. Brooks, adding, “we’re not even looking.”
The Harvard professor, who has dedicated his career to teaching the science of happiness, says that one of the consequences of this is “an explosion of depression and anxiety in our society.”
Boredom can be key to finding happiness and meaning
Brooks recently posted a video on social media in which he explains that boredom is a skill that needs to be practiced.
“I get it. You don’t want to be bored,” he tells viewers. However, “you need to be bored. Be bored more.”
“If every time you’re slightly bored you pull out your phone, it’s going to get harder and harder for you to find meaning,” the Harvard professor of business management states. “And that’s the recipe for depression and anxiety and a sense of hollowness, which, by the way, are all through the roof.”
Without your phone “you’ll have your most interesting ideas”
The behavioral scientist urges people to start tomorrow by leaving their phone at home when they go for their morning workout. On their commute to work, he advises to not even listen to the radio, just be inside your head and let the thoughts roll.
“Can you handle it? Just being in your head?” he asks “I promise you, you’ll have your most interesting ideas.”
The benefits of boredom
Brooks recommends starting with periods of boredom that last 15 minutes or more and you will “watch your life change,” he states. Besides becoming better at the skill of boredom, some of the benefits the behavioral scientist says you will experience include less boredom with:
- Ordinary things in your life
- Your job
- Your relationships
- The things that are going on around you
“But more importantly, you’ll start digging into the biggest questions in your life: purpose, meaning, coherence, significance. And who knows, you might just get happier,” he concludes.
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