Being bored can spur people’s creativity — partly to escape the horrible, frustrated, and meaningless feeling of boredom — recent studies find。
最近的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，無(wú)聊可以激發(fā)人們的創(chuàng)造力，從而在一定程度上逃離可怕的，令人沮喪的，無(wú)意義的無(wú)聊感。
It could even be true at work。
工作中甚至也是如此。
Psychologists at the University of Central Lancashire had participants copy numbers out of the telephone book for 15 minutes, while others went straight into a standard creativity task (Mann & Cadman, 2013)。
中央蘭開(kāi)夏大學(xué)的心理學(xué)家們讓參與者連續(xù)15分鐘抄寫電話本中的號(hào)碼，而其他人直接進(jìn)入標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的創(chuàng)造力測(cè)試。(曼恩 & 卡德曼， 2013)
Both groups were asked to come up with as many different uses as they could for a polystyrene cup. The group that were more bored came up with the most uses。
兩組參與者都被要求盡可能多地想出塑料杯的不同用法，而更無(wú)聊的那一組想出的辦法更多。
Dr Sandi Mann, one of the study’s authors said:
此篇研究文章的作者之一，桑迪-曼恩博士說(shuō)：
“Boredom at work has always been seen as something to be eliminated, but perhaps we should be embracing it in order to enhance our creativity. What we want to do next is to see what the practical implications of this finding are. Do people who are bored at work become more creative in other areas of their work — or do they go home and write novels?”
“工作中的無(wú)聊情緒經(jīng)常是被看做不可取的，但為了提高創(chuàng)造力，或許我們應(yīng)該接受它。接下來(lái)我們要做的是看看這次發(fā)現(xiàn)會(huì)產(chǎn)生什么實(shí)際影響。在工作中感到無(wú)聊的人會(huì)在其他領(lǐng)域更具有創(chuàng)造性嗎?---或者說(shuō)他們會(huì)回家寫小說(shuō)嗎?”
In a subsequent study they found that creativity was reduced when people were still bored but didn’t have the chance to daydream。
在接下來(lái)的研究中他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，當(dāng)人們一直感到無(wú)聊而沒(méi)有機(jī)會(huì)做白日夢(mèng)的時(shí)候，他們的創(chuàng)造力會(huì)下降。
The purpose of boredom
無(wú)聊感的用途
While we tend to think of boredom as something that inevitably leads to trouble — drinking, gambling, antisocial behaviour — this research suggests different possibilities。
雖然無(wú)聊感容易被我們當(dāng)成導(dǎo)致酗酒，賭博以及反社會(huì)行為等問(wèn)題的罪魁禍?zhǔn)祝@個(gè)調(diào)查向我們展示了它的其他可能性。
More than anything, the feeling of boredom is a strong signal that we are stuck in some kind of rut and we need to seek out new goals。
作為一個(gè)信號(hào)，無(wú)聊感比其他任何事情都更能提醒我們，現(xiàn)在我們陷入了一成不變的生活中，需要尋求新的目標(biāo)。
In the study above, this search led participants to new ideas。
在上面的研究中，這種嘗試幫助參與者們產(chǎn)生了新的想法。
Usually people will do anything to avoid being bored, as it’s such an aversive experience. But creative people, like writers, sometimes talk about seeking out boredom。
通常人們會(huì)做各種事情去避免無(wú)聊，因?yàn)檫@是一種非常糟糕的體驗(yàn)。但是有創(chuàng)造力的人們，比如作家，有時(shí)候會(huì)說(shuō)起想要尋求無(wú)聊感。
Here is the comedy writer Graham Linehan talking about boredom to The Guardian:
喜劇作家格雷厄姆-萊恩漢在對(duì)衛(wèi)報(bào)談起無(wú)聊時(shí)這樣說(shuō)道：
“I have to use all these programs that cut off the internet, force me to be bored, because being bored is an essential part of writing, and the internet has made it very hard to be bored.The creative process requires a period of boredom, of being stuck. That’s actually a very uncomfortable period that a lot of people mistake for writer’s block, but it’s actually just part one of a long process。”
“我會(huì)嘗試各種辦法遠(yuǎn)離網(wǎng)絡(luò)，強(qiáng)迫自己感到無(wú)聊，因?yàn)闊o(wú)聊感是寫作很重要的一部分，而網(wǎng)絡(luò)使人很難感到無(wú)聊。創(chuàng)作的過(guò)程中會(huì)有一段時(shí)間感到無(wú)聊并停滯不前，事實(shí)上這是一段很不舒服的時(shí)期，因?yàn)槿藗兺鶗?huì)誤解認(rèn)為作家遇到了瓶頸，但它其實(shí)只是漫長(zhǎng)的創(chuàng)作過(guò)程中很平常的一部分。”
So, when you start to feel bored, instead of glancing at your smartphone, try being bored for a bit。
所以，當(dāng)你開(kāi)始感到無(wú)聊，停止瀏覽你的智能手機(jī)，嘗試著讓這種無(wú)聊保持一段時(shí)間。
Who knows what creative thought might come of it?
誰(shuí)知道會(huì)有怎樣的奇思妙想噴薄而出呢?
