Why You Shouldn’t Trust Boredom | Kevin H. Gary | TED

翻译人员: Avery Guo 校对人员: Yip Yan Yeung

I will always remember my son's first day of school.

我永远不会忘记我儿子上学的第一天。

Lucas was five years old

卢卡斯（Lucas）当时五岁， 要去上幼儿园，

and he was going to kindergarten,

and he was so excited.

他兴奋极了。

He was going to take the bus. and we were excited for him.

他要搭公交车上学， 我们都为他感到兴奋。

And I’ll never forget that day when I came home,

我永远不会忘记，那天我回到家，

I was eager to check in with him to hear, "How did it go?"

很想知道他第一天上学的感受。

And Lucas's response was,

卢卡斯的回答是：

"Dad, I'm tired of hearing about hallway procedures."

“爸爸，我听老师讲 走廊规定都听烦了。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I found his response both amusing and sad.

我觉得这个回答既有趣又有些伤感。

Amusing because I thought, oh my gosh,

有趣之处在于，我当时想，

you have a lifetime of hallway procedures you're going to have to work through.

你这辈子要遵守的规矩还多着呢。

And also amusing because it captured so well

而且，这也很好地体现了

how schools and institutions can just grind us down

学校和其它机构是如此让人压抑，

with their bureaucratic rules and monotonous procedures.

因为它们那些官僚主义的规定 和单调乏味的手续。

But I found it sad because this was his first day of school,

但让我伤感的是，这是他上学的第一天，

and his takeaway on that very first day, was that school is boring.

而他唯一的收获是 学校只是个无聊的地方。

This is a boring place.

However, he's going to have to learn to deal with boredom.

但是，他必须学会应对无聊，

It's something we all learn to deal with.

这是一件我们都需要应对的事情。

Boredom is a common and familiar problem.

我们对于无聊这个问题并不陌生，

And I think at first it can seem like a trivial problem.

乍看之下，它似乎微不足道。

If you're bored, just find something interesting,

觉得无聊的话， 找点有意思的东西做不就行了吗？

move on to the next thing.

But actually, I’m going to argue that it’s far more complex.

但我认为，这个问题要复杂得多，

And that it needs our attention.

而且也不容忽视。

And I'm going to offer three takeaways for how to contend with boredom well.

我会提出三点应对无聊的建议。

In schools, boredom is a big problem.

在学校里，无聊是一个很大的问题。

An overwhelming majority of high school students

绝大多数高中生都反映说在学校很无聊。

report being bored in school.

And this is a problem because when students are bored in school,

这是一个问题，因为 如果学生在学校觉得无聊，

they begin to lose interest, they can't focus.

他们就会丧失学习的兴趣， 无法集中精力。

And when students are bored in school, they start to misbehave.

学生觉得无聊的话， 还会出现行为不端的表现。

I was a high school teacher, and if my students were bored,

我之前是一名高中老师， 如果我的学生觉得无聊，

I was petrified because I was going to have problems.

我会很慌乱，因为这会造成许多问题。

This was going to be a disaster.

结果会是灾难性的。

And if students are chronically bored year after year,

而如果学生年复一年地感到无聊，

eventually they just drop out and peel away from school altogether.

他们最终就会辍学，完全逃离学校。

But boredom is not just a problem in schools.

但无聊并不只存在于学校里。

It's a problem that tracks us beyond schools.

我们走出校园后， 这个问题也会如影随形。

There are several troubling addictions that are linked to boredom.

许多上瘾习惯与无聊感有关。

When we're bored, we drink too much,

我们感到无聊时会喝更多酒， 吃更多食物，

we eat too much,

we spend too much money,

花更多钱买我们不需要的东西。

we buy things we don't need.

There are entire industries

有很多行业完全建立在人们的无聊之上。

that are designed around making us bored.

And so boredom has some really problematic behaviors linked to it,

无聊感的确与许多严重的问题相关，

but even more than these troubling addictions,

但除了成瘾习惯之外，

there are also these smaller things.

无聊也体现在其它更细微的地方。

The half-listening to friends and acquaintances when we’re bored.

无聊的时候， 朋友的话我们听得心不在焉。

Or just the way we idle our time when we’re bored.

或者我们会随意地挥霍时间。

I'm dating myself,

我在专注于自己，

but if I could take back the 10,000 hours I put into Tetris

但如果我能把用来 玩俄罗斯方块的 1 万个小时

and put that into actually playing guitar,

用来练习吉他，

I'd be a professional musician right now.

我现在就是名职业音乐家了。

That was kind of a joke, anyway.

当然，这只是个玩笑。

So, boredom is something we need to look at,

无聊是我们需要关注的问题。

and we look at boredom, we tend to think about it objectively.

我们倾向于客观地看待无聊。

I’m bored by this teacher

比如说，这个老师让我觉得无聊，

or I’m bored by this book I’m reading

这本书让我觉得无聊，

or this person I'm talking to.

或者这个正在和我说话的人很无聊。

And boredom tends to objectify things

无聊往往会物化他人和事物，

and actually be quite judgmental and arrogant.

是一种评判性的、傲慢的感受。

That's a boring person, that's a boring book.

那个人很无聊，那本书很无聊。

But in truth, boredom is both objective and subjective.

但实际上，无聊既是客观的， 也是主观的。

We're actually making a judgment call,

我们是在做判断，

deciding whether something is boring or not.

判断某件事是否无聊。

And we know that what bores one person

而且我们知道， 对一个人来说很无聊的事物

could actually be very interesting to another.

对另一个人来说可能非常有趣。

So in this respect,

这样来看，

boredom is kind of a curious and perplexing mood state.

无聊是一种奇怪而令人困惑的情绪状态。

What do we make of it?

我们要怎么看待它？

It's kind of like a dashboard light,

它有点像汽车仪表板指示灯，

when you're in your car and a light goes on

这些指示灯亮起时，

and it gives you very clear directives.

会给你提供明确的指示。

You need to get gas, you need to get oil,

指示你加油，或是给轮胎打气。

you need to put air in the tires.

The problem with the boredom light is it goes on and there's no clear direction.

而无聊指示灯的问题在于， 亮灯之后它并不会提供明确的指示。

We're not sure what to do with it,

我们不知道该如何应对。

and most of the time we don't even notice the boredom dashboard light

何况大多数时候我们注意不到它，

because it's going on all the time.

因为它一直都亮着。

It's kind of blinking and it just becomes white noise

无聊指示灯一直闪烁着， 最后变成白噪声，

and we're dealing with it.

而我们也一直在应付它，

We're dealing without even realizing it.

很多时候我们自己都没有意识到。

Day in and day out, we're constantly navigating away

日复一日，我们不断地寻找

from boring spaces into interesting spaces.

将我们从无聊之地带向有趣之地的道路。

And how do we do this?

我们是怎么做的呢？

There are two dominant ways

大概有两种主要途径

that we've evolved to contend with this troubling mood state.

被我们用于对付这种 令人不安的情绪状态。

On the one hand, you've got avoidance.

一方面，你可以选择回避。

So if I'm in a boring situation, the first move we make is,

如果我觉得无聊的话， 做的第一步便是思考

how do I get out of this?

我要怎么才能不无聊？

I can physically get out of this,

我可以实际离开我身处的环境，

or what do I do?

或者我也可以做白日梦。

I daydream.

Or the most obvious thing we do is we check our phones.

当然最简单的就是看手机。

Our phones are these sophisticated boredom-avoidance devices.

手机是一种复杂的避免无聊装置。

And we avoid boredom because it’s actually painful.

我们想要逃避无聊， 因为无聊是很痛苦的。

I don't know if you've ever felt the pain of boredom.

我不知道你有没有感受过无聊的痛苦。

The pain of boredom was illustrated in a recent study

弗吉尼亚大学最近的一项研究 显示了无聊之苦。

at the University of Virginia.

They asked subjects to come into a room

他们要求受试者进入一个房间，

and just sit with their thoughts for 15 minutes.

什么都不做地单独坐 15 分钟。

And these are folks that were 18 to 70.

受试者年龄在 18 到 70 岁之间。

And they could do that,

他们可以安静地坐一刻钟， 也可以把手指放进一个机器，

or they could put their finger in a machine

and receive a painful shock.

机器则会电击他们。

The results of the study were, pun intended, shocking:

研究结果令人震惊：

30 percent of the women and 60 percent of the men

30％ 的女性和 60％ 的男性

chose to shock themselves rather than sit with their thoughts

选择电击自己，而不是安静地坐 15 分钟。

for 15 minutes.

All of this is to say that we would rather have physical pain,

这表明，我们中的许多人 宁愿遭受生理上的痛苦，

many of us, than the pain of boredom.

也不愿承受无聊的痛苦。

So avoidance is the common go-to way that we contend with it

因此，回避是最常见的应对方法，

without even thinking about it, it's automatic.

我们甚至都不用想，因为它是下意识的。

The other strategy that we employ is resignation.

另一种应对策略则是顺应无聊。

You've perhaps heard grown-ups say to children

你可能听到过，小孩子抱怨无聊时，

when they complain of boredom, "That's life. Get used to it."

成年人回答说：“生活就是这样。 习惯了就好了。”

And so the idea is that you just have to endure it.

思路是，无聊只需被忍受。 你只需要努力再坚持一下。

You just have to push through it.

I'm a teacher of teachers and a privilege I get

我会培训教师，

is I get to see teachers across all grade levels.

所以我很荣幸能见到各个年级的老师。

And I've seen some incredible spaces where the teaching is dynamic, engaging,

我也见过一些充满活力、 引人入胜的教学，令人难以置信，

it's meaningful.

非常有意义。

If there is boredom, it passes.

无聊的时刻就算来临，也会马上过去。

The students know how to deal with it in a good way.

学生们也知道如何应对它。

But sometimes I go to classes and it's boring.

但是我也去到过无聊的课堂。

And usually in those classes the students are misbehaving,

在这些课堂上，学生行为不端

and that's completely understandable.

是完全可以理解的。

And I would say even appropriate, sometimes,

有时甚至是合理的反应，

to let the teacher know that they need to change it up here.

让老师知道他们在这方面需要改变。

But sometimes I go into a boring classroom

但是也有时候，我走进一个无聊的教室，

and the students are not misbehaving.

学生们都表现很好。

I was in a classroom a few years ago, a seventh-grade classroom,

几年前，我在一间七年级的教室里，

and the students were tasked with copying a PowerPoint,

学生们的任务是用 45 分钟 逐字抄写幻灯片，

word for word, for 45 minutes.

I was bored out of my mind.

我都快无聊疯了。

And I turned to the student next to me and I said,

我转向我旁边的学生说：

"Is this kind of what you do?"

“你们平时就做这个？”

And he said, "We do this every day."

他说：“我们每天都这样做。”

And what amazed me was the students were docile.

令我惊讶的是，学生们都很听话。

They were compliant.

I expected, I actually hoped there would be a protest or a revolution.

我以为，甚至希望， 学生会抗议、闹革命，

I thought this teacher should be punished for having such a boring class.

我以为这么无聊的课堂 会让老师受到惩罚。

But instead, the students just were passive.

但相反，学生们非常被动。

They were just resigned.

他们完全顺应了无聊。

When my kids were younger, they would complain to me,

当我孩子还小的时候，他们会向我抱怨：

"Dad, I'm so bored, there's nothing to do."

“爸爸，我好无聊，没什么可做的。”

And there are two things going on there in that comment.

这句抱怨体现了两点。

The first is a lack of imagination.

首先是想象力的匮乏。

"I'm so bored, I can't see anything worthwhile to do."

“我好无聊，我想不出有什么可做的。”

That's resignation.

这是对无聊的顺应。

And then there's also a loss of agency.

同时，这句话也体现了选择权的丧失。

"I'm so bored, there's nothing I can do to get out of this."

“我很无聊，而且对这件事 我无能为力。”

So we have resignation on the one hand and we have avoidance.

因此，一方面我们可以顺应， 另一方面我们可以回避。

These are the two common strategies

这是我们在不知不觉中 采用的两种常见策略。

that we employ without even recognizing it.

I'm interested in what is a practically wise way,

我感兴趣的是，有没有一种 更明智、更实际的措施，

a middle way between avoidance on the one hand

在回避和顺应之间找到一条中庸之道。

and resignation on the other.

And I think about this in light of two stories from my own life.

我自己生活中的两件事给我提供了思路。

After college, I lived in a house in Chicago with with three teachers.

大学毕业后，我和三名教师一起 住在芝加哥的一所房子里。

And one of my roommates, Mark,

我的一个室友叫马克（Mark）。

I met him the first day and probably within the first day,

在见到他的第一天，

I decided he was just kind of dull.

我就觉得他有点乏味。

He kind of took his time to make his points,

马克总是慢条斯理地表述自己的观点，

and I decided that I was going to limit the amount of time I spent with Mark.

所以我决定少花时间和他在一起。

I was going to avoid him.

我本来想回避他的。

We were roommates, though.

但是我们是室友，

I would see Mark every day.

我每天都会见到马克。

We used the same bathroom.

我们共用一间浴室。

Every day after school, we would talk about teaching.

每天下班后，我们都会谈论教学。

And I discovered that Mark actually was a really thoughtful teacher.

我发现马克实际上 是一位非常体贴的老师。

He was a creative teacher, he was an innovative teacher.

他富有创造力，很有创新精神。

And he wasn’t just trying to improve his teaching,

而且他不仅努力改善自己的教学，

he was also trying to improve himself.

还在努力提高自己。

And he was always thinking about work and life

而且他一直在进行对工作和生活的思考，

and figuring out the right balance.

并找到合适的平衡点。

And over time, I realized Mark is not boring.

随着时间的推移， 我意识到马克并不无聊，

Actually he's wise.

其实是个很明智的人。

And he's a dear friend to this day.

他至今仍是我很好的朋友。

But my initial assessment of Mark as a boring person

但是我最初对马克的判断是完全错误的。

was just completely wrong.

The mood state was giving me information

我没有正确解读我当时的情绪状态 传递给我的信息。

that I was not reading correctly.

The second story is from my first year of high school teaching,

第二个故事来自我高中教学的第一年。

which, the first year is demanding work,

第一年的工作要求很高，

and you're kind of looking for shelter and comfort.

所以新老师很需要一种庇护所和舒适感。

And I found a group of teachers to have lunch with

我找了一群老师一起吃午饭。

and would go there to eat lunch.

But eventually the conversations were just complaint sessions,

但是每天我们的谈话都是抱怨，

day in and day out.

And we usually complained about administrators.

我们最常抱怨的是学校的行政人员。

That was our number one target,

他们是我们的头号目标，

especially administrators who hadn't taught.

尤其是那些没有上课经验的行政人员。

Our second complaint was maybe a difficult student or parent,

我们的第二号目标可能是 某个难以应付的学生或家长。

but day in and day out, it was this negative loop.

但日复一日， 这就形成一种负面循环。

It was like being stuck in the first part of the movie "Groundhog Day,"

就像电影《土拨鼠之日》里一样，

and it was just unending.

每天都是无休止的循环往复。

And eventually I just got bored with this conversation.

终于，这种对话实在让我感到无聊。

And I pulled away.

我选择撤退。

I began to eat lunch in my classroom by myself.

我开始独自在教室里吃午饭。

But eventually I found other teachers

但慢慢地，我开始遇到其他教师，

who were also vigilant about steering away from complaint culture,

他们也对这种令人上瘾的 抱怨文化持谨慎态度。

which is addictive.

It seems interesting, but eventually, it gets very, very boring,

刚开始抱怨似乎很有趣， 但最终它会变得非常非常无聊。

complaint culture.

And instead of complaining,

而且这些老师并不抱怨，

they would talk about books they were enjoying

而是谈论自己喜欢的书

or hobbies that they loved

或自己喜欢的爱好，

or what went well in their teaching.

或者自己在教学中表现出色的地方。

And these were conversations that I found very interesting.

我发现这些对话非常有意思。

And also they were restorative.

而且它们恢复了我的精力， 让我充满活力地投入课堂。

They lifted my spirits to go in and teach my classes.

I share these two stories because in both instances

我分享这两个故事是因为在这两种情况下

I was experiencing boredom.

我都感受到了无聊，却不知道如何应对。

But what to make of it was not clear.

And so I want to offer three takeaways.

因此，我想说三个要点，

And I'm thinking of young people as they figure out strategies

尤其是考虑到年轻人要摸索出

for contending with this troubling mood state.

应对这种令人困惑的情绪的策略。

The first takeaway is that boredom should not be trusted.

第一点是，不要相信无聊这种情绪。

We tend to trust boredom.

我们倾向于信任无聊。

We make an implicit judgment about something or someone

我们暗暗对某事或某人做出判断，

and decide it's boring.

将其认定为无聊。

And it’s arrogant, it’s judgmental

这种情绪很傲慢，对事物评头论足，

and often is wrong.

而且往往是错误的。

We need to take a careful look

这时我们需要仔细观察，

and make sure that there might be something here worthwhile,

在其中看到值得关注的事情。

worth attending to.

So don't trust boredom is takeaway one.

所以第一点是不要相信无聊。

The second takeaway is we need to protect our attention.

第二点，我们需要保护我们的注意力。

A bored mind is primed to get distracted from distraction by distraction.

无聊的大脑随时都可能被分散注意力。

It is looking to be distracted.

不分散才怪。

And when we think about the things we care about, our friends

想一想我们关心的事物，我们的朋友，

or something we’re trying to get good at

我们想变得更加擅长的技能，

or a hobby that we love,

或我们喜欢的爱好，

each of these things will be afflicted by boredom.

所有这一切都会让我们感到无聊。

It will come.

总有一刻，无聊会来袭。

And if we are in an environment where we're easily distracted,

如果我们处在一个 容易被分散注意力的环境中，

boredom will get the better of us.

无聊就会战胜我们。

Don't trust boredom, protect our attention.

不要相信无聊，要保护我们的注意力。

And then finally, we need to talk about boredom.

最后，我们需要谈论这种情绪。

We all have strategies that we employ.

我们每个人都有自己的策略。

We need to name those strategies.

我们需要给这些策略命名。

There was a great writer in the '80s who described our modern life

80 年代，一位伟大的作家 将我们的现代生活描述为

as a sophisticated boredom-avoidance scheme.

一种精密的机制， 不择手段地避免无聊之感。

Walker Percy said that.

这句话是沃克·珀西（Walker Percy）说的。

The scheme is far more sophisticated today.

如今，这个机制还要精密得多。 这一点我们都心知肚明。

We know that.

But to the extent that we're not reflecting on it and thinking about it,

但是，如果我们不对此进行反思和思考，

boredom plays us and gets the better of us.

无聊就会影响我们，将我们击退。

But the extent that we're reflecting on it and thinking about it,

但是，只要我们常常反思，

we can put boredom in its place and give our attention

我们对无聊置之不理，将注意力集中

and protect our attention

to those things we love and the people we care about.

在我们所爱的事物和关心的人身上。

Thank you very much.

非常感谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）