Do various languages understand boredom in the same way?
The text is based on Finkielsztein, M. (2021). Boredom and Academic Work. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 38-42. What is boredom seems to be pretty obvious in our globalized world but do different languages and cultures actually understand it in the same way? Do the closest equivalents of the…
Keep readingBOREDOM MYTHS 2: “Intelligent people never get bored” or WHY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE (ALSO) GET BORED
As the popular statement goes, intelligent people never get bored. And since, as Descartes noted, the reason is the best-distributed thing in the world – as everyone thinks they are well supplied with it – the greater part of humanity maintains that they are never bored. However, as Flaubert pointed…
Keep readingBoredom Matters #1 – The ISBS Podcast
The International Society of Boredom Studies’ podcast has been launched! Produced by ISBS, created and hosted by Annie Runkel. In the first episode, Annie Runkel speaks to the psychologist Eric Igou, the philosopher Andreas Elpidorou, the sociologist Mariusz Finkielsztein and the architecture scholar Christian Parreño to hear their take on…
Keep readingThe Significance and Causes of School Boredom
Introduction – boredom as an attributive feature of school institutions Most studies on students’ experiences of school clearly show that boredom is “a necessary component of schools”, inevitable attribute of school institutions (Breidenstein, 2007, 103) and that “the concept of boredom is a defining element of what students experience as…
Keep readingBetween Pain and Pleasure: A Short History of Boredom and Boredology
Based on: Finkielsztein, M. (2018). Wstęp. Między cierpieniem a przyjemnością: krótka historia nudy i nudologii [Introduction. Between Pain and Pleasure: a Brief History of Boredom and Boredology]. Maska, 37, 8-18. Boredom is a universal human experience, or, to quote enlightenment philosopher, Helvetius, “it is a force in the universe more powerful and acting…
Keep readingBoredom and Disgust: Oversatiation, Ennui and Disgust for Life
Based on: Finkielsztein, M. (2016). Nuda a wstręt. Przesyt, ennui i wstręt do życia [Boredom and Disgust: Oversatiation, Ennui and Disgust for Life]. Stan Rzeczy, 11(2), 61-73. https://doi.org/10.51196/srz.11.4 Boredom and disgust are closely related emotions. This thesis, at first glance, may seem rather bold, but there are many convincing arguments for its validity. These…
Keep readingEarly-Career Teachers and Chronic Boredom
Based on: Finkielsztein, M. (2021). From Passionate Engagement to Chronic Boredom in Polish Academia: An Overview of Early-Career Motivation and Systemic Contributory Factors. In: J. Crutchley, Z. Nahaboo & N. Rao (Eds.), Early Career Teachers: International Narratives of Transitions within Higher Education (pp. 121, 123-125). London: Bloomsbury. Pedagogical Predicaments Teachers often find…
Keep readingBOREDOM AND ACADEMIC WORK
Based on: Finkielsztein, M. (2021). Boredom and Academic Work. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 2-6. [preview at Google Books] There is rather little doubt that people experience boredom, especially at work. According to Walter Benjamin, who summarized Émile Tardieu’s (1913) book on the subject, ‘all human activity is shown…
Keep readingBoredom Coping Strategies among University Students
Based on: Finkielsztein, M. (2020). Class-Related Boredom among University Students: A Qualitative Research on Boredom Coping Strategies. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 44(8), 1098-1113. Many of us certainly experienced many boring moments during our university studies though we may not be able to recollect all those moments as boredom is an…
Keep readingBOREDOM AND LAZINESS, SLOTH AND ACEDIA
Based on Finkielsztein, M. (2018). Nuda a lenistwo, gnuśność i acedia [Boredom and laziness, sloth, and acedia]. Maska, 37, 36-50. Of the title concepts, ‘boredom’ is by far the youngest. The toposes of sloth and laziness are as old as civilization itself, acedia is of ancient origin – while boredom, understood in a…
Keep readingCivitas on Air – Podcast on Boredom
The translation of the interview with Mariusz Finkielsztein – Civitas on Air (2021, June 14). Nuda w domu, nuda w pracy… Co robić? [Boredom at home, boredom at work… What to do?] [Podcast]. Roland Zarzycki: Today, together with my guest, Mariusz Finkielsztein, we will talk about why we all think we know what boredom…
Keep readingWhat mindless scrolling does to you? [YouTube]
Have social media, smartphones and digital technology robbed us of the benefits of boredom? In this video, Taha from Answer in Progress explores if there is a hidden value to boredom by, well… being very bored (but not at all boring!). Turns out, he was thinking about boredom all wrong…
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MARIUSZ FINKIELSZTEIN, Ph.D. 