2014年，一组研究人员请参与者独自与自己的思绪共处15分钟。唯一可用的消遣是一个能释放痛苦电击的按钮。近一半的参与者按下了它。该研究得出结论：“人们更喜欢做点什么，而不是思考”——即使唯一能做的事是痛苦的。原因或许是，如果任其自处，人们的大脑往往会飘向不情愿的方向。
自智能手机普及以来，大多数人口袋里都揣着一个心理层面的“电击按钮”——一种能瞬间驱散无聊的设备。在安静或孤独的时刻，或是深夜焦虑浮现时，我们常常伸手拿起手机找点事做。但值得反思的是：逃避不想要的思绪，从未像现在这样容易。
智能手机也增加了我们高效利用时间、不浪费每一分钟的压力。过去，匆忙的通勤者或许只能盯着窗外或在上班路上看书；如今，他们可能试图在火车上处理邮件，以免感到内疚和低效。静坐无所事事被视为浪费时间，但这忽略了一个事实：当我们看似什么也没做时，往往正在努力思考。那些在我们伸手掏出手机前几毫秒开始浮现的、艰涩或不受控制的半成型想法，后来都去哪儿了？
虽然无聊可能令人不快，但它是有用的。就像饥饿或孤独一样，无聊在传递一种需求——一种想做点别的事情的渴望。手机提供的浅层刺激让人能立即逃离无聊，并迅速回避我们或许需要倾听的信息，比如“我为什么会有这种感觉？”或“我缺少什么需要的东西？”如果我们暂停一下、倾听内心，或许就能做出自己的选择，而不是被软件工程师所控制。这甚至可能成为迈向更充实人生的第一步——一种有意义、有创造力且自由的人生。
附：英文原文
In 2014, a group of researchers asked people to sit alone with their thougnts for 15 minutes.The only available distraction was a button that delivered a painful electric shock. Almost half of ahe participants pressed it. The study concluded that“people prefer doing to thinking”,even if the anly thing available ta do is painful—perhaps because,if left to their own devices,people's minds tend to wander in unwanted direnons.
Since the mass adoption of smartphones, most people have been walking around with the psychological equivalent of a shock button in their pocket: a device that can fight off boredom in an instant. We often reach for our phones for something to do during moments of quiet or loneliness, or to distract us late at night when anxious thoughts surface.But it's worth reflecting, on the fact that avoiding unwanted mind -wandering is easier than it has ever been.
Smartphones have also increased the pressure to use our time productively and make the most of every minute.If once a rushed commuter might have been forced to stare out of the window or read a book on the train to work,they may try to catch up on their emails to avoid feeling guilty and inefficient.To sit and do nothing is seen as a waste of time, but that ignores the fact that when we’re doing nothing,we’re often thinking quite hard.What happens to all those difficult or untamed half-thoughts that start to form in the milliseconds before we dig into our pockets and pull out our phones again.
While boredom can feel unpleasant, it's useful. Like hunger or loneliness,it sgnals a need--a desire to do something different. Phones' superficial stimulation provides an immediate escape from boredom and allows us to swiftly avoid messages that we might need to hear, such as" why am I feeling this?” or “What do I need that I'm not getting?" If we pause and Iisten, then perhaps we can make a choice rather than being controlled by software engineers It could even be the first step towards a life that feels more stimulating overall: meaningful, creative and free.
