First of all, a confession: I am utterly scatterbrained. My mind wanders…. a lot. It’s like this Sartrean forward flight that sears as it projects from thought to thought. Consequently, I am always thinking and even manage to grasp on to certain patterns of thought that I repeat and build on –that is while allowing the input of the books I read (mostly philosophy (like a daily meditation (that which I allow to flow through me. I catch some of it while other parts flow through my filters. This is why I write. As H.L. Mencken said:
“How would I know what I think if I didn’t write?”
I use to think, and then write about what I thought. But that has changed because, now, when I’m not writing, I’m taking in the creations of others. But some (actually a lot (of the time I’m taking in information, my mind is wandering. And according to common doxa concerning intellect, I should think of myself as simply scatterbrain rather than intelligent. But I don’t. And I take this position because I know I am greatly changed in my conceptual constructions than I was any given time ago. And the only proof I can offer for that is what I write.
That said, I got some reassurance from a podcast from Studio 360 on the relationship between creativity and boredom: studio360.org/story/want-to- … ing-bored/. The main point was that creativity may be being stifled because kids today don’t have to deal with boredom thanks to new technology. And there was research that demonstrated how boredom tended to make people more creative because of a default state of the brain when there is no stimulation.
And it would be hard for me to disagree with this since I became who I am because of a lot of time spent alone in rural environments with no one around and nothing better to do than spend a lot of time daydreaming. Nowadays, since I have discovered intellectual and creative curiosity, I generally say that I haven’t felt boredom in some time. But I realize that is not true. I actually experience it all the time when I’m listening to some audiobook that is doing nothing for me or, more importantly, reading some philosophical text that means absolutely nothing to me. I’m just letting it flow through me while my mind is wandering: in other words, creating.
What I am suggesting here is that reading philosophy (especially of the French kind (and I mean it: damn the French and their weird obscure philosophies anyway! (may be the ultimate kind of creative boredom in that it allows the mind to wander while allowing for input via a kind of osmosis. And we have all experienced that osmosis. This is why a book of philosophy will start to make more sense with further readings: it’s as if our filters have developed with each reading.
And since I have a few words left in this window (and in order to justify putting this on the Zen board (I would point out how Alex Pang, in The Distraction Addiction, takes it deeper in how Buddhist Monks see not just our technology as a distraction, but our brain-chatter as well. And there is an important connection.