Profs and Pints Online presents: “Overcoming Boredom,” with James Danckert, who researches boredom as a professor of psychology and cognitive neuroscience at the University of Waterloo.

Much of what most of think we know about boredom is wrong.  No, boredom is not trivial, it’s not laziness in disguise, and boring people aren’t the ones who gets bored. No, humans are not the only ones who get bored—just ask your dog or cat.

Come join James Danckert, a leading boredom expert, for a talk that you actually might find exciting if you are trying to get a better sense of how to manage whatever boredom you might be feeling these days. He’ll demystify boredom by showing what it really is: a signal telling us that what we are doing right now is failing to satisfy a basic need to be engaged in the pursuit of meaningful goals. And because animals get bored too, our predisposition for it could be a trait favored by natural selection.

Boredom is a motivational state, one in which we are agitated precisely because we want something to engage with, and just don’t want whatever is available to us right now. It is uncomfortable because it highlights for us that we are not being particularly effective agents, and we don’t like that.

Boredom is not trivial, certainly for those who experience it often and intensely. For these people boredom is associated with elevated levels of depression, anxiety and aggression–the latter a kind of hostility to the world for not being enough.

All is not doom and gloom. If we listen well to boredom we can hear a positive message: stay calm and reflect on what matters most to us. We all get bored. This talk will enable you to join those who deal with it more effectively than others. (Ticket: $12. This talk will remain available in recorded form.)

Profs & Pints Online: Overcoming Boredom