Boredom

Author: Peter Toohey
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300172168
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 193

Book Description
In the first book to argue for the benefits of boredom, Peter Toohey dispels the myth that it's simply a childish emotion or an existential malaise like Jean-Paul Sartre's nausea. He shows how boredom is, in fact, one of our most common and constructive emotions and is an essential part of the human experience. This informative and entertaining investigation of boredom--what it is and what it isn't, its uses and its dangers--spans more than 3,000 years of history and takes readers through fascinating neurological and psychological theories of emotion, as well as recent scientific investigations, to illustrate its role in our lives. There are Australian aboriginals and bored Romans, Jeffrey Archer and caged cockatoos, Camus and the early Christians, Durer and Degas. Toohey also explores the important role that boredom plays in popular and highbrow culture and how over the centuries it has proven to be a stimulus for art and literature. Toohey shows that boredom is a universal emotion experienced by humans throughout history and he explains its place, and value, in today's world. "Boredom: A Lively History "is vital reading for anyone interested in what goes on when supposedly nothing happens.

The Empty Canvas

Author: Alberto Moravia
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Artists
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Book Description

On Boredom

Author: Rye Dag Holmboe
Publisher: UCL Press
ISBN: 1787359468
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 166

Book Description
What do we mean when we say that we are bored? Or when we find a subject boring? Contributors to On Boredom: Essays in art and writing, which include artists, art historians, psychoanalysts and a novelist, examine boredom in its manifold and uncertain reality. Each part of the book takes up a crucial moment in the history of boredom and presents it in a new light, taking the reader from the trials of the consulting room to the experience of hysteria in the nineteenth century. The book pays particular attention to boredom’s relationship with the sudden and rapid advances in technology that have occurred in recent decades, specifically technologies of communication, surveillance and automation. On Boredom is idiosyncratic for its combination of image and text, and the artworks included in its pages – by Mathew Hale, Martin Creed and Susan Morris – help turn this volume into a material expression of boredom itself. With other contributions from Josh Cohen, Briony Fer, Anouchka Grose, Rye Dag Holmboe, Margaret Iversen, Tom McCarthy and Michael Newman, the book will appeal to readers in the fields of art history, literature, cultural studies and visual culture, from undergraduate students to professional artists working in new media.

The Anti-Boredom Book of Brilliant Things to Do

Author: Andy Seed
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1510754946
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 161

Book Description
Games, quizzes, challenges, and activities to help kids have fun, beat boredom, and stay busy anytime and anywhere! Jam-packed with witty jokes, mind-boggling puzzles and challenges, wacky ideas, silly questions, fun quizzes, and interesting list this book is perfect for those times when you don't anything to do. With more than a hundred different activities, it's guaranteed to keep you amused for hours! The Anti-Boredom Book of Brilliant Things to Do is divided into various themes with lots of different things to do for each one. There are creative activities, items to choose and score, riddles to solve, games, and loads of funny stuff! Some of those things include: Design an awesome, one-of-a-kind sandwich "Would you rather?" sports questions Create some crazy names for an imaginary friend Learn some cool slang for "money" List the craziest pets you can imagine Rate popular music genres Trivia about classic movies and TV shows Write your own school report Quiz to choose your dream job How to say "cell phone" in eleven different languages And more! Even though real life is filled with plenty of action, sometimes you find yourself sitting through a never-ending car ride, waiting on a long line, or with a couple hours with nothing planned, take the time to boost your skills. Sharpen up your imagination, prepare to have a laugh, gather your friends and family, and get ready to never be bored again!

Out of My Skull

Author: James Danckert
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674984676
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Book Description
No one likes to be bored. Two leading psychologists explain what causes boredom and how to listen to what it is telling you, so you can live a more engaged life. We avoid boredom at all costs. It makes us feel restless and agitated. Desperate for something to do, we play games on our phones, retie our shoes, or even count ceiling tiles. And if we escape it this time, eventually it will strike again. But what if we listened to boredom instead of banishing it? Psychologists James Danckert and John Eastwood contend that boredom isn’t bad for us. It’s just that we do a bad job of heeding its guidance. When we’re bored, our minds are telling us that whatever we are doing isn’t working—we’re failing to satisfy our basic psychological need to be engaged and effective. Too many of us respond poorly. We become prone to accidents, risky activities, loneliness, and ennui, and we waste ever more time on technological distractions. But, Danckert and Eastwood argue, we can let boredom have the opposite effect, motivating the change we need. The latest research suggests that an adaptive approach to boredom will help us avoid its troubling effects and, through its reminder to become aware and involved, might lead us to live fuller lives. Out of My Skull combines scientific findings with everyday observations to explain an experience we’d like to ignore, but from which we have a lot to learn. Boredom evolved to help us. It’s time we gave it a chance.

A Kids Book about Boredom

Author: Kyle Steed
Publisher: DK Children
ISBN: 9780241743218
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Learn to embrace and discover the benefits of boredom and realize your full potential. We all know what it's like to feel bored--you must be pretty bored if you're reading the back of this book! But did you know that being bored is actually one of the most wonderful and powerful things in life? Some of the best things ever created or discovered happened when someone was bored. It's true! With this book, kids can learn to embrace and discover the benefits of boredom and realize their full potential.

Beat Boredom

Author: Martha Rush
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1003843808
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Book Description
Are your students bored in class? According to research, a majority of American high school students report being bored in class and fewer than 5% claimed that they were rarely bored during a typical day in school. Former journalist and veteran teacher Martha Rush decided this would not do for her Minnesota students. Moving beyond asking open-ended questions and making connections to their own lives, Martha began to engage her government, journalism, and economics classes in meaty discussions, competitions, simulations, and authentic work, like running a newspaper or starting a business. Building on her more than 800 interviews with high school graduates, she offers up strategies in all subject areas for active engagement, moving way beyond traditional passive memorization of information. She describes how to create innovative experiences in your classroom, and shares her own lessons and her students' work. Beat Boredom will help you join the ranks of teachers who have challenged the status quo and found ways to motivate even the most reluctant learners.

Boredom

Author: Patricia Meyer Spacks
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226768533
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 316

Book Description
This book offers a witty explanation of why boredom both haunts and motivates the literary imagination. Moving from Samuel Johnson to Donald Barthelme, from Jane Austen to Anita Brookner, Spacks shows us at last how we arrived in a postmodern world where boredom is the all-encompassing name we give our discontent. Her book, anything but boring, gives us new insight into the cultural usefulness—and deep interest—of boredom as a state of mind.

Terminal Boredom

Author: Izumi Suzuki
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1788739884
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Book Description
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by Thrillist, The Millions, Frieze, and Metropolis Japan The first English language publication of the work of Izumi Suzuki, a legend of Japanese science fiction and a countercultural icon At turns nonchalantly hip and charmingly deranged, Suzuki's singular slant on speculative fiction would be echoed in countless later works, from Margaret Atwood and Harumi Murakami, to Black Mirror and Ex Machina. In these darkly playful and punky stories, the fantastical elements are always earthed by the universal pettiness of strife between the sexes, and the gritty reality of life on the lower rungs, whatever planet that ladder might be on. Translated by Polly Barton, Sam Bett, David Boyd, Daniel Joseph, Aiko Masubuchi, and Helen O'Horan.

Battling Boredom

Author: Bryan Harris
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317926420
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Book Description
Drive boredom out of your classroom - and keep it out - with the student-engagement strategies in this book. You'll learn how to gain and sustain the attention of your students from the moment the bell rings. Perfect for teachers of all subjects and grade levels, these activities go head-to-head with student boredom and disengagement, resulting in class time that's more efficient, more educational, and loads more fun!Author Bryan Harris, an expert in student engagement and classroom management, has extensive experience in K-12 motivation and brain-based learning. In this book, he brings togeth.