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The Making of a Dumb Datum

Imagine 10,000 years in the future. Two archaeologists are digging a site, and they find the remains of human bones. They take those remains to the lab, perform tests on them, and try to reconstruct the habits and lifestyle of that human. Say those bones belong to me. They are trying to find out my story, how I lived, what I ate, where I traveled, etc. Once they find all the info they need, they toss it into a museum where they store all other such ancient human remains they find. I was essentially one data point to them in trying to understand how humanity evolved over time. Or I can also call myself a “datum”, the singular form of data, literally one piece of information to solve a bigger puzzle. Honestly, I don’t need 10,000 years to become a datum. I am already a part of several datasets people use these days to study many things. So for that objective learner, I am already a datum. Now let me get to how I got the dumb part of it. I have had an interesting and eventful life so far...
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Mildly Boring

I often think about this one research study I read in past, where participants were asked to choose between sitting for 15 mins in a silent room with the company of their thoughts, versus hitting themselves with a mild electric shock. And majority of men actually chose to shock themselves. I am not surprised.

When our brains lack novelty and external stimuli, that’s when our sleep generating systems get triggered, resulting in a big loud yawn with the words “boring” flashing in our heads. But it doesn’t just stop there, our brains start to wander. They reach those mental spaces that we desperately try to hide and avoid, and make us relive the experiences we would rather pay to avoid reliving, if we could.

Recently, I was experiencing a few difficult emotions and memories playing in my head on repeat. So, I pulled a strategy from a long list of coping mechanisms I have, which involves running as hard as I can to tire myself physically, and thereby mentally, to find an escape from these thoughts. But this is a concerning behavior tantamount to self-abuse as per my rational mind, so I have decided to work on this in a manner that’s true to my heart – by thinking through it in a structured way:

1.     I have always been a boring person. I have made a career and several close friendships out of being boringly consistent. I don’t have it in me to be flashy and loud, and I can’t be the center of attention in any aspect of my life. But what I always did well was doing the boring tasks consistently, and showing up for people in little boring ways. Despite my thoughts and emotions overwhelming me, I always found the joy in mundane, which enabled me to not abandon a difficult task or a friendship.

2.     Modern world demonizes boredom. I read a lot of research about how our dopamine reward systems were systematically hijacked by several products to reduce our boredom tolerance. This is good for businesses, because a compulsion for novelty in a customer’s mind generates more sales, but at what cost? Addictions are on a raise because of this, and society as a whole is only getting more impulsive and unhappy.

3.     There’s a societal need to reframe boredom. Boredom is the art of being still, it is the art of not escaping, it is the art of being consistent. Boredom can be courage in disguise. Because how else can one chose to face the demons hiding deep in their minds, and return stronger? Boredom can also be divine. Because how else can one tap into their spirituality to experience the God, without an awareness of their demons and a still mind to guide them?

I have decided to experiment with boredom next, and I will try to be true to the person I am underneath - a really boring person with slightly amusing and slightly concerning thoughts.

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