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Are Our Actions Simply A Protest Against the Monotony Of Existence
They note that the shooting wasn’t rare and how the problem stemmed from a lack of gun control, but an interesting point stands out. One of the killers said that they were bored because they didn’t have anything to do and decided to kill somebody. Bertrand Russell tells us that a wish to escape boredom is natural and has been the cause for wars, persecutions, quarrels, and half the sins of mankind. If that is true it makes sense that we might look at what boredom and monotony do to us because apparently our escape route from those states can have negative consequences for us and others.
Russell believed that enduring boredom is essential to a happy normal life. He refers to fruitful monotony whereby a person enjoys profound satisfaction in the simple things of life. Where a person seeks to cultivate wisdom and enjoy the activities associated with doing that. Where a life well lived is about enjoying beauty versus jagged surprises. He advocates for partaking in passive amusements and understanding that too much excitement can act like a drug in that you need more and more in order to stay stimulated. There is benefit to enduring the monotonous life if we are primed to see that.
“People prone to boredom show increased aggression, higher rates of drug and alcohol addiction, gambling, depression, anxiety…
