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Lectures in Philosophy 2.3
Boredom and the meaning of life
The German philosopher Schopenhauer once said, "Boredom is the subjective experience of one's own life time." "Boredom, often thought of as a negative emotion, is a manifestation of a lack of excitement and meaning in life. However, if we dig deeper, we will find that boredom is actually an integral part of life, and it reflects the deep life conditions and psychological needs of human beings.
The English philosopher Russell once emphasized: "Boredom and idleness are the cradle of imagination." ”
True inner peace and wisdom come from accepting and exploiting boredom, not escaping. From a philosophical perspective, boredom is a basic emotion of life. It floats between self and the world. It is in a state of deep boredom that people can see their truest selves. In Heidegger's view, if one can bravely face one's most authentic groundlessness, rather than trying to eliminate boredom in an evasive and recreational way, as is usually the case, then when deep boredom occurs, one can look at everything in life with new eyes, and experience strange and vivid feelings from things that are previously taken for granted.
As Heidegger said, "Boredom is freedom, and we exercise our freedom as human beings through our decisions." ”
Text: Han Byung-chul
Due to the lack of tranquility,
Our civilization will gradually come to an end in a new state of barbarism.
Activists, those who never rest, are now in vogue more than ever before.
Therefore, one should make the necessary corrections to human nature and add a large number of elements of leisurely meditation to it.
Excessive positivity can also manifest itself as excessive stimuli, information, and information, which fundamentally alters the structure and functioning of attention. As a result, perception becomes fragmented and fragmented. In addition, the increasing workload requires a special technique for managing time and attention, which in turn affects the structure of attention. Multitasking, as a technique for managing time and attention, does not represent the progress of civilization. Multitasking is not a new human skill acquired in order to adapt to the needs of the late modern information society. More precisely, it represents a kind of regression. Multitasking is prevalent when animals are in wild hunting areas. This attention management technique is an essential skill for survival in the wilderness.
An eating animal must juggle several other tasks at the same time. For example, it must prevent the enemy from approaching its own catch. It must always be careful to make sure that it does not get eaten while eating. It also has to protect its offspring and its mates at the same time. In natural hunting areas, animals have to distract themselves from different activities. As a result, it cannot concentrate or immerse itself in any activity, whether it is eating or mating. The animal cannot concentrate and be absorbed in the object in front of it, because it must also pay attention to the background environment. In addition to multitasking, other activities, such as computer games, can also create a broad but superficial attention span, similar to the situation in wild animals. Recent social developments, as well as structural shifts in attention, have led to an increase in the resemblance of human societies to natural hunting areas. Workplace bullying, for example, is now rampant. In the past, people were concerned about how to have a good life, which also included how to live together in harmony, but now people only think about how to survive.
Human achievements in the field of culture, including philosophical thought, owe it to our deep, single-minded attention. Culture can only be produced in an environment that allows for deep attention. This deep attention is increasingly marginalized, giving way to another kind of attention, hyperaufmerksamkeit. This sluggish attention manifests itself in the constant shift of focus between multiple tasks, sources of information, and work procedures. Since this attention does not tolerate a trace of boredom, it also does not accept a deep boredom that is precisely important for creative activity. Walter Benjamin called this deep boredom "the bird of dreams, the hatching of the egg of experience". If sleep is the highest form of physical relaxation, then deep boredom is the ultimate state of mental relaxation.
Busyness doesn't produce anything new. It only repeats or accelerates what already exists. Benjamin lamented that the nest of the dream bird, built by rest and time, is disappearing in modern society. There is no more "weaving and netting" activities.
Boredom is a "warm, grey cloth with a dazzling, colourful lining" that "when we dream, we wrap ourselves in it".
We were "familiar and cosy with the arabesque pattern on its lining". Without relaxation and rest, we lose the "ability to listen" and there is no "listening community". They are in direct opposition to our overly active society.
The "ability to listen" is based precisely on the contemplative concentration (Aufmerksamkeit), an area that an overly active subject cannot reach.
If a person is bored while walking, and there is no way to endure it, he will turn around anxiously, irritably, and eagerly looking for all kinds of activities. And those who are more patient with boredom will realize after a moment of patience that perhaps it is this way of walking that makes him bored. This prompted him to invent new ways of walking. Running isn't a new way of walking, it's just walking at a faster pace. Dance or drifting is a new way of moving. Only humans are capable of dancing.
Perhaps he experienced a deep boredom while walking, and was inspired by boredom to change his walking steps to dance steps. However, compared with the linear, straight walking, the fancy dance seems to be too extravagant, and it does not meet the requirements of the performance principle at all.
When we talk about the "contemplative life" (Vita contemplativa), we should not at the same time try to recall the world that gave rise to this maxim in the first place. That world is connected to an existential experience according to which beauty and truth are eternal and unattainable, and no human being has a right to them. The tone is a kind of wonder at the nature of things (das So-Sein der Dinge), free from any shaping or processing.
The new-age, Cartesian skepticism dispels this astonishment. However, the ability to contemplate does not have to be connected to eternal and unchanging existence.
On the contrary, only contemplative concentration can decipher what is suspended and uncertain, what is hidden or fleeting. Only by staying in contemplation can we enter a long, calm state. The persistent form and state eliminates all symptoms of hyperactivity.
Paul Cézanne, a master of contemplative concentration, once said to be able to see the fragrance of things. Translating scents into visual impressions requires a deep concentration. In a contemplative state, one is able to detach oneself and immerse oneself in things.
Merleau-Ty describes Cézanne's deep concern for landscape as a process of "Entäußerung" or "Entinnerlichung": "First, he tries to clearly outline the morphology of the surface. Then he remained in one position, watching until his eyes were about to pop out of his head, as Madame Cézanne had said. ...... He once said that the landscape thinks within me, and I am its consciousness. ”
Only deep concentration can restrain the "wandering eyes" and thus produce a kind of "concentration" (Sammlung), in which "the naturally moving hands are stacked together in peace." Without this concentration, the gaze will be confused and unable to show anything. However, art is an "act of expression".
Although Ni replaced existence with will, he also believed that if all leisurely contemplation was removed from human life, humanity would end up in a deadly hyperaktivität.
"In the absence of tranquility, our civilization will gradually end to a new state of barbarism. Activists, those who never rest, are now in vogue more than ever before. Therefore, one should make the necessary corrections to human nature and add a large number of elements of leisurely meditation to it. ”
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