It’s time to go again to the A Moment of Science mailbag. A listener writes:

Dear A Moment of Science,

Everyone gets bored from time to time. But I was wondering–what is boredom exactly, scientifically speaking?

Common Problem

Boredom is one of those really common things that, partly because it’s so common, is rarely investigated with much rigor. But a study by researchers in Canada aims to change that. In fact, they’ve come up with a definition of boredom.

According to the study, boredom is “an aversive state of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity,” arising from failures in one of the brain’s attention networks.

Focusing On The Problem

In other words, you’re bored when you can’t quite focus on stuff–such as thoughts or things happening around you–that allows you to engage in absorbing activities. And, to make it worse, you’re sort of aware that you can’t pay attention, which makes you feel listless and, well, bored.

Boredom is linked to many psychological, social, and health problems. For example, being bored at work can make you less productive and, in some jobs, can lead to serious accidents. Also, boredom has been linked to substance abuse and other health issues.

There are all sorts of ways to try to avoid becoming bored, or snapping out of it when you feel bored. But this research could be a first step towards developing more scientific ways to curb boredom.

从科学的角度来说什么是厌倦

又到了科学一刻的读信时间，一位听友写道：

亲爱的《科学一刻》栏目：

每个人时不时都感觉到对某事的厌倦。但是我想知道---从科学的角度看，厌倦具体指的是什么呢?

普遍的问题

厌倦是一个普遍存在的现象，因为它是如此普遍，因此人们很少花费时间精力对它进行调查研究。加拿大研究人员试图改变这种现状。事实上，他们已经对厌倦给出了定义。

调查研究表明，厌倦是指“渴望但又无法从事令人满意的活动的一种反感状态”，起因是大脑注意力网络故障。

焦聚该问题

换句话说，当你无法完全集中精力在某些事情上，例如思考问题或者发生在你周围的事无法吸引你的注意力时，你便会感到无聊。更糟糕的是，你意识到自己不能集中注意力，这会让你更加无精打采进而产生厌倦情绪。

厌倦与许多心理学、社会学还有健康问题相关联。例如，对于工作的厌倦会让工作效率低下，对于某些工作来说可能导致严重的事故。同时，厌倦与滥用药物以及其他健康问题密切关联。

其实有各种各样的方法可以让你避免陷入厌倦的困境或者及时从厌倦的状态中脱身。此项研究仅仅是开发更多科学方式以抑制厌倦的第一步。