Josefa Ros Velasco, philosopher: "If someone gets bored they usually go to the bottle, when it happens to a country there is usually a riot"

At first they were philosophers, then theologians, then sociologists, some physiologists, and from the 20th century onwards, mental health sciences.

Now, to architecture and zoology.

All these disciplines have leaned into boredom to try to unravel the mysteries of that tiredness of the very human soul.

Josefa Ros Velasco, 35, from Murcia, has just received the National Research Award precisely for her work on boredom.

After a decade of study, and after publishing

(Alliance), this philosopher is convinced that it is an emotion "essential in the evolution of our species", an adaptive mechanism that makes us improve: "Thanks to experiencing this discomfort, you feel urged to introduce any novelty in your context to leave it behind".

"Perhaps it is thanks to boredom that we began to have increasingly complex conversations, to imagine the future, the incentive for the development of a protoculture," he says, recalling the dawn of humanity.

And he clarifies, to avoid the most common misunderstanding, that getting bored is very different from doing nothing: it is an uncomfortable feeling, by definition, not sought after.

“It is a state of discomfort that arises when our relationship with the environment ceases to satisfy us.

Never, never, one can feel content, or happy, or at ease, with boredom.

That's not boredom."

And, in general, it is functional: when one feels that discomfort, explains Ros, we design an escape strategy in our minds and put it into practice.

And only when we can't run away, boredom can become dysfunctional and pathological,

Ask.

Hates the myth that boredom is the seed of creativity, it usually only leads to going through the shopping list.

Response.

Yes, it is a myth.

The next time you are getting bored, please do that exercise in self-awareness of your boredom and see where it leads you.

If you are getting bored with an activity, it is normal that you move on to another that you already know.

Boredom is reactive.

Those slogans they sell you are false: get bored, it will make you more creative.

P.

The cotton test: millions of Cervantes did not come out of confinement.

A.

Boredom takes time to generate strong change, and even then, it's almost impossible to get it right.

The most normal thing is that in the end it translates into dysfunctional, maladaptive behaviors that are harmful to oneself.

We almost always go to drug use, alcohol use, violent reactions, self-harm and all this string of harmful behaviors that are associated with boredom.

Q.

Are the least healthy responses given when we can't find a solution to our boredom?

R.

When that escape strategy is not achieved and there are cases of chronic or chronic boredom.

Imagine that you are in a circumstance in which you are bored and the horizon is that it lasts for months.

And you can't go.

Surely your final reaction is not a good thing.

Josefa Ros Velasco, pictured in Madrid in October.

MOEH ATITAR

P.

Although being bored is good.

A.

Boredom is bad because it hurts, but good because it's convenient.

Nothing happens because you get bored, on the contrary, it is beneficial, because there you receive the signal that what you do and that it is boring you, well perhaps you should change it.

If we never got bored of things... What a horror!

Maybe we would be sitting here molding plasticine and lying on the floor playing with the Playmobil.

There comes a time when something tells you: that's it, I've had enough.

It is thanks to the fact that you get bored of things and that you feel bad, that you realize that your present has become obsolete.

You feel that impulse to explore what is in reality and that is wonderful.

This is how people grow, by looking for something new, getting out of what is known because it no longer represents a challenge for me.

Q.

But neither can we eradicate it from our lives.

R.

The problem is in individuals who are constantly bored, who suffer from pathological boredom of an individual type.

Or that other type in which boredom cannot be responded to, due to social situations that we ourselves create.

Sometimes it is society itself that creates this type of space in which people are permanently bored.

Nursing homes, classrooms, prisons.

We have to try to avoid those two forms of boredom.

"Boredom is bad because it hurts, but good because it's convenient"

Q.

You study boredom in nursing homes.

R.

We have created a space that generates chronic situational boredom, that is, in which the elderly are constantly bored.

Not all, but a percentage face the problem of knowing what they want to do so as not to get bored, but they cannot put it into practice, because they find themselves in a constrictive environment.

That's a problem because they can't react or they do it the way they can: they scream, cry, become aggressive, hit the person next to them at the table, harm themselves, don't want to take their medication.

They develop conduct disorders, eating disorders, sleep disorders, depression, and even the worst case I've come across is suicidal ideation.

Many times, those who care for them say they are losing their minds and maybe it's just frustration at not being able to live a meaningful life.

It is a boredom that is already deep.

What is the horizon they have?

Death.

Q.

And what can be done?

A.

A radical change in the model is needed, because these institutions and caregivers have to understand that they are not there to offer them activities, but that they must adopt the role of facilitator.

I, the eldest who lives in the residence, am at home and you come to work;

I tell you what I want and you have to take care of helping me get it.

That communication channel is missing, which sometimes occurs informally.

With so much commitment that the sector is showing right now, that a cultural change must be made, this cannot be all lip service.

You have to really commit.

Q.

Is there a specific boredom of our time?

R.

We feel the pressure that we have to get product out of everything we do.

That is to say, it is the capitalist work ethic brought to personal life, to leisure, to everything.

Before you had to be productive at work.

But now we have that obsession applied to everything.

You decide to watch a Netflix movie and you need to get a product out of it: comment on it on social media and interact with people, get a few likes.

This, however, has us very bored.

We walk in this line by inertia.

The boredom has grown a lot and if it is going to continue increasing, this leads us to a mental breakdown, to one of those explosive reactions to the context that has generated that boredom.

I think that this system will end up exploding, but when?

We have brought the capitalist work ethic to personal life, to leisure, to everything

Q.

Do societies get bored just like people?

A.

Yes, but you need a lot more time for a reaction to take place at the social level.

At the moment we were released after the confinement, it seemed that nothing had happened.

We are not so bad yet, we complain a lot about boredom, but we are not yet ready to give up the comforts of the capitalist system.

Many things annoy us, but we like many others.

You don't have to be a hypocrite.

To put it on Twitter is very good, but you are not going to a deserted island.

Q.

So, do we vote for

things out of boredom?

R.

Of course, of course, countries and societies and cultures can get bored, and it is the most logical thing in the world.

It has its positive side: instead of staying with what you already know, you keep moving forward, be it better or worse, that is something that time has already shown.

With a Chilean colleague I wrote an article precisely about whether it is possible that Chilean society was bored, to the point that this boredom triggered the entire revolt that took place in the fall of 2019. Bored not with a movie, but dissatisfaction with the context in which you are immersed.

Need to give way to the next because the present has become obsolete, it no longer stimulates you, it no longer meets your needs, your expectations.

P.

And then in the end they give themselves to the bottle.

R.

Yes, indeed [laughs].

If when one gets bored individually they usually give to the bottle, when a country gets bored a riot usually happens.

P.

Boredom as the motor of History.

R.

Yes, as Cioran said.

When that riot occurs, many times it ends up taking the lives of innocent people.

There are those who believe that even that is positive, collateral damage.

The important thing is that we move forward, because avoiding this risk is counterproductive for the sustainability of the human species.

Every time a system becomes obsolete, we make way for the next.

May 68, the French Revolution.

I like the break from the Middle Ages and the transition to the Modern Age.

That boredom of the tyrannical God, of theology, of feeling constantly watched by someone I don't see;

at least I'm going to feel watched by the one next to me, that at least I can tell him something face to face.

That is the most radical change.

Q.

Is boredom stigmatized, is it hard for us to admit it?

R.

On an individual and collective level.

It's okay, you have to express that boredom, share that state of discomfort in which we all find ourselves.

Talk about it for real, and what is going through your head to break up with him.

This allows us to design prevention strategies for when the outbreak arrives.

It is terribly embarrassing to admit that we are bored because we do not want to be singled out as that individual who wastes time, who does not know himself enough, who is empty, without enough curiosity or interest in what surrounds him.

If you talk to others about what bores you, you take the first step to find out how others react to similar situations, that they can advise you, and understand that it is not just happening to you.

That's what boredom is for, to tell you: hey, change this, you have to renew.

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