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February 08, 2010

Bored to death? It's your fault.

Boy, it's been a long time since I've posted here. Been busy with Rizen's blog and Twitter, I guess.

Then I saw article I was compelled to write about. The article confirms what many have thought all along: you really can be bored to death. Literally. A new study shows that people who experience high levels of tedium in their jobs or in their lives are more likely to die from heart disease or stroke.

Ouch.

Then, over the weekend I read Seth Godin's new book, Linchpin, a great read about the importance of spending our lives creating art in work in order to (among other things) make ourselves indispensable.

These two reads came together and together hit me with a blinding glimpse of the obvious: we're not made to be bored. Humans evolved to be hunters and gatherers, spending every day fighting for survival and, when possible, progress. Now, our incredible wealth has left many among us fat and happy, with no need to explore. The result is boredom. And the result of boredom is death. For most of us, in the short term at least, death is a less than desirable outcome.

Posted by on February 08, 2010 |

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