“Boredom opens up the space, for new engagements. Without boredom, no creativity. If you are not bored, you just stupidly enjoy the situation in which you are.”
Hey Julian... I've never come across an instance where Nietzsche negatively spoke of boredome. In fact, in the instances that I've seen Nietzsche talking about it, he seems to regard very positively. Can you bring to light the instance where he spoke of boredome as the root of all evil?
Also, there's a beautiful analogy introduced by the contemporary philosopher Byung Chul Han. He says that boredom is to the mind what sleep is to the body :)
Hi, and thanks for your comment. Having spent some time looking it up I’ve come to the conclusion that this is indeed not something Nietzsche wrote. If anything, it’s closer to Sartre; although he didn’t put it in terms of evil. Clearly a false memory on my part. And nice line from Han. I’ve edited out the Nietzsche part. Apologies, and thanks! J.
You don’t use the word, but it seems boredom is another word for ‘idleness’, which also gets a bad rap and defenders, too. Or would you distinguish between them?
This is quite beautifully articulated, Julian. I recently wrote a similar piece on boredom (I’ll link below) - agree that it creates this beautiful space for true creativity to emerge.
I found your distinguishers between different kinds of boredom quite interesting too.
Resending your articles has become a kind of love language to me. I love to share them with my favourite people. They’re like one of those simple gifts that I’m genuinely excited to make.
Hey Julian... I've never come across an instance where Nietzsche negatively spoke of boredome. In fact, in the instances that I've seen Nietzsche talking about it, he seems to regard very positively. Can you bring to light the instance where he spoke of boredome as the root of all evil?
Also, there's a beautiful analogy introduced by the contemporary philosopher Byung Chul Han. He says that boredom is to the mind what sleep is to the body :)
Hi, and thanks for your comment. Having spent some time looking it up I’ve come to the conclusion that this is indeed not something Nietzsche wrote. If anything, it’s closer to Sartre; although he didn’t put it in terms of evil. Clearly a false memory on my part. And nice line from Han. I’ve edited out the Nietzsche part. Apologies, and thanks! J.
You don’t use the word, but it seems boredom is another word for ‘idleness’, which also gets a bad rap and defenders, too. Or would you distinguish between them?
This is quite beautifully articulated, Julian. I recently wrote a similar piece on boredom (I’ll link below) - agree that it creates this beautiful space for true creativity to emerge.
I found your distinguishers between different kinds of boredom quite interesting too.
Ps. My essay below which I reference:
https://www.ideaseconomy.co/p/is-boredom-making-you-innovative
Resending your articles has become a kind of love language to me. I love to share them with my favourite people. They’re like one of those simple gifts that I’m genuinely excited to make.
Thank you!! Such a great post .. like ALL of yours