[In Which I Set the Tone]<\/p>\n
Enter a man in the scene. Let’s say this man is shopping for grocery. He is of any age you prefer to imagine. He appears to be a regular man, going about his own business. He scans the aisle for pantry foods, and the produce section. He briefly looks at the vegetables and fruits, taking for granted the radiating colors of the section. In fact, he hardly notices the deep reds of bell peppers, the different shades of greens in each vegetable, and the curiously rich purple of eggplants. The man goes about his grocery shopping, pays, then returns home. He lives a solitary life, or he could be living an eventful one. He could have a family, or he could not. He may or may not have a stable paying job. Everything I have described above are aesthetics– those that are a part of the physical world that we often take for granted. When we look into the man’s mind however, we may surprisingly (or not surprisingly) find how utterly, miserably bored he is. It is in boredom that we take for granted the curious nature of the world. <\/p>\n
[Introduction]<\/p>\n
This blog explores the state of boredom in the constructivist’s point of view. I will then attempt to diagnose the symptoms of boredom based on Lisa Barrett’s Body Budget theory. My premises and conclusion is stated below: <\/p>\n
1. Emotions are constructed from experiential contexts in the world
\n2. Boredom is a disengagement from the world
\n3. Boredom is an emotion through a disengagement from the world. <\/p>\n
Until recently, while eating grapes, I suddenly realized how I have been lacking interest in the world. In the past few weeks, I have experienced a repetition of tumultuous emotions– anxiety, happiness, depression, love, disappointment, and excitement. The cyclical nature of human emotions soon eroded my amusement in life. When I thought I was reacting with aloofness to the consequences emotions, I was in fact, bored. When an event occurs, I either react positively or negatively, followed by an emotional response* that I have taken for granted. For example, when the same people disappoint, I feel disappointed, then I resort to feeling nonchalant, because I expected to feel disappointed. When I do well in a class, I feel proud, then I dismiss the feeling and set myself in a condescending attitude that my feelings of pride will soon pass and be replaced by another feeling. According to Lisa Barret, emotions are not reactions to the world (note I reacted with feelings in the example above, not emotions); emotions are construction of the world (Barrett 104). In my case, I constructed my feelings as a predictable response to various situations. It is in this nature of predictability that my emotions of (then unrealised) frustration in which boredom engendered.<\/p>\n
Before delving deeper into the concept of Boredom, I will discuss Barrett\u2019s theory of emotional constructivism. Constructivism argues that emotions are shaped differently according to various contexts. Emotions are constructed, not \u201ctriggered\u201d as if it has been biologically predetermined where each emotion is located in the brain as the classical view of emotions would argue. Barrett\u2019s theory of constructed emotions combines three variations of construction: social construction, psychological construction, and neuroconstruction. <\/p>\n
Social construction answers how our social values and interests shape our perceptions and actions in the world. For example, my being Filipino-American in a dominantly white institution highly influences my emotions and behavior after hearing about an anonymous racist email sent to colored staff members. Psychological construction explains how our emotions are created by \u201ccommon\u201d ingredients in the brain such as brain chemicals, that work together to create synapses or patterns that produce emotions. Neuroconstruction understands emotions down to the cellular level; emotions are actively caused by microwiring of emotions that changes in every experience. <\/p>\n
[In Which I Establish Boredom is an Emotion]<\/p>\n
The emotions our brain constructs then becomes concepts. Concepts are more internal than they describe a situation. Words are unnecessary in conceptualizing emotions; we feel them and we know they are there. Words are merely used to express emotions in the external world. That is a concept. <\/p>\n
Boredom is a fascinating concept. Unlike many emotions that are easily expressed, boredom is something that we live in (Svendsen). I would argue that boredom is a reconstruction of emotions to feel disinterested in any sorts of engagements with the world. Take for example a child playing with Lego blocks. At first, the child expresses interest and enthusiasm in creating figures using Lego blocks. After some time, the child becomes less engaged with the Lego blocks. The child no longer tries as hard as they did to build complex objects, until one day, the child finds himself completely unamused with the Lego blocks. What happened in this scenario would be: <\/p>\n
1. The child is intrigued by the colorful blocks and soon realizes he can build figures out of the blocks.
\n2. The child enjoys making figures and playing with the block.
\n3. The child\u2019s mind constructs the happy, excited, positive emotions with the blocks.
\n4. The child realizes there is not much to do with Lego blocks.
\n5. The mind becomes exhausted of the blocks and its colors and shapes.
\n6. The mind reconstructs the positive emotions associated with the blocks as boredom.
\n7. The child is bored whether he mediates the concept of bored or not.<\/p>\n
First, we must establish that boredom is a mood. How so? If emotions are concepts and boredom is a concept of engagement with the world through the feeling of disengagement, boredom is an emotion. <\/p>\n
It is possible to not be aware of one\u2019s boredom. One may feel bored without knowing the object or cause of their boredom (Svendsen). One\u2019s lack of awareness to one\u2019s emotion is due to low emotional granularity. According to Barrett, \u201cpeople who exhibit emotional granularity might have dozens of emotion concepts rather than hundreds\u2026 for these folks, words like \u2018aggravation,\u2019 \u2018irritation,\u2019 \u2018frustration,\u2019 \u2018hostility,\u2019 \u2018rage,\u2019 \u2018disgruntlement, and so on would lal belong to the concept \u2018anger\u2019 (Barrett 106).\u201d Take the example above, a child with moderate emotional granularity might be able to realize that he is not just bored with Lego blocks, but he feels unchallenged by Lego blocks and thus the toy is becoming too easy or dull to play with. Upon realizing this, the child might introduce new ways of entertaining himself with the toy, and so he solves the problem of boredom. Otherwise, in a theoretically controlled environment in which the child only has Lego blocks to play with, the child with a poor conceptual system for emotions will suffer in boredom. Freud goes to an extent that unawareness of boredom is similar to melancholy in such a way that while grief has an object, melancholy does not know what it has lost (Svendsen). <\/p>\n
[A Personal Anecdote of Boredom]<\/p>\n
The seeds of melancholy blossoms in the unawareness of boredom. As Freud stated, melancholy is objectless. Boredom is an anomaly on the construction of emotions that produces negative effects in both body and mind. Boredom is not triggered by a traumatic event, it is a silent shadow that casts a doom on possible amusements, where humans dangerously assume the conditions of human nature and of the world ie. assuming one knows everything there is to know. When I reduced human experience as a never-ending causal experience of emotions, I lost the fundamental purpose of emotions– to live. Emotions are the tools we use to navigate ourselves in the world whether we realize it or not. For awhile, I took for granted my ability to feel. It is in awareness of one’s feelings and willingness to respond that one becomes a masterful agent of one’s life. Yes, most emotions are arbitrary and our minds constantly construct new emotions that we might not have a word for, but it is in this process that we must realize the necessity of mediation and realization of emotions. It is in the process of realizing emotions where the world becomes meaningful and significant. Otherwise, living life in a state of boredom puts one’s self in a state of powerlessness, passively going about the day without agency. <\/p>\n
[In Which I Solve the Problem of Boredom Using Body Budget Theory]<\/p>\n
Physical and mental health are codependent. When one suffers, the other suffers as well. Similarly, when one is taken cared of, the other reacts positively. \u201cWords seed your concepts, concepts drive your predictions, predictions regulate your body budget, and your body budget determines how you feel\u201d (Barrett 181). According to Barrett, investing in both our physical and mental health increases emotional granularity. Having a vast array of vocabulary to conceptualize the emotions we feel allows for a precise prediction of regulating one’s body budget to cater for the body’s needs (Barrett 181). Reading books, engaging in conversations, and listening to intellectually challenging podcasts refines vocabulary and therefore, increases one’s body budget. Stay inspired by investing in activities that you enjoy. The body and mind reacts negatively under constant stress and pressure and inevitably taxes itself. Just as our body needs sleep to regenerate, our mind needs inspiration to thrive. To live a good life, “nosce te ipsum” or “know thyself.” And what is a better way than acknowledging the wonderful ways our brain construct emotions through our unique, individual concepts and perceptions of the world? <\/p>\n
————-
\n*Moods affect our states of being; I would presume that boredom is a mood, however due to my lack of knowledge in the subject, I will continue to establish boredom as an emotion and perhaps go to an extent that it is in fact, a mood in another blog or future project. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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