The Shocking Science of Boredom | Sci Guys Podcast

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Follow the SCI GUYS
@notcorry / @jampkin / @lukecutforth

[@allanjmcpherson]

I'm gay, and when you suggested the possibility, I realized I was thirsty. So as you instructed, I went and had a drink of water. Thanks!

[@conneriswright]

hi gay, i’m dad

[@ElizabethTrueblood]

they should've had a control group in the shock experiment that had to sit in the room with the button but could use their phone or whatever, because they're really jumping to conclusions assuming that people would only do it out of boredom and no other reason

[@lin6984]

I have ADHD, and I can sit and think for literally hours. It normally happens as an escapism of the boring situation I'm in. For exemple, if I'm having a boring class, I can daydream for the whole 50 minutes and feel like just one minute passed. I cannot always control it though. Sometimes I need to do a really important, but boring task, but I can't bring myself to focus, I will just keep thinking about a million other things, it's very frustrating.

[@kittyinacloud8101]

This is me

[@Johnny_T779]

I think the gender difference just shows different education. Girls are tought to be cautious and to avoid physical danger, while boys are pushed towards courage and adventure. The pain threshold is a myth, it varies person to person, not by gender... In this situation I would simply zone out and daydream, but in no way would I shock myself. I'm averse to pain and silence, so I'm not sure I wouldn't humm a tune or tap a rhythm with my feet 😝.

[@saggguy7]

it would also be really hard to determine whether any gendered differences is pain tolerance were biological or social in nature. I can absolutely picture some dudes in a study like that pushing through excruciating pain to look tough even if they normally wouldn’t tolerate that level of pain, and i’d guess that women would be less likely to do that. It would be very hard to generalize something like that to a situation where the response is not being watched and recorded.

[@JuanPablodelaTorre]

As an ADHDer out of meds, I can say unequivocally that low dopamine causes boredom and that boredom can be physically painful.

[@davegrohlthecinnamonroll4495]

I relate too hard. I can’t take meds cause of other health issues and I can’t help but wonder what it’d be like to exist without the crippling drowning in slow motion boredom that ADHD gives you , and then actually like… live

[@JuanPablodelaTorre]

​@@davegrohlthecinnamonroll4495 I've been thinking about this a lot recently. Especially after being almost bedridden last week because of a hard burnout. For now, I'm trying everything at the same time: exercise, music, supplements, chocolate, new hobbies. Anything that could work, I'll try. I wish there was a simpler solution, but I guess we are out of luck.

[@if5248]

I have the same experience of getting anxious from nothing at all and there are days where I would have that as a constant state, but for me it helps to run or bike until you're absolutely out of breath. It gives the same release of having a panic attack. I used to have those, but they stopped, but now I just get stuck in the stage before I would normally have one

[@fanellaforever]

I thought I was the only one that sits down in the shower!!

[@marlie_is_cool2894]

I liked Noah's surprise appearance and I wonder how long he was listening just out of frame.

[@deadlymelody27]

I would definitely choose to get an electric shock if i knew it wouldnt harm me, if it meant not sitting in silence with my own thoughts. I have to listen to stuff to get to sleep, like talking, music makes my mind wander too much. Cant really read a book anymore because my mind wanders. But usually to past trauma or current worries. I used to work in a cash office on my own and my boss told me i wasn't allowed listen to music or podcasts in there (which is honestly pathetic, most other jobs allow you to, not a customer facing role) so i would just sing to myself which he did allow 😅 i would just sing whatever song i could think of. Better than my brain 😅

[@threeofeight197]

When I’m in the throes of depression I get bored a lot because everything seems pointless.

[@TheyCallMeLoony]

When Corry reads out your review 🥳🎉🎈 I’ve listened to After Dark and have been eagerly awaiting more. Luke, I think the thing with any kind of formal education is that there is a curriculum. With a degree you get to do a lot of your own research, but it’s impossible to read everything. About half of the psychology topics you talk about I’m pretty familiar with but learn new things, some of the topics I know very little or nothing about (and my brain already has a taste for psychology), and some topics I know inside out but get happy at you guys nailing it. Still, I am frequently itching to say things 😂 I managed to get a very high 1:1 in the clinical psychology module, not by studying, not by attending a majority of lectures, but because between all my friends and I we had every mental illness which could be on the exam 🤣 I seriously love listening to you all and learning new things, I’m hopefully bound for post grad medicine, so anything biology/biochemistry related gets me high.

[@ingridschroder282]

1:25:10 CORRY!! You gave me a heart attack when you said "Just because sci guys has ended"

[@amywerchon5982]

don't worry corry, i remember spiders georg!!

[@RexxyRobin]

I don't recall ever feeling bored. Either I can't recognize the feeling or I just cannot feel it. You can put me into an empty room for eight hours and I will just stare at the wall doing nothing and feel.. fine. I once had a five weeks hospital stay due to my ulcerative colitis. I couldn't leave the bed, I didn't have a phone, laptop, books, or any other distraction. I just lay there for five weeks and I was just.. fine. My mom says it was the same when I was a toddler. I wouldn't play, I wouldn't babble/talk; I'd just sit there staring off into nothingness. Whenever something DOES happen or when I have to do something, I feel super stressed and terrified and will probably suffer a panic attack, so maybe boring is just my normal? For the last four years I have been trying to grow a little more resilient and just grow in general, because so many people have been mean to me over how fragile and passive I am.

[@saggguy7]

out of curiosity are you neurodivergent?

[@RexxyRobin]

@@saggguy7 No diagnosis, but I have a number of traits associated with high sensitivity, ADHD and autism

[@matrioszka7899]

You have been lighting up my week for over a year now:-)

[@stephanie5293]

I decide to sit down and think for fun sometimes

[@saegemehlfee]

got bored at work now im listening to a podcast on being bored 😂

[@Coccinelf]

Is it okay if I found your podcast when I was bored and I continue to watch it when I’m bored?

[@emmi3785]

I have anxiety disorder. I think that there is always something that causes the anxiety, but you cannot always find the reason(s) for it. It can be basically anything, when you have anxiety disorder, as the brain is over-analysing things. When it was bad I had this kind of "conversations" with my brain: Brain: "You are anxious!!!! Tight feeling in chest!" I: "No, I just ate bit too much. This is not anxiety." Brain: "Yes, it is, better make you feel unconfortable and make breathing more surface." I: "No, it is not! I'm going to slower my exhaling! Brain: "You are anxious!!! Your breathing is fast!" I: "No, I just run to the bus and made it. I'm not anxious!" Brain: "Yes, you are, better make you feel unconfortable." Oh, the fun times. Thank god, I'm not as anxious anymore.

[@jamiewalters8191]

good episode as per usual !! :)

[@matrioszka7899]

Love you guys

[@austinlam1172]

you guys kinda touch on this, but I feel like shocks are just not a good way to look into boredom bc I can imagine there would people who are genuinely curious about the shock and so then they might not even be bored if they're preoccupied with looking into the shock. also if nothing else was really said to them other than them asking about whether they would pay for the shock, etc and then saying "sit and think, and also you can shock yourself", then there might not be that much on your mind, other than curiosity about the shocking. like it seems like they might've unknowingly planted it into their minds

[@sheenasapunkrocker]

I was thinking the same thing. I think I would have pressed it out of curiosity, even without having enough time to get bored.

[@kayleigh1991]

I have joined your discord but every time I launch discord I feel new grey hairs growing. I’m 30 and feel about 70 on there 😂 not just your server, every server.

[@sheenasapunkrocker]

Lol so true 😂 I’m 39.

[@dipteradentata]

not a particularly helpful comment, but I'm delighted to be reminded of spiders georg, i dont think I've thought about that one in years. "(x) was an outlier and should not have been counted" has resurgence potential imo

[@riotthetin]

I was walking to the kitchen to drink some water as they were telling gays to drink water - i also have had water intoxication before and wow am I thankful I didn’t die just as a little warning to folks please don’t drink too much water at once !!👑 I drank like a gallon within an hour or two but I’m pretty sure it takes less than that to be dangerous

[@ElizabethTrueblood]

the boring van story idea sounds a lot like breakfast club

[@gothiccck6296]

HealthygamerGG dud a video about people showing more symptoms of addiction but not having adhd because of Internet usage

[@Letmebecringe]

Yes

[@jensmichaelwelch7787]

Luke sounds like he’s talking about action systems at 18:20

[@sepehr992]

no :))

[@janeogrady7125]

Luke is so great.

[@angelicaharwell3062]

Is there any correlation between "depression" & personality traits. When you individually have mentioned depression & anxiety..it feels like so many very intelligent & sensitive people suffer from degrees of "depression". I know for myself, the intense over thinking/introvert personality has its challenges.🦄

[@maximum1620]

How dare you tell me to drink water. I don't want to. I'm gay.

[@laurenvictoria3935]

I’m watching this in the shower 👀

[@alicec1533]

No

[@loganmcmillan3973]

no

[@jamie-mq4oo]

nope

[@abcdefgh6951]

I am never bored, I either do something, or have flashbacks, which means I always do something xd Edit: well actually no, I am bored at school sometimes, that's the exception

[@azulBjort_1406]

Sup ✌️ Edit: no.....

[@girliestmammy]

💖

[@stephanie5293]

I have

[@zelrex4657]

no |:

[@ameliamangham4460]

No.

[@ElizabethTrueblood]

no😂

[@avrilllllaaaviiigne6053]

no - thirsty gay

[@fluffmasternip5619]

No

[@elliotrock7760]

no

[@CamCamCamCamCamCamCamCamCammmm]

No

[@imaginetv642]

No

[@peppermintea6002]

No

[@heyna1185]

No

[@eserbe2]

No

[@javiermallillin]

No

[@kelseyconover7245]

No

[@syfp4769]

no

[@elizabethallen6220]

no

[@jeremykingsley6669]

no

[@Totalitariantoaster]

no

[@datfatrat7135]

no