Written by Hanuye 2022 Cohort
This is a personal answer to one of the New York Times Learning Network topics. For details, check https://www.nytimes.com/ca/section/learning
Feeling bored is an objective feeling. Things are boring and tedious if they take long, repeated work. Situations that bore me are changing constantly, but the reason why I feel bored is always the same: lacking creativity.
I think people who do creative work are less likely to be bored than the average person. Because creative work has the traits of self-creation and variability. I’m working on becoming a concept artist, it’s exciting to work, and it solves boredom to a great extent. I don’t have a fixed work schedule, and I can combine different elements in my work to create something new and enticing.
Many parents believe that for their children, “every spare moment is to be optimized, maximized, driven toward a goal.” This certainly happened in my life too, but once I got my parents to learn about 3D modelling and turn in their assignments in their free time, they no longer had such thoughts or requests.
Half of my weeks are free time. I often stay alone, playing games, watching videos or doing some personal work. Sometimes I also go out shopping with friends or go hiking.
There is no human emotion or feeling that is useless. I thought of boredom as a reminder of the “need for change.”This is our instinct because of the pursuit of change and breakthrough. I often feel bored because I can’t find exciting movies or games to entertain me. When I want to remember the good movies/games I had consumed and to get inspiration to paint my favourite characters, I find it hard and I am reluctant to start. But when I begin to create, I always feel a surge of energy that makes me full and satisfied.
Education systems should learn from our boredom and instil creativity in us. Most schools are still all disciplinary machines, almost identical to prisons. It takes a more civilized society to consider the student user experience and to add something interesting. Fun motivates the secretion of dopamine, which is vital in human self-motivation. There is no doubt that fun will stimulate students’ interest in learning.