Is boredom the key to creativity?



Do you get your best ideas when you are bored, or when you are out doing new things? What should we look for when we want to be more creative? Boredom and stimulus may be opposites, but studies into creativity suggest that actually we might need both.



Writing for BBC Culture, Clair Thorp looks at the role that boredom plays in the creative process. Many writers and artists credit being bored with helping them have their best ideas – JK Rowling came up with Harry Potter while on a long train journey. Thorp tells us how some researchers believe that boredom drives our brains to find something to do – leading to creative ideas. So, maybe we should take the advice of the musician Questlove and learn to ignore the distractions that we can find on our phones.



However, before we all start planning how to bore ourselves into creativity, Sandi Mann, an academic and author, warns that too much boredom can take away the energy we need for creativity. Many experts talk about the importance of finding new experiences in order to be more creative.



Actor and writer Kayode Ewumi recommends getting on a random bus and seeing where you end up or learning a new musical instrument as ways to avoid writer's block. Professor Gerard Puccio, a professor of creativity studies, believes that having to look at new things, or old things in a different light, can force us to make unusual connections and come up with innovative solutions.



So, perhaps what we need is a balance – enough stimulus to make us look at things in different ways, and enough boredom to give us the breathing space to work through these thoughts.



词汇表

boredom [ˈbɔːdəm] 无聊，厌倦

stimulus [ˈstɪmjələs] 刺激，激励，促进因素

opposite [ˈɒpəzɪt] 相反的事物，对立面；相反的，对立的

creative process 创作过程，创意过程

credit…with [ˈkredɪt] 把…归功于，认为…具有

come up with 想出，提出（主意、计划等）

distraction [dɪˈstrækʃn] 分散注意力的事物，干扰

random bus [ˈrændəm] 随机选择的公交车

musical instrument  [ˈɪnstrʊmənt] 乐器

writer's block 写作障碍，创作瓶颈，文思枯竭

in a different light 从不同的角度（考虑某事）

unusual [ʌnˈjuːʒuəl] 不寻常的，独特的

innovative [ˈɪnəveɪtɪv] 创新的，革新的，新颖的

breathing space 喘息空间，休整时期

work through 处理，梳理（想法、问题等）



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