无聊对你有好处还是致命呢?

Boredom¹ traditionally has a bad reputation. In 2009, a study of 7,524 civil servants found that those with the highest levels of boredom were nearly 40% more likely to have died by the end of the 25-year trial, compared with those who weren’t bored. The bored civil servants were also more prone² to rate their health worse and to be less active and have more menial jobs. The authors speculated that boredom and inactivity might drive people to drink more heavily and smoke – activities not related to longevity³.

传统意义上，无聊是个不好的词。在2009年，一项针对7524个行政人员的研究发现，那些有最高无聊程度的人，跟不无聊的人相比，有超过接近40%的可能在25年后死去。那些无聊的行政人员还更容易轻视自己的健康状况，变得更不积极并从事更多脑力劳动。作者推测，无聊和不活跃或许会驱使人加重酗酒和吸烟，即一些违背长寿的活动。

无聊对你有好处还是致命呢?

Boredom is often defined as a state of dissatisfaction with the dullness of a situation – usually with a bit of restlessness and fatigue⁴. So it may seem counterintuitive that researchers are suggesting boredom might have benefits, and, indeed, be an evolutionary⁵ insurance scheme for making us seek new experiences. A series of studies from the University of Virginia, published in the journal Science in 2014 found that 18 out of 42 students who were left in a room with nothing to do for 15 minutes gave themselves at least one mild shock on the ankle to alleviate⁶ the boredom. The authors concluded that people would rather do something unpleasant than nothing.

无聊通常被定义为对某种单调情况感到不开心的状态，常带有些许的不安和疲惫。因此这件事或许看起来是违反直觉的：研究者认为无聊也许有好处而且事实上可以成为一种改进的保障策略，让我们寻求新的经历。2014年发布在科学家杂志上，弗吉尼亚大学一系列的研究发现，被留在房间里15分钟没有事情做的42个学生有18个为了消除无聊至少轻敲过自己的踝关节。作者总结，相比较于什么都不做，人们宁愿做一些不开心的事。

So whatever happened to daydreaming⁷? A study from the University of Central Lancashire links a period of boredom with heightened creativity immediately afterwards. It is not the most robust⁸ study: 40 people copied numbers from a telephone directory for 15 minutes and then had to come up with different uses for a pair of polystyrene cups. Their ideas were rated more creative than those of 40 people who didn’t do the boring task first. Another group, who read the numbers, were even more creative with the cups than those who wrote them out. Dr Sandi Mann, one of the authors, concluded that we should embrace boredom “to enhance our creativity”.

因此做白日梦会发生什么呢？一项中央兰开夏大学的的研究认为一段时间的无聊过后将会马上增加创造力。40个人先从一个电话号码簿中摘抄一些数字，然后需要想出一对聚苯乙烯杯子的不同用处。根据评价，他们的想法比40个没有先做这些无聊任务的人更加有创造力。另一组的读数字的人甚至比那些摘抄的更有创造力。作为作者之一的Sandi Mann医生总结，我们应当接受无聊以“加强我们的创造力”。

1 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

2 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

3 longevity   

n.长命；长寿

参考例句：

• Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
• Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。

4 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

5 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

6 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

7 daydreaming   

v.想入非非，空想( daydream的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Stop daydreaming and be realistic. 别空想了，还是从实际出发吧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Bill was sitting and daydreaming so his mother told him to come down to earth and to do his homework. 比尔坐着空想， 他母亲要他面对现实，去做课外作业。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。