Ducks in a Row: is Solitude a Lost Art?
by Miki Saxon
A month after I started this blog in 2006 I focused on the magic found in silence; magic that allows you to think, dream and innovate.
Silence is a requirement to get to know oneself. In 2007 I wrote, “My own anecdotal evidence shows that while most people are uncomfortable with silence, others are actually terrified by it.”
Two years ago I cited Edward do Bono, a giant in the world of creative thinking, who believes that boredom is the springboard of creativity.
Last year research found that the constant time spent with today’s ubiquitous screens not only affects the brain, but also reduces capacity for connection, friendship and empathy.
Now, eight years later, people’s need for distraction and abhorrence of silence have been proved.
A recent article in Bloomberg Businessweek details an experiment just how far people will go to escape solitude.
Being alone with no distractions was so distasteful to two-thirds of men and a quarter of women that they elected to give themselves mild electric shocks rather than sit quietly in a room with nothing but the thoughts in their heads.
Is this you?
Flickr image credit: Alice Popkorn
