A Confrontation With Boredom

If it was not for the pressures and norms of American society, exalting busyness as if it is a moral necessity, there is something that would (hopefully) be more easily apparent to more people: boredom, or at least the kind of bodily inactivity that some people might find boring, has a great capacity to give way to philosophical stimulation, self-awareness, and rejuvenation.  In fact, outward inactivity does not have to be boring at all to a rationalist, but either way, the nature of boredom and how it relates to existential introspection and concentration on grand truths is no small thing.  The rush to stay occupied in some way even if it means fixating on assumptions or unimportant tasks has seized cultures like that of America, and it robs people of many things.

So many people seem terrified of boredom, but even if they have not directly realized that outward inactivity is not necessarily subjectively dull, they perhaps faintly see that to partake in solitude or inactivity naturally prompts a person to look within himself/herself or to dwell on broader philosophical issues, of which such introspection is a part.  Boredom, or even physical inactivity without boredom, means that even someone who pretends like reason is not accessible in busy times does not have their attention occupied by some trivial task, professional responsibility, or personal hobby.  He or she is left to confront things far deeper which can be discovered or dwelled on at any time, but which most people will desperately flee from or find confusing or intimidating at first.

In part, perhaps some people fear being "lazy" or being perceived as lazy if they do not throw themselves at the comparatively shallow, fruitless scramble of modern life, but the more significant fact is that most people are not accustomed to rationalistic discovery and reflection.  Reason and introspection are at least situationally alarming to them because they are not used to recognizing objective truths without assumptions marring their worldview.  To not orient their life around assumptions, social constructs, and busyness would open the door to inquiries and realizations that they do want to be waiting for them.  Thus, whenever many non-rationalists get the chance to assess something grander than their cultures and occupations, they will retreat away into gratuitous labors, while rationalists can focus on the necessary truths of reason even as they carry out daily tasks.

Truth, especially uttermost foundational truths, is enormous in its ramifications, though logical axioms, the most foundational of all things, is what dictates the nature of all else; its centrality, inherent truth, and epistemological self-evidence do not depend on its ramifications for human life. No, truths about human life follow by necessity from or depend on logical axioms! For someone who is reluctant to rest and perhaps for once focus more on matters of core substance, the intrinsic veracity and absolute certainty of reason can be embraced as the ultimate security, the ultimate, inherent, all-encompassing set of truths that transcends everything in human endeavors.

For non-rationalists, physical rest might be what finally shifts their attention to reason, God, morality, their own self, the universe, and friendship without the delusions of contradictions and assumptions interfering.  Whatever philosophical errors they believe is their own fault; no one needs to break away from the cycle of pointless busyness in order to discover or appreciate the truths about reality they are already relying on unaware.  It is not as if a busy life literally stops people from looking to the logical axioms (and other truths) that quite literally dictate the metaphysical possibility of human life in the first place.  Less of an emphasis on remaining professional or personally busy, even so, would force people into a more philosophically thoughtful state of mind, for they would no longer have the invalid excuse of hectic responsibilities to tend to--and they would confront boredom and what it so easily gives way to.