Question of the Day - Tuesday, May 20th, 2025

[casportpony]

Today's question is from @Gill-b:

Which is worse, to lead a life so boring the you are easily enchanted, or a life so full of stimulus that you are easily bored?

[I read this in the book 'The Lost Continent' by Bill Bryson and thought it an interesting question to ask; although I think it a philosophical one which may not have a simple 'black-and-white' answer. I hope you enjoy thinking about it.]

Great question! Neither, lol. Something in between.

 

[500Chickens]

I agree with @casportpony

 

[Sally PB]

Love Bill Bryson's books! I will read any book he has written because he can make any topic interesting.

To the question... well, I think I'd go for the boring life/easily enchanted. It would seem that I could go find something interesting when I wanted to, and then go back into my shell when I wanted to rest.

I read about someone who went on safari for a summer with a magnifying glass and a camera. Every day he found something very interesting to look at and study.

He was in his own back yard.

 

[Gill-b]

Worse must be a life so full of stimulus that you are easily bored.

I went from easily enchanted to full of stimulus... except I was never bored; and now I am somewhere in between. I don't think it is about whether or not your life is boring or full of stimulus, rather your state of mind while living it?

I think Sally put it nicely:

...I think I'd go for the boring life/easily enchanted. It would seem that I could go find something interesting when I wanted to, and then go back into my shell when I wanted to rest.

 

[muddy75]

I agree somewhere in between

 

[The Moonshiner]

I'll go with the first one. Sounds like an easier life with something to look forwards to.
Second one sounds exhausting with a letdown.

 

[sourland]

I agree with 'somewhere in between'. People without a passion, whatever it might be, are rarely bored and are interesting.

 

[azurbanclucker]

A life of overstimulation can be hell. Ask anyone with ADHD or who may fall on the autism spectrum. You can end up shutting down completely, or get so locked into searching for that dopamine and serotonin fix, that you flit from interest to interest, leaving a littered path of hobbies in your wake.