How did Ancient Humans Actually Handle Boredom?

The Reality of Ancient Human Downtime00:00

You're sitting on the ground. The hunt finished 3 hours ago. Everyone ate. The fire is going. The sun won't set for another 4 hours. You have absolutely nothing you need to do right now. No phone, no video, no book, no one texting you, just you. A fire. Some people you've known your entire life and the afternoon stretching out in front of you with nothing in it. For 99% of human history, this was a real situation that happened constantly. Hunter gatherers spent roughly 15 to 20 hours a week on survival. The Hadza of Tanzania, the Agta of the Philippines, the Batek of Malaysia, every group anthropologists have studied came back with essentially the same number. Somewhere between 2 and 3 hours of actual work per day, sometimes less, which means ancient humans had a staggering amount of time that needed to be filled with something.

Defining Modern Boredom01:00

Boredom as you experience it right now is not just having nothing to do. It's a specific psychological state defined by psychologists as the aversive experience of wanting but being unable to engage in a satisfying activity. That word aversive is the key. Boredom hurts slightly. It's uncomfortable. It makes you restless, irritable, and desperate for stimulation. A 2014 study at the University of Virginia found that many participants would rather give themselves mild electric shocks than sit alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes. Not because the thoughts were bad, just because the emptiness was unbearable. That study was conducted on modern humans. And modern humans are a very specific kind of animal. One that has spent the last several thousand years in environments specifically designed to fill every available moment with stimulation and whose brains have adapted to expect it.