Hey there eye-rollers, Trace here for Dnews, thank you for watching.

嘿白眼魔人們！這裡是 Dnews 的 Trace，謝謝你的收看。

My mom always said, "People who are bored, are boring people," and whether or not you agree with my old lady as to the source of boredom, you know you want to avoid it.

我媽總說：「會感到無聊的人，都是枯燥之人」，不論你是否同意我老母親主張的無聊源頭，你都知道要避免無聊。

If you're somehow unfamiliar, boredom, or ennui, is a feeling of listlessness.

如果你不太清楚無聊或是無趣的意思，那是種倦怠的感覺。

An emotional state where you're uninterested in your surroundings and generally unoccupied.

它是一種當你對周遭環境不感興趣，又無所事事時會產生的情緒狀態。

If that seems vague, it's because there's not a scientific definition of boredom!

如果覺得這個敘述很模糊，這是因為它並沒有一個科學定義！

It was first described in 1852, so it's a relatively recent cultural phenomenon, and new science says it might be a dangerous one.

它於 1852 年首次被描述，因此是種相對較新的文化現象，而新科學說這可能一種危險的現象。

Research into boredom has found two types of people are especially susceptible to its effects.

研究無聊的研究發現，有兩類人特別容易受到它的影響。

First, people who are thrill-seekers, people for whom the day-to-day just doesn't seem to jazz them up enough.

首先是那些覺得日常生活不有趣，總在尋求刺激的人。

These people find the world "chronically under-stimulating," writes the Guardian.

《衛報》寫道這些人認為世界「長期處於低靡狀態」。

The other group are those who shut themselves off from the world due to fear or trauma.

另一類是由於恐懼或創傷而與世隔絕的人。

They live in their comfort zone, which turns out to be a pretty boring place.

他們住在自己的舒適圈，而那是個蠻無趣的地方。

In the end, a South African study, found boredom was the single largest contributor to the use of drugs, alcohol and cannabis.

最後，南非的一項研究顯示，無聊是使用毒品、酒精和大麻的最大原因。

Another study found when people were left in a room alone without entertainment, they'd willingly push a button that they knew would deliver a mild electric shock, just to have something to do.

另一項研究發現當人們被獨自留在一間沒有娛樂的房間，他們會自願去按明知道會產生微量電流的按鈕，只為了找點樂子。

Boredom is pretty powerful.

無聊的威力真強大。

A third longitudinal study, my favorite, followed middle-aged civil servants in the UK for 10 years, and found those who were likely to get bored correlated with a significant increase in the risk of mortality!

我最喜歡的第三個縱向研究是在英國對中年公務員進行十年的追蹤研究，他們發現那些常感無聊的人竟然與顯著提升的死亡風險有關！

Now, we're not saying boredom kills, but scientists are saying, crushing boredom seems to force humankind to deal with that even when doing so might be harmful.

我不是在說無聊會殺人，但科學家說這迎面而來的無聊迫使人們必須去解決它，儘管這麼做可能會帶來傷害。

Which kinda seems counter-evolutionary, right?

這聽起來有點反進化，對嗎？

Why would we evolve something which causes us to die sooner, start smoking or drinking for no reason, or perform risky thrill-seeking behaviors?

為什麼我們要去做那些會讓我們早死的事，像是無緣無個開始抽菸喝酒，或從事高風險的刺激活動？

Well, Evolutionary Psychologists believe that it has to do with curiosity.

進化心理學家深信這跟好奇心有關。

"Curiosity is the cure to boredom."

「好奇心是無聊的解藥」。

That curiosity moved us off the drudgery of the everyday and into trying new things, it kept us alive and stimulated our brains!

好奇心讓我們能擺脫日常的繁瑣工作，轉而嘗試新事物，這使我們充滿活力，且會刺激我們的大腦！

That curiosity is reflected in the saying, "curiosity killed the cat," sure we might come to harm, but our pushing might make us better too!

好奇心體現了「好奇心殺死一隻貓」這句話；我們當然可能從中受到傷害，但這個衝動也可能讓我們成長。

Studies done with people who are encouraged into ennui, end up finding vast creative resources.

研究顯示，那些被慫恿「耍」無趣的人，最終獲得了更多創意的資源。

Being constantly entertained and stimulated isn't great for the brain any more than a lack of activity would be.

不斷地娛樂和刺激對我們的大腦並不好，而且造成的傷害遠比沒有活動來的多。

Boredom, or a lull in stimulation, might seem terrible to start, but it's actually fantastically mentally beneficial.

無聊或缺乏刺激的狀態發生時看似可怕，但事實上這對我們心理有很大的益處。

In a British study, people encouraged into ennui while in the lab, were given menial tasks.

在一項英國的研究中，實驗室裡那些被慫恿「耍」無趣的人被賦予了繁瑣的任務。

Half were told they had to copy numbers out of a telephone book, and then had to think of things to do with two styrofoam cups; the other half just got the cups.

一半的人被要求從電話簿中抄寫號碼，之後他們必須用兩個塑膠杯想出一些有趣的活動；而另一半的人只被要求用塑膠杯想活動。

Those who were asked to copy numbers first, were way more creative, said the scientists.

科學家說那些先被要求抄寫號碼的人，遠比那些沒有的更加有創意！

Boredom allows for mind-wandering and daydreaming!

因為無聊讓我們能夠思緒漫遊，做白日夢！

It allows us to organize our thoughts and dwell and mull things over.

它讓我們有時間組織想法，深思熟慮。

Boredom is like anything, too much of a good thing can lead us to take unnecessary risk, but without boredom we'd all just be boring people.

無聊就像所有事一樣，太多會導致我們承擔不必要的風險，但少了它我們會成為無趣的人。

So looks like my Mom was wrong, but only a bit.

這樣看來，這跟我媽說得僅有些微的出入。

Sometimes I'll turn off my music and just people-watch on the train during my commute, or I put down my book and look at the clouds when I'm out and about.

在通勤的時候，我偶爾會關掉音樂，四處看看火車上的人；或是放下我的書本，出門看看外面的雲。

You'll be surprised what your brain comes up with to do!

你會訝異你腦中出現的想法！

Do you ever try just… being bored?

你曾試過...就這樣「耍」無聊嗎？

Let us know down in the comments, and make sure you check out these other videos right over there, and also subscribe to Dnews, thanks for watching.

在下方留言區跟我們說，還有記得去查看這裡的其他支影片，訂閱 Dnews，謝謝收看。