手機版
We've won the war on boredom! If you have a smartphone in your pocket, a game console in the living room, a Kindle in your backpack and an iPad in the kitchen, you never need to suffer a minute without stimulation. Yay!
But wait─we might be in dangerous territory. Experts say our brains need boredom so we can process thoughts and be creative. I think they're right. I've noticed that my best ideas always bubble up when the outside world fails in its primary job of frightening, wounding or entertaining me.
I make my living being creative and have always assumed that my potential was inherited from my parents. But for allowing my creativity to flourish, I have to credit the soul-crushing boredom of my childhood.
I grew up in the tiny mountain town of Windham, N.Y., and graduated with the same 40 kids I met in kindergarten. When we picked teams during gym class, there was no mystery about which team would win. The fourth-grader with a mustache would hit four home runs, and the kid with a limp would get thrown out at first. I lived a surprise-free childhood.
The rabbit ears on our television only pulled in one channel well, and we grew accustomed to the picture rolling for the entire evening. Our radio wasn't much better, but if I kept my hand on the antennae I could hear a rhythmic noise that I later learned to call music.
We didn't have many toys by modern standards. But I discovered that if you have a blob of clay and some Lincoln Logs, you can make your own toy rifle. You can use those same materials to create a FrankenBarbie doll with body-image issues and a G.I. Joe that looks like an angry starfish with snow shoes. I'd take turns shooting at both of them, sometimes using the Lincoln Log rifle and sometimes the handgun that I whittled out of a block of wood. I blame society for all of that.
When I wasn't making something inappropriate out of nothing, I would stare out the window into the frosty tundra and watch birds freeze to death in midflight. In the summers I rode my bike for hours every day, imagining fantastic worlds in which ice cream was free and farm dogs didn't attack kids on bicycles just because biting is fun.
My period of greatest creative output was during my corporate years, when every meeting felt like a play date with coma patients. I would sit in long meetings, pretending to pay attention while writing computer code in my mind and imagining the anatomically inspired nicknames I would assign to my boss after I won the lottery.
Years later, when 'Dilbert' was in thousands of newspapers, people often asked me if I ever imagined being so lucky. I usually said no, because that's the answer people expected. The truth is that I imagined every bit of good fortune that has come my way. But in my imagination I also invented a belt that would allow me to fly and had special permission from Congress to urinate like a bird wherever I wanted. I wake up every morning disappointed that I have to wear pants and walk. Imagination has a way of breeding disappointment.
Lately I've started worrying that I'm not getting enough boredom in my life. If I'm watching TV, I can fast-forward through commercials. If I'm standing in line at the store, I can check email or play 'Angry Birds.' When I run on the treadmill, I listen to my iPod while reading the closed captions on the TV. I've eliminated boredom from my life.
Now let's suppose that the people who are leaders and innovators around the world are experiencing a similar lack of boredom. I think it's fair to say they are. What change would you expect to see in a world that has declining levels of boredom and therefore declining creativity? Allow me to describe that world. See if you recognize it.
For starters, you might see people acting more dogmatic than usual. If you don't have the option of thinking creatively, the easiest path is to adopt the default position of your political party, religion or culture. Yup, we see that.
You might see more movies that seem derivative or are sequels. Check.
You might see more reality shows and fewer scripted shows. Right.
You might see the best-seller lists dominated by fiction 'factories' in which ghostwriters churn out familiar-feeling work under the brands of famous authors. Got it.
You might see the economy flat-line for lack of industry-changing innovation. Uh-oh.
You might see the headlines start to repeat, like the movie 'Groundhog Day,' with nothing but the names changed. We're there.
You might find that bloggers are spending most of their energy writing about other bloggers. OK, maybe I do that. Shut up.
You might find that people seem almost incapable of even understanding new ideas. Yes.
To be fair, economics is to blame for some of the decrease in creativity. A movie studio can make more money with a sequel than a gamble on something creative. A similar dynamic is at work in every industry. And, to be fair, sometimes things seem to be getting worse when, in fact, you're only noticing it more. It seems as if folks are more dogmatic than ever, but maybe the pundits are creating that illusion.
Still, it's worth keeping an eye on the link between our vanishing boredom and our lack of innovation. It's the sort of trend that could literally destroy the world without anyone realizing what the root problem is. A lack of creativity always looks like some other problem. If no one invents the next great thing, it will seem as if the problem is tax rates or government red tape or whatever we're blaming this week.
All I'm saying is that if you someday find yourself in a movie titled 'The Hangover Part III,' that's a good time to sell all of your stocks and invest in gold.
參考譯文：
我們已經戰勝了無聊！如果你口袋中有智能手機，客廳里有游戲機，背包里有Kindle，廚房里有iPad，你就絕對不會感到哪怕一分鐘的無聊。耶！
且慢──如果真的這樣做的話，我們可能在身蹈險地。專家說，人類的大腦需要經歷無聊才能積極思考，啟發創意。我認為，他們說的有道理。我注意到，我最好的創意往往是外部世界沒有做好它的主要工作（比如，驚嚇我、傷害我或讓我感到心情愉悅）的時候涌現的。
我是靠開發創意為生的。雖然一直覺得我的潛力來自父母親的遺傳。但是，它能夠蓬勃發展，一定要歸功于童年時代讓我痛及靈魂的無聊歲月。
我在紐約州溫德姆（Windham）長大，這是一個逼仄促狹的小山城。小學和我一起畢業的是當初在幼兒園班里時的那40個孩子。體育課上組隊打比賽的時候，哪個隊會贏毫無秘密可言。嘴唇上長出胡須的那個四年級學生肯定會取得四個全壘打，而腿跛的那個孩子肯定在第一輪中就會被淘汰。我的童年是在單調乏味、毫無意外的日子中度過的。
我們家那個像兔子耳朵的天線只能清楚地收到一個頻道，我們慢慢習慣了整個晚上電視圖像都不停地晃動。收音機的效果也好不到哪里去，但我用手握住天線時，我就能聽到某些有節奏的噪音。后來，我才知道，那叫做音樂。
用現在的標準來說，我們的玩具不多。但是我發現，要是有一小塊粘土和一些帶有凹槽的林肯積木(Lincoln Logs)，我就能給自己做一只玩具步槍，還能用同樣的材料炮制一個毫無美感的“芭比”和彷佛穿著雪地鞋的憤怒海星的兵人玩偶。我輪流向他們兩個“開火”，有時候用林肯積木做成的步槍，有時候用一塊木頭削成的手槍。我將單調的童年生活歸咎于當時的社會。
當我不再挖空心思制作一些不合時宜的東西時，我就會瞅著窗外落霜的苔原發呆，看著凍死的鳥兒從半空中落下。夏季，我會每天騎著自行車在外面閑蕩好幾個鐘頭，幻想碰上可以免費吃到冰激凌、沒有為了取樂而去追咬騎車孩子的農場狗的地方。
我人生中最具創造力的階段是在公司上班的那幾年。當時，每次開會就像是一群昏沉沉病人的聚會。我經常參加時間很長的會議。我坐在那里，一邊假裝聽講，一邊在紙上寫下可能和彩票數字排列有關的計算機編碼，想象我中了大獎之后，該給老板起一個和解剖學有關的什么綽號。
幾年以后，“Dilbert”（呆伯特）這個名字出現在了幾千家報紙上。人們經常問我此前是否想象過自己會如此走運。我一般會說“沒有”，因為人們期望這樣的回答。其實，我遇到的所有好運氣，我早已想象過了。我還想象過發明這樣一種腰帶：系上后就可以隨意在天空中飛，并且國會允許我可以像鳥兒那樣隨時小便。每天早上醒來之后，我都十分失望：還得穿上褲子，用兩條腿走路。在某種程度上，想象力孕育了失望情緒。
最近，我開始擔心，如果生活中沒有那么多無聊該怎么辦。看電視的時候，我可以通過快進按鈕跳過廣告。在商店排隊等候結賬的時候，我可以用iPhone查看Email或玩“憤怒的小鳥”游戲。在跑步機上鍛煉的時候，我可以一邊看電視節目的隱藏式字幕一邊聽iPod。我已經將無聊從生活中擠了出去。
現在，我們假設，世界上的領導者和創新者和我一樣，生活中都沒有了無聊的時候。這樣說他們，應該是公平的。在一個無聊減少導致創造力水平下降的社會里，會發生什么樣的變化？讓我來描述一下。看看是是否喜歡這個社會。
首先，你會看到，人們的行為非常教條。如果不能標新立異，那么最簡單的辦法就是接受所在的政黨、宗教或文化的默認立場。不錯，這可以理解。
我們會看到更多山寨版的電影或拖沓的系列片。沒錯。
我們會看到更多根據真實故事制作的節目，需要創作劇本并根據劇本制作的節目將減少。一點不假。
你會看到暢銷書名單中充斥著槍手在幕后為知名作家代筆操刀炮制出來的千人一面的作品。肯定是這樣。
你會看到因為缺乏能夠對整個行業起到重大影響的創新而導致經濟發展成為一潭死水。天哪。
你會看到報紙雜志的標題開始重復，就像是電影《土撥鼠日》（Groundhog Day）里演的那樣，只是里面的人名改變了，內容完全一樣。沒錯。
你會發現那些寫博客的人用大多數時間來評論其他博客作者。OK，也許我也會那樣做。不說了。
你會發現，人們幾乎無法理解新潁的想法。沒錯。
公平地說，有時候，創造力的下降應該歸咎于經濟原因。電影制片人可以通過拍攝續集穩妥地賺取更多利潤，而不必冒險嘗試新的東西。各個行業的情形都是如此。公平地說，有時候，你越是在意，就感覺社會越來越糟糕。人們看上去比任何時候都更加教條，但這很可能是專家制造的假象。
雖然如此，我們仍需留意日漸消失的無聊和當今創新的缺乏之間的關系。如果沒有人意識到根本問題，這種趨勢簡直可以毀掉這個世界。人們往往將創造力的缺乏看作是似是而非的其他問題。如果這世界再沒有新的創意問世，人們就會認為面臨的問題就是所得稅稅率問題，或政府繁文縟節或其他任何我們本周譴責的問題。
總之，如果我們某天在一部叫做《宿醉3》（The Hangover Part III）的電影里找到了自己的影子，那你就趕快賣掉所有股票，投資黃金吧。
