Rant: Why can't we just sit in silence?

[ghostrunner]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... j38c#t=224

[KyCardinalFan]

Most men would rather shock themselves than be alone with their thoughts
By Rachel Feltman
July 3, 2014

People, and especially men, hate being alone with their thoughts so much that they'd rather be in pain. In a study published in Science Thursday on the ability of people to let their minds “wander” — that is, for them to sit and do nothing but think — researchers found that about a quarter of women and two-thirds of men chose electric shocks over their own company.

“We went into this thinking that mind wandering wouldn’t be that hard,” said Timothy Wilson, University of Virginia professor of psychology and lead author of the study. “People usually think of mind wandering as being a bad thing, because it interrupts when you’re trying to pay attention. But we wanted to see what happens when mind wandering is the goal.”

Wilson didn’t think his subjects would struggle with the task. “We have this big brain full of pleasant memories, and we’re able to tell ourselves stories and make up fantasies. But despite that, we kept finding that people didn’t like it much and found it hard.”

The researchers tried everything they could think of to make the task of being task-less easier. “We tried to give them time to prepare,” he said, “so they could think about what they were going to spend their time thinking about.”

...

When it became clear that people were desperate for distractions, the researchers decided to give them one. “It dawned on us: If people find this so difficult,” Wilson said, “would they prefer negative stimulations to boredom?” He gave them access to a device that would provide a small electrical shock by pressing a button. It wasn't a very strong shock, as the device was built around a 9 volt battery. “But we weren’t even sure it was worth doing,” he said. “I mean, no one was going to shock themselves by choice.”

But they did. The researchers removed the curiosity factor by giving subjects a sample shock beforehand. They even asked them how much they would pay, given a $5 allowance, to prevent another shock. Most offered up a hypothetical dollar or two. But when left alone in the room for a 15-minute thinking session, the participants exhibited some shocking behavior. One man (whose data was left out of the study) shocked himself 190 times. “I have no idea what was going on there,” Wilson said. “But for most people, it was more like seven times.”

Washington Post

[wart57]

Most men would rather shock themselves than be alone with their thoughts
By Rachel Feltman
July 3, 2014

People, and especially men, hate being alone with their thoughts so much that they'd rather be in pain. In a study published in Science Thursday on the ability of people to let their minds “wander” — that is, for them to sit and do nothing but think — researchers found that about a quarter of women and two-thirds of men chose electric shocks over their own company.

“We went into this thinking that mind wandering wouldn’t be that hard,” said Timothy Wilson, University of Virginia professor of psychology and lead author of the study. “People usually think of mind wandering as being a bad thing, because it interrupts when you’re trying to pay attention. But we wanted to see what happens when mind wandering is the goal.”

Wilson didn’t think his subjects would struggle with the task. “We have this big brain full of pleasant memories, and we’re able to tell ourselves stories and make up fantasies. But despite that, we kept finding that people didn’t like it much and found it hard.”

The researchers tried everything they could think of to make the task of being task-less easier. “We tried to give them time to prepare,” he said, “so they could think about what they were going to spend their time thinking about.”

...

When it became clear that people were desperate for distractions, the researchers decided to give them one. “It dawned on us: If people find this so difficult,” Wilson said, “would they prefer negative stimulations to boredom?” He gave them access to a device that would provide a small electrical shock by pressing a button. It wasn't a very strong shock, as the device was built around a 9 volt battery. “But we weren’t even sure it was worth doing,” he said. “I mean, no one was going to shock themselves by choice.”

But they did. The researchers removed the curiosity factor by giving subjects a sample shock beforehand. They even asked them how much they would pay, given a $5 allowance, to prevent another shock. Most offered up a hypothetical dollar or two. But when left alone in the room for a 15-minute thinking session, the participants exhibited some shocking behavior. One man (whose data was left out of the study) shocked himself 190 times. “I have no idea what was going on there,” Wilson said. “But for most people, it was more like seven times.”

Washington Post

15 minutes of silence sounds like heaven to me, except for the constant ringing in my ears.

[IMADreamer]

If I could get 15 minutes in silence I image I could solve the worlds problems at least as I see them and I'd probably be really horny because inevitably I'd think about sex most of that time.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

I wonder what that shock felt like. If it was only a 9V, I can't imagine it hurt and may have felt decent.

[ghostrunner]

I wonder what that shock felt like. If it was only a 9V, I can't imagine it hurt and may have felt decent.

I imagine it would be like when you stick your tongue on a 9V battery.

[Jocephus]

Mrs. Peacock: So, what do you do in Washington D.C., Mr. Green? Come on! What do you do? I mean, how are we to get acquainted if we don't say anything about ourselves.

Miss Scarlet: Perhaps he doesn't wanna get acquainted with you.

Mrs. Peacock: Well, I'm sure I don't know. But if I wasn't trying to keep the conversation going, then we would just be sitting here in an embarrassed silence.

Professor Plum: Are you afraid of silence, Mrs. Peacock?

Mrs. Peacock: Yes-What? No! Why?

Professor Plum: Well, it just seems to me that you are. You seem to suffer from what we call "Pressure of Speech".

Miss Scarlet: "We"? Who's we? Are you a shrink?

Professor Plum: I do know a little bit about psychological medicine, yes.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Is there where we can whine about TV's on everywhere you go these days? Restaurants, work lobby, dentist and doctor's offices, and on and on. I've begun turning the one off in our work lobby when nobody is there to watch it.

[JCShutout]

Introverts unite!

Nothing wrong with needing alone/quiet time to recharge. Nothing wrong with not wanting kids. There are over 7 billion people in the world. A few of us not reproducing are unlikely to be the end of civilization.

[longhornbaseball]

Introverts unite!

Nothing wrong with needing alone/quiet time to recharge. Nothing wrong with not wanting kids. There are over 7 billion people in the world. A few of us not reproducing are unlikely to be the end of civilization.

If you're somewhat intelligent and you choose not to have kids, you're making the world worse, because there are millions (billions?) of stupid people who pump out their genetically inferior offspring by the litter. Why are you making the world worse JC?