Bored And Brilliant:  How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive And Creative Self, by Manoush Zomorodi

I think in many ways that this book is a bit misdirected.  It is not being bored that makes someone brilliant, but rather the ability to space out and combine insights from a great many aspects of life together in novel and unusual ways.  Spacing out is something that is more closely associated with someone who is a bit of a space cadet or daydreamy (both qualities that would apply to me to a large extent, it must be admitted) than with someone who is bored.  Perhaps it is simply a matter that the author does not necessarily know what she wants to praise.  We tend to think that people space out because they are bored with what is going on, but it is just as often that they space out because something has caught their mind and attention and their mind just wanders off.  This wandering off is not something that is often praised in contemporary society but it is something that can grant one insight, so long as one does not necessarily equate it with being bored but rather being someone who has a ready tendency for the mind to make odd connections and develop, as a result, striking insights.

The author begins with a case for boredom as opposed to being overly busy (as a mother, this is probably a widespread feeling) and in a bit less than 200 pages makes that case for boredom (as she defines it) in nine chapters.  The author first starts by defining boredom (1) and then moves on to the concern with digital overload in the contemporary world (2).  After that she discusses the way that we are less frequently interrupted by technology to the extent that we keep it out of sight (3) and that taking a lot of photos can hinder the way we make memories (4).  The author talks about the way that people are app addled in the contemporary world (5) and that people need to be able to focus without distraction in order to do necessary “deep work” (6).  Finally, the author discusses the importance of reclaiming wonder (7), preserving the ability of minds to freely wander in order to gain insights (8), and flatters the reader about being brilliant for reading the book and taking it seriously (9), after which there are acknowledgements and an index.  At the end of the chapters from #2 onward there are various tech-related challenges to remove distractions.

It is important to separate what the author has to say (which is very worthwhile) with the way she goes about saying it, which can be a little cringy and a little misguided.  The author wants contemporary people to recapture wonder, which requires a certain sense of openness to the world that overcomes the bored cynicism that is so common in this world.  It is understandable that the author would seek to encourage people to be willing to go through boredom and come out of the other side, but I can’t help thinking that there are better ways of saying this than she does.  Of course, if one does not engage in continual stimulation (especially through technology), one is not going to get the insights that result from letting one’s mind wander.  Of course, it is a bit puzzling why the author does not go into more detail about the existential sort of boredom that the author views as being particularly problematic to people, but it is quite possible that she did not want the book to dwell too much on existential angst.  At any rate, this book is one to enjoy for what it has and to take whatever insights one can gain from it.