Psychologist John Eastwood, a boredom expert and author of
The Unengaged Mind, writes that it's “the aversive experience of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity." It's not the same as sitting apathetically, daydreaming, meditating, or not caring about what's happening around you; it's an emotion that humans find it seriously unpleasant and try very hard to stop feeling. Studies in 2014 and 2015 found that we'll do basically anything to avoid boredom, including delivering ourselves small electric shocks (yes, really) and engaging in other self-destructive behaviors. People who are bored are
very aware that they're bored, and are desperate for the sensation to stop.
