Boredom traditionally has a bad reputation. In 2009, a study of 7,524 civil servants found that those with the highest levels of boredom were nearly 40% more likely to have died by the end of the 25-year trial, compared with those who weren’t bored. The bored civil servants were also more prone to rate their health worse and to be less active and have more menial jobs. The authors speculated that boredom and inactivity might drive people to drink more heavily and smoke – activities not related to longevity.

传统意义上，无聊是个不好的词。在2009年，一项针对7524个行政人员的研究发现，那些有最高无聊程度的人，跟不无聊的人相比，有超过接近40%的可能在25年后死去。那些无聊的行政人员还更容易轻视自己的健康状况，变得更不积极并从事更多脑力劳动。作者推测，无聊和不活跃或许会驱使人加重酗酒和吸烟，即一些违背长寿的活动。

Boredom is often defined as a state of dissatisfaction with the dullness of a situation – usually with a bit of restlessness and fatigue. So it may seem counterintuitive that researchers are suggesting boredom might have benefits, and, indeed, be an evolutionary insurance scheme for making us seek new experiences. A series of studies from the University of Virginia, published in the journal Science in 2014 found that 18 out of 42 students who were left in a room with nothing to do for 15 minutes gave themselves at least one mild shock on the ankle to alleviate the boredom. The authors concluded that people would rather do something unpleasant than nothing.

无聊通常被定义为对某种单调情况感到不开心的状态，常带有些许的不安和疲惫。因此这件事或许看起来是违反直觉的：研究者认为无聊也许有好处而且事实上可以成为一种改进的保障策略，让我们寻求新的经历。2014年发布在科学家杂志上，弗吉尼亚大学一系列的研究发现，被留在房间里15分钟没有事情做的42个学生有18个为了消除无聊至少轻敲过自己的踝关节。作者总结，相比较于什么都不做，人们宁愿做一些不开心的事。

So whatever happened to daydreaming? A study from the University of Central Lancashire links a period of boredom with heightened creativity immediately afterwards. It is not the most robust study: 40 people copied numbers from a telephone directory for 15 minutes and then had to come up with different uses for a pair of polystyrene cups. Their ideas were rated more creative than those of 40 people who didn’t do the boring task first. Another group, who read the numbers, were even more creative with the cups than those who wrote them out. Dr Sandi Mann, one of the authors, concluded that we should embrace boredom “to enhance our creativity”.

因此做白日梦会发生什么呢？一项中央兰开夏大学的的研究认为一段时间的无聊过后将会马上增加创造力。40个人先从一个电话号码簿中摘抄一些数字，然后需要想出一对聚苯乙烯杯子的不同用处。根据评价，他们的想法比40个没有先做这些无聊任务的人更加有创造力。另一组的读数字的人甚至比那些摘抄的更有创造力。作为作者之一的Sandi Mann医生总结，我们应当接受无聊以“加强我们的创造力”。