Hate to Think

Recent studies at the University of Virginia and Harvard University illustrate the extent to which people will go, to avoid having to sit quietly in solitude. We have apparently become a culture that is so caught up in busyness and becoming absorbed by our latest technical toys, that people no longer are able to be alone to contemplate. Our lifestyles find us constantly involved in doing something—even if it's only passively sitting and watching a (very exciting) TV show. We want to be engaged by things outside us—not to sit silently and think.

People who participated in these studies were asked to sit alone in a room for 10-15 minutes and do nothing—at most, just think. When their time was up they were asked about the experience. Most of them described it as extremely unpleasant. They could hardly endure the time alone, facing just their thoughts.

In addition, the participants were given the opportunity to administer a mild electric shock to themselves—an experience they earlier had said (after trying a sample shock) they'd go to great lengths to avoid. But after sitting alone for a few minutes, as they suffered from the boredom, many of them preferred to shock themselves, rather than endure the silence and deal with their thoughts. They chose an electric shock over the tedium of solitude! In fact, one guy chose to jolt himself 190 times during the 15-minute span!

Findings like this are shocking (in a very different manner) to this old hermit. I find solitude inviting, invigorating, and inspirational. I love to sit in my outdoor tub or my meditation hut and either let my mind wander or seek to empty it and and try to fully engage with the present moment. I find the fast-paced modern life and the ever-present communication devices frenetic enough that I think I'd rather endure an electric shock than face them. When I find myself in a doctor's waiting room, I cringe at the ubiquitous TV screen that constantly sucks us into its grip.

I'm not surprised that many people would not enjoy the life of solitude and contemplation. That's probably why the ranks of contemplatives around the world are steadily thinning. Our modern culture offers us so many diversions that it's difficult to avoid the conditioning that drives us to become involved in doing something every moment. It makes me wonder where we're going, however, when folks are unable to sit quietly for 15 minutes, without jolting themselves with a little pain—just to break the tedium.