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Time alone to think 'more onerous than electric shock'

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Dec 16, 2011
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Time alone to think 'more onerous than electric shock'
Will Dunham
Reuters
Friday, 4 July 201
from http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2014/07/04/4039348.htm


So you say all you want to do is to take a few minutes to sit down and think without anyone or anything bugging you? Maybe that is true, but some people would rather give themselves an electric shock than contemplate the sound of silence.

A US study published in the journal Science shows that most volunteers who were asked to spend no more than 15 minutes alone in a room doing nothing but sitting and thinking found the task onerous.

In fact, some of the volunteers, men in particular, in one of the 11 experiments preferred to administer mild electrical shocks to themselves rather than sit and do nothing.

"Many people find it difficult to use their own minds to entertain themselves, at least when asked to do it on the spot," says study lead author Professor Timothy Wilson of the University of Virginia.

"In this modern age, with all the gadgets we have, people seem to fill up every moment with some external activity."

The researchers say the findings may explain why many people seek to gain better control of their thoughts with meditation.

"The untutored mind does not like to be by itself," they write.

Nearly 800 people took part in the study. Some experiments involved only college students.

The researchers then broadened the study to include adults aged between 18 and 77 from a variety of backgrounds who live in the same area. They got the same results: most participants regardless of age or gender did not like to be idle and alone with their thoughts.

In some experiments, college volunteers were asked to sit alone in a bare laboratory room and spend six to 15 minutes doing nothing but thinking or daydreaming. They were not allowed to have a mobile phone, music player, reading material or writing implements and were asked to remain in their seats and stay awake. Most reported they did not enjoy the task and found it hard to concentrate.

Researchers then had adult and college student volunteers do the same thing in their homes, and got the same results. In addition, a third of volunteers cheated by doing things like using a mobile phone or listening to music.

The researchers did an experiment to see if the student volunteers would even do an unpleasant task rather than just sit and think. They gave them a mild shock of the intensity of static electricity.

Volunteers were asked whether, if given $5, they would spend some of it to avoid getting shocked again. The ones who said they would be willing to pay to avoid another shock were asked to sit alone and think for 15 minutes but were given the option of giving themselves that same shock by simply pushing a button.

Many did so, especially men: Two-thirds (12 of 18) administered at least one shock. One did it 190 times. A quarter of the women (six of 24) gave themselves at least one shock.

"I think they just wanted to shock themselves out of the boredom," says Wilson.

"Sometimes negative stimulation is preferable to no stimulation."

WTF? I think the part bolded is bad science and bad assumptions...
...but what about the article in general? Do you think that many people really find being alone that painful? Why?
 
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Being alone and being alone with nothing to do are two different things. When I am alone I task myself with things much like finding myself on this forum. Alone in a room with nothing but my own thoughts would be unpleasant. While I do think at a million miles an hour while doing tasks, the tasks themselves take enough of an edge off my thoughts that it is bearable.
 
Being alone and being alone with nothing to do are two different things. When I am alone I task myself with things much like finding myself on this forum. Alone in a room with nothing but my own thoughts would be unpleasant. While I do think at a million miles an hour while doing tasks, the tasks themselves take enough of an edge off my thoughts that it is bearable.

do you day dream? or space out...trip out?
 
do you day dream? or space out...trip out?
I dont day dream. I think of everything, solutions to the worlds problems. Analyze foundational causes. Interactions with other people that eventually leads to understanding of why they have acted as they have. The latest scientific discoveries, applying them to past knowledge like fitting a piece of the puzzle into place. I dont really space out, dedicating enough "presence" in the outside world to function on auto pilot.
My mother and father used to tell me I would have entire conversations with them while I was asleep... :)
 
I dont day dream. I think of everything, solutions to the worlds problems. Analyze foundational causes. Interactions with other people that eventually leads to understanding of why they have acted as they have. The latest scientific discoveries, applying them to past knowledge like fitting a piece of the puzzle into place. I dont really space out, dedicating enough "presence" in the outside world to function on auto pilot.
My mother and father used to tell me I would have entire conversations with them while I was asleep... :)

Thats really interesting...i like hearing about what goes on in the mindspace of other people. When you are thinking about these things...you are still imagining yes? Playing with and examining different scenarios and probablities?
...for me, it seems at times that i cant help but space out. Sometimes someone will ask me what im thinking...and i realise that ive been completely gone...i do spend a lot of time 'thinking', but more often the thinking comes after...trying to explain to myself why i 'know' something...trying to understand and explain the 'pattern'... thinking but in reverse analytical order
 
people have told me before that they just cant stand to be alone doing nothing and they were very surprised that i would think of doing that. but it is a very interesting article. i realise that although i yearn for time alone and always use it when i can get it, that when i have it i am also listening to music, writing, drawing, or playing computer games. i have often thought of music and computer games as background noise while i just allowed my mind to think about things that had happened to me or that i was trying to figure out, but maybe its not that simple. i wonder how good i really am at being alone in the absence of any other stimulation.
 
I don't like complete silence. I'll get bored if I have nothing interesting to think about or things to observe. I like listening to nature, and sounds around me when I'm alone, but at the same time I try avoid being consumed by too many distractions.

Even when it's quiet around me, I can usually be distracted by my thoughts.

I do tend to space out.
 
I could see this happening but personally I don't suffer from it. In fact, not taking enough time alone in silence is detrimental to me. I start getting irritable and overloaded.

A bit of silence is refreshing. I rarely get any. I think I would like a sound proof room but I don't have a place for one. It's constant noise pollution where I live.
 
I could see this happening but personally I don't suffer from it. In fact, not taking enough time alone in silence is detrimental to me. I start getting irritable and overloaded.

A bit of silence is refreshing. I rarely get any. I think I would like a sound proof room but I don't have a place for one. It's constant noise pollution where I live.

Same.

I'm one of those people that could probably survive better in solitary than regular prison. I have an entire world in my head that I easily slip off too!
 
Same.

I'm one of those people that could probably survive better in solitary than regular prison. I have an entire world in my head that I easily slip off too!

Yeah. Right now I couldn't get away if I wanted to. Especially now since it is a bit hot outside, in addition to the traffic I now have all the air conditioners in the area to deal with as well. It's a low level disturbance that I feel more than hear but is still subtly irritating.