The science of boredom: the upside (and downside) of downtime
(Adult Book)

Originally published: as The upside of downtime. 2016

Includes bibliographical references and index

Are we living in an age where we are more boredom-prone? Or are other people boring us? Or could we be that boring person?! In our current information age, we are constantly connected to technology, and have so many varied ways to spend our leisure time that we should all surely never know what boredom feels like. Yet, boredom appears to be on the rise; it seems that the more we have to stimulate us, the more stimulation we crave. In a quest to relieve our boredom, we engage in dangerous risk-taking - from extreme sports to drugs to gambling to anti-social behaviour, or we overindulge in shopping or eating. This book explores the causes and consequences of boredom in the fast-paced twenty-first century.