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boring/interesting
Aug. 13th, 2015 04:36 pmI have on ongoing internal (usually, some times out loud) sense of outrage at the word "interesting" when used in a change ringing context. My feeling is that trying to ring simple methods perfectly (not forgetting any part of the method, being totally accurate rhythmically) is more interesting than trying to learn complex methods and ignore rhythmic irregularities or memorization mistakes. There are ringers in the world who manage all of the positive tasks at once, but I'm not at that level, and most people aren't. I am annoyed everytime someone implies that simple methods are not "interesting."
I thought of that the other day when describing to Arthur the new exercise regime I have begun (as prescribed by a person at the Boston Running Center, where I went a while back for a gait analysis and other tests). Lots of repetitions are involved. Arthur's immediate response was "how boring." But really, it's not. For them to do me any good, my form needs to be exactly right so that the right muscles are strengthened. This means that in addition to the physical aspect of it, I need to be paying enough attention that I can't be really doing anything else at the time (listening to music, whatever). I don't tend to manage "mindfulness" in most of my activities, as my mind tends to flit about. Still, I have learned, over time, that multi-tasking really means time shifting, rather than doing two things at once. Many studies have shown this. It doesn't keep me from trying, but I have noticed that even in circumstances where doing two things at once is part of the point. For example, the knitting group involves knitting while talking and sometimes while drinking hot beverages. As it happens, I have to put down the knitting to fully participate in the conversation, or vice versa.
This all made me wonder whether when people say something is "boring" they mean it is too hard to do exactly right for the amount of gratification they would get from the activity. Sometimes not, I presume. The next time I'm bored, I'll try to figure out whether it's really that I'm not putting enough effort into the activity. Truman Capote commented once that he was never bored at parties, because if he was chatting with someone boring, he focused on why he perceived that person as boring, and turned it into an interesting mental exercise. I hope that level of distraction didn't make *him* boring to the other person ;-)
I thought of that the other day when describing to Arthur the new exercise regime I have begun (as prescribed by a person at the Boston Running Center, where I went a while back for a gait analysis and other tests). Lots of repetitions are involved. Arthur's immediate response was "how boring." But really, it's not. For them to do me any good, my form needs to be exactly right so that the right muscles are strengthened. This means that in addition to the physical aspect of it, I need to be paying enough attention that I can't be really doing anything else at the time (listening to music, whatever). I don't tend to manage "mindfulness" in most of my activities, as my mind tends to flit about. Still, I have learned, over time, that multi-tasking really means time shifting, rather than doing two things at once. Many studies have shown this. It doesn't keep me from trying, but I have noticed that even in circumstances where doing two things at once is part of the point. For example, the knitting group involves knitting while talking and sometimes while drinking hot beverages. As it happens, I have to put down the knitting to fully participate in the conversation, or vice versa.
This all made me wonder whether when people say something is "boring" they mean it is too hard to do exactly right for the amount of gratification they would get from the activity. Sometimes not, I presume. The next time I'm bored, I'll try to figure out whether it's really that I'm not putting enough effort into the activity. Truman Capote commented once that he was never bored at parties, because if he was chatting with someone boring, he focused on why he perceived that person as boring, and turned it into an interesting mental exercise. I hope that level of distraction didn't make *him* boring to the other person ;-)
