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We've won the war on boredom! If you have a smartphone in your pocket, a game console in the living room, a Kindle in your backpack and an iPad in the kitchen, you never need to suffer a minute without stimulation. Yay!
But wait─we might be in dangerous territory. Experts say our brains need boredom so we can process thoughts and be creative. I think they're right. I've noticed that my best ideas always bubble up when the outside world fails in its primary job of frightening, wounding or entertaining me.
I make my living being creative and have always assumed that my potential was inherited from my parents. But for allowing my creativity to flourish, I have to credit the soul-crushing boredom of my childhood.
I grew up in the tiny mountain town of Windham, N.Y., and graduated with the same 40 kids I met in kindergarten. When we picked teams during gym class, there was no mystery about which team would win. The fourth-grader with a mustache would hit four home runs, and the kid with a limp would get thrown out at first. I lived a surprise-free childhood.
The rabbit ears on our television only pulled in one channel well, and we grew accustomed to the picture rolling for the entire evening. Our radio wasn't much better, but if I kept my hand on the antennae I could hear a rhythmic noise that I later learned to call music.
We didn't have many toys by modern standards. But I discovered that if you have a blob of clay and some Lincoln Logs, you can make your own toy rifle. You can use those same materials to create a FrankenBarbie doll with body-image issues and a G.I. Joe that looks like an angry starfish with snow shoes. I'd take turns shooting at both of them, sometimes using the Lincoln Log rifle and sometimes the handgun that I whittled out of a block of wood. I blame society for all of that.
When I wasn't making something inappropriate out of nothing, I would stare out the window into the frosty tundra and watch birds freeze to death in midflight. In the summers I rode my bike for hours every day, imagining fantastic worlds in which ice cream was free and farm dogs didn't attack kids on bicycles just because biting is fun.
My period of greatest creative output was during my corporate years, when every meeting felt like a play date with coma patients. I would sit in long meetings, pretending to pay attention while writing computer code in my mind and imagining the anatomically inspired nicknames I would assign to my boss after I won the lottery.
Years later, when 'Dilbert' was in thousands of newspapers, people often asked me if I ever imagined being so lucky. I usually said no, because that's the answer people expected. The truth is that I imagined every bit of good fortune that has come my way. But in my imagination I also invented a belt that would allow me to fly and had special permission from Congress to urinate like a bird wherever I wanted. I wake up every morning disappointed that I have to wear pants and walk. Imagination has a way of breeding disappointment.
Lately I've started worrying that I'm not getting enough boredom in my life. If I'm watching TV, I can fast-forward through commercials. If I'm standing in line at the store, I can check email or play 'Angry Birds.' When I run on the treadmill, I listen to my iPod while reading the closed captions on the TV. I've eliminated boredom from my life.
Now let's suppose that the people who are leaders and innovators around the world are experiencing a similar lack of boredom. I think it's fair to say they are. What change would you expect to see in a world that has declining levels of boredom and therefore declining creativity? Allow me to describe that world. See if you recognize it.
For starters, you might see people acting more dogmatic than usual. If you don't have the option of thinking creatively, the easiest path is to adopt the default position of your political party, religion or culture. Yup, we see that.
You might see more movies that seem derivative or are sequels. Check.
You might see more reality shows and fewer scripted shows. Right.
You might see the best-seller lists dominated by fiction 'factories' in which ghostwriters churn out familiar-feeling work under the brands of famous authors. Got it.
You might see the economy flat-line for lack of industry-changing innovation. Uh-oh.
You might see the headlines start to repeat, like the movie 'Groundhog Day,' with nothing but the names changed. We're there.
You might find that bloggers are spending most of their energy writing about other bloggers. OK, maybe I do that. Shut up.
You might find that people seem almost incapable of even understanding new ideas. Yes.
To be fair, economics is to blame for some of the decrease in creativity. A movie studio can make more money with a sequel than a gamble on something creative. A similar dynamic is at work in every industry. And, to be fair, sometimes things seem to be getting worse when, in fact, you're only noticing it more. It seems as if folks are more dogmatic than ever, but maybe the pundits are creating that illusion.
Still, it's worth keeping an eye on the link between our vanishing boredom and our lack of innovation. It's the sort of trend that could literally destroy the world without anyone realizing what the root problem is. A lack of creativity always looks like some other problem. If no one invents the next great thing, it will seem as if the problem is tax rates or government red tape or whatever we're blaming this week.
All I'm saying is that if you someday find yourself in a movie titled 'The Hangover Part III,' that's a good time to sell all of your stocks and invest in gold.
参考译文：
我们已经战胜了无聊！如果你口袋中有智能手机，客厅里有游戏机，背包里有Kindle，厨房里有iPad，你就绝对不会感到哪怕一分钟的无聊。耶！
且慢──如果真的这样做的话，我们可能在身蹈险地。专家说，人类的大脑需要经历无聊才能积极思考，启发创意。我认为，他们说的有道理。我注意到，我最好的创意往往是外部世界没有做好它的主要工作（比如，惊吓我、伤害我或让我感到心情愉悦）的时候涌现的。
我是靠开发创意为生的。虽然一直觉得我的潜力来自父母亲的遗传。但是，它能够蓬勃发展，一定要归功于童年时代让我痛及灵魂的无聊岁月。
我在纽约州温德姆（Windham）长大，这是一个逼仄促狭的小山城。小学和我一起毕业的是当初在幼儿园班里时的那40个孩子。体育课上组队打比赛的时候，哪个队会赢毫无秘密可言。嘴唇上长出胡须的那个四年级学生肯定会取得四个全垒打，而腿跛的那个孩子肯定在第一轮中就会被淘汰。我的童年是在单调乏味、毫无意外的日子中度过的。
我们家那个像兔子耳朵的天线只能清楚地收到一个频道，我们慢慢习惯了整个晚上电视图像都不停地晃动。收音机的效果也好不到哪里去，但我用手握住天线时，我就能听到某些有节奏的噪音。后来，我才知道，那叫做音乐。
用现在的标准来说，我们的玩具不多。但是我发现，要是有一小块粘土和一些带有凹槽的林肯积木(Lincoln Logs)，我就能给自己做一只玩具步枪，还能用同样的材料炮制一个毫无美感的“芭比”和彷佛穿着雪地鞋的愤怒海星的兵人玩偶。我轮流向他们两个“开火”，有时候用林肯积木做成的步枪，有时候用一块木头削成的手枪。我将单调的童年生活归咎于当时的社会。
当我不再挖空心思制作一些不合时宜的东西时，我就会瞅着窗外落霜的苔原发呆，看着冻死的鸟儿从半空中落下。夏季，我会每天骑着自行车在外面闲荡好几个钟头，幻想碰上可以免费吃到冰激凌、没有为了取乐而去追咬骑车孩子的农场狗的地方。
我人生中最具创造力的阶段是在公司上班的那几年。当时，每次开会就像是一群昏沉沉病人的聚会。我经常参加时间很长的会议。我坐在那里，一边假装听讲，一边在纸上写下可能和彩票数字排列有关的计算机编码，想象我中了大奖之后，该给老板起一个和解剖学有关的什么绰号。
几年以后，“Dilbert”（呆伯特）这个名字出现在了几千家报纸上。人们经常问我此前是否想象过自己会如此走运。我一般会说“没有”，因为人们期望这样的回答。其实，我遇到的所有好运气，我早已想象过了。我还想象过发明这样一种腰带：系上后就可以随意在天空中飞，并且国会允许我可以像鸟儿那样随时小便。每天早上醒来之后，我都十分失望：还得穿上裤子，用两条腿走路。在某种程度上，想象力孕育了失望情绪。
最近，我开始担心，如果生活中没有那么多无聊该怎么办。看电视的时候，我可以通过快进按钮跳过广告。在商店排队等候结账的时候，我可以用iPhone查看Email或玩“愤怒的小鸟”游戏。在跑步机上锻炼的时候，我可以一边看电视节目的隐藏式字幕一边听iPod。我已经将无聊从生活中挤了出去。
现在，我们假设，世界上的领导者和创新者和我一样，生活中都没有了无聊的时候。这样说他们，应该是公平的。在一个无聊减少导致创造力水平下降的社会里，会发生什么样的变化？让我来描述一下。看看是是否喜欢这个社会。
首先，你会看到，人们的行为非常教条。如果不能标新立异，那么最简单的办法就是接受所在的政党、宗教或文化的默认立场。不错，这可以理解。
我们会看到更多山寨版的电影或拖沓的系列片。没错。
我们会看到更多根据真实故事制作的节目，需要创作剧本并根据剧本制作的节目将减少。一点不假。
你会看到畅销书名单中充斥着枪手在幕后为知名作家代笔操刀炮制出来的千人一面的作品。肯定是这样。
你会看到因为缺乏能够对整个行业起到重大影响的创新而导致经济发展成为一潭死水。天哪。
你会看到报纸杂志的标题开始重复，就像是电影《土拨鼠日》（Groundhog Day）里演的那样，只是里面的人名改变了，内容完全一样。没错。
你会发现那些写博客的人用大多数时间来评论其他博客作者。OK，也许我也会那样做。不说了。
你会发现，人们几乎无法理解新颍的想法。没错。
公平地说，有时候，创造力的下降应该归咎于经济原因。电影制片人可以通过拍摄续集稳妥地赚取更多利润，而不必冒险尝试新的东西。各个行业的情形都是如此。公平地说，有时候，你越是在意，就感觉社会越来越糟糕。人们看上去比任何时候都更加教条，但这很可能是专家制造的假象。
虽然如此，我们仍需留意日渐消失的无聊和当今创新的缺乏之间的关系。如果没有人意识到根本问题，这种趋势简直可以毁掉这个世界。人们往往将创造力的缺乏看作是似是而非的其他问题。如果这世界再没有新的创意问世，人们就会认为面临的问题就是所得税税率问题，或政府繁文缛节或其他任何我们本周谴责的问题。
总之，如果我们某天在一部叫做《宿醉3》（The Hangover Part III）的电影里找到了自己的影子，那你就赶快卖掉所有股票，投资黄金吧。
