Among the youth of today, there are several problems. These have been
well-documented, including things like peer pressure, school, and dating. But
spend some time talk to the average teen, and their most common complaint
will be boredom. "I'm bored" is probably one of the most commonly-used
phrases among youth. Ask a bored person why they're bored, and the response,
word for word, will almost always be "There's nothing to do."
  Ever notice how different demographic groups seem to get bored more easily
than others? Ever wonder how often babies get bored?
  Babies play with small, simple toys. They play with rattles. Seems sort of
pathetic when you think about it, doesn't it? Even more so is the fact thay
they're actually *entertained* by rattles. They find them interesting.
  Ever wonder when this changes? Ever wonder when and why simple things
become boring?
  Babies don't get bored easily, and their attention is held by the simplest
things, because they haven't experienced much in their lives. Everything is
new.
  As children get older, they experience more of the world. They read, they
see, they listen, they learn. Gradually there's less to learn, less that's
new, less that can hold them rapt the way everything used to.
  Modern society has also been blamed. Television is much-criticized as being
a huge impediment to attention spans. I hate to sound like a parent or an old
fuddy-duddy, but this really can't be denied; The rapid-fire sights and
sounds which emanate from TV condition people to expect it. Eventually,
frequent and prolonged exposure to entertainment makes people less sensitive,
they're less interested in anything, they get bored more easily.
  The desensitization of a person leads them to want even more entertainment.
They need even more stimulation to keep themselves from being bored. Boredom,
like drugs, is an addiction.
  Can life be like television? Can life always be riotously entertaining,
constantly flashy, perpetually new, fresh, and cool?
  The answer, of course, is no.
  As long as you expect life to be that way, you will always be bored. There
will be no cure. Life cannot be what you expect it to be.
  So is there anything that can be done? Obviously, the only real "cure" for
boredom is to accept a basic fact of life: Life must sometimes be "boring".
When you can accept this, and learn to tolerate sometimes lacking in the
mental stimulation you so crave, you will be bored less.
  As a side point, I'd like to mention a point I find interesting about
sports. When people ask me what sports I like, my answer is always the same:
"I don't like any sports, except golf."
  Their response to this is usually the same too: "Why do you like golf?
That's a really boring sport." Yet to me, golf is the most interesting sport.
Why? Because golf is always different.
  How many variations are there in baseball diamonds or football stadiums?
None. They all have the same shape, the same layout, and approximately the
same size. The gameplay is always the same. How many times can you swing a
wooden stick at a ball before it gets boring? I used to like baseball a lot.
I liked it for a full two weeks. Then I got bored with it.
  Golf, however, is vastly different each time you play (assuming you play
different courses, of course.) There are thousands of golf courses all around
the world, and all of them have completely different layouts, totally new
strategies you must employ. This adds depth to golf, much more so than to
any of the other "popular" sports.
  This shows a fundamental difference in what interests people; I like golf.
Why do most people hate it? Because it's not exciting. It's not fast. There's
not much action. Nobody gets hurt (unless the ball hits them in the head).
Nobody runs or gets tackled. This makes it "boring".
  Yet I've already explained how golf is interesting in its own right. In a
similar vein, many people find reading boring, while others feel it's
tremendously interesting. People who call it boring say that because it's not
"exciting" to the senses; But that doesn't mean it can't be interesting.
  The point behind all this is that people who get bored easily usually
equate interesting with exciting. If something isn't loud, colorful, fast, or
flashy, what good is it?
  The solution is to take interest in some things that aren't exciting. If
you take up reading as a hobby, you can never be bored because there are way
too many books in the world for anyone to read them all in a lifetime.
  When you learn to manage your interests, when you can find enjoyment in
doing "boring" things, and when you can tolerate sometimes going without
sensory stimulation, you will be a happier person because you'll get bored
less. And yes, you'll also be smarter.