Capturing the "aha!" moment

This semester we heard a talk from Dr. Carola Salvi. Dr. Carola Salvi discussed boredom, and its effects on insight. Her research suggests that boredom is not always a bad thing. In fact, insight or “aha!” moments are actually much more frequent during moments of boredom. During her talk she referenced Isaac Newton as an example of this. He was simply resting under a tree when he had his epiphany that led him to discover gravity. Some of the greatest inventors in modern time were viewed as lazy, and they themselves often say they were incredibly bored. Mark Zuckerberg, for example, dropped out of college because he was bored. He then created Facebook, one of the most pivotal and innovative social media platforms to date. Society often labels bored people as lazy and associate boredom with laziness or apathy. However, boredom likely isn’t so bad. In fact, instances of idleness are linked to creativity. 

In the BBC article “How moments of boredom help us achieve more” The author explores the idea of the “aha!” moment. The article mentions how the greatest moments of human innovation occur in these moments. Whether it be on the morning commute or right before falling asleep at night, people often have their most creative ideas during these idle moments. In a study by psychologist Sandi Mann and Rebekah Cadman, participants were asked to copy numbers from a telephone book before being asked about all the potential uses for plastic cups. The groups who were given the most tedious, mind numbing tasks beforehand came up with more uses than the control. The group given the most mind-numbing task outscored the other groups. The researchers from this study conclude that being in a state of boredom might encourage the brain to explore more inventive pathways because your brain is signaling that the current situation is lacking.

During Dr. Salvi’s talk she discussed insight and the various way to prompt it. One of the most prominent is idleness. During these moments of insight the person is confident in their answers and is typically correct. Dr. Salvi found that insight is typically more useful than analyzing in these situations. Similar to the article, Dr. Salvi agreed that moments of boredom or inactivity are a good thing. If these moments could be duplicated consistently they could be the recipe for future success. 

Sources

Giang, V. (2017, July 20). Capital - How moments of boredom help us achieve more. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170719-how-moments-of-boredom-help-us-achieve-more

Kounios, J., & Beeman, M. (2014). The cognitive neuroscience of insight. The Annual Review of Psychology,1-27.

Dr. Carola Salvi's talk at loyola chicago