Hourglass

Is there a connection between boredom and time? The German term for boredom, Langeweile, when literally translated would mean something as a long while. This rather metaphorical word describes appositely the perception of time while being bored. Time seems to take forever to pass by. Why is that so? As the author of prettyfedup.com puts it:

And what you do, in an attempt to stave off death due to lack of stimulation, is you check in with the sensory world. In a boring 50 minute lecture, you might notice the fly in the room, the newspapers other people brought, the dirt on the window, the bad fluorescent lighting, the wart on the teacher‘s nose, the color of your shoes, etc., etc. 50 or 60 times. You might check in with the sensory world once a minute or more.

http://www.prettyfedup.com/pfu/randomshit/time.htm

But why are we experiencing time as such a drag, when we are waiting for something ? Shouldn´t time run faster when you have less sensory input to process in your brain?

When we daydream there is much more information to be progressed than usual. It is as if we have to build up an imaginary world. Same as when we begin to notice some details, that we normally would not. Our senses are sharpening. We begin to observe and listen.

But when was the last time we actually exposed ourselves to waiting? We constantly avoid stagnation with earplugs, books or screens. Is waiting something we unlearned?

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