What makes someone boring?
bor·ing (bôr
ng, b
r-)
ng, br-)adj.
Uninteresting and tiresome; dull.
-thefreedicionary.com
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| brainstuck.com |
Literal conversations (cut, diced, sex, context and names changed...maybe):
Me: How was it meeting up with Harold?
Friend A: He was super boring.
Me: Yikes. That sucks.
Friend A: Yeah, I have no urgency to chill with him again.
Friend B: Hey did you talk to Friend A - how was meeting up with Harold?
Me: Gurl, she said it was mad boring.
Friend: And she is so fun. That's definitely a mismatched couple.
Friend C: What did I tell you? Now Friend A knows what I am talking about!
Me: You were right.
Friend C: Yes, he is sexy but he is boring. I told you guys. His whole family is boring like that. They used to throw the most boring parties. It was the worst.
"Boring" is such a commonly used word in America. It's used to describe events, moments, a state of being, and people. And although I completely understand what it means to be bored - I am having a harder time understanding what it means to be "boring." Well, I do understand in the way that I understand "good" as a response to "how are you?" I generally understand the meaning of "boring" and "good" and I understand the emotional sense - I've felt "good" before and I've met "boring" people. But I don't know the root - the reason why the descriptions are used or what the word means to the individual using it. Does this make sense? Maybe not.
Anyways, I've started thinking about "boredom" a lot lately for many different reasons; however one of my realizations is that being called "boring" is becoming increasingly offensive.
I mean, although it's not the worst thing in the world to be called, "boring," it is definitely an insult and becoming more of an insult the faster our world moves towards constant stimulation. People no longer have to be bored, we can now be stimulated at every waking moment - even during a dinner date with a boring person. The more that we are able to reconnect with "fun" people and experiences the less we are forced to be around or "tolerate" a boring person or experience. We are able to disengage from a boring situation faster and easier than we've ever been able to before. Having a boring dinner date? No longer do you have to sit there and try to look for common interest or an exciting edge - you can now completely disconnect while at the table - you can text a friend, check Facebook, update your twitter, or check out "better" matches on Match.com.
As the job and dating market get more competitive - it's now all about who has enough charisma to capture the attention of a constantly stimulated audience.
So, it seems like the answer would be: don't be "boring," but from that simple statement alone there are about eight questions that come to my mind:
- What makes a person boring? I guess, I can start with monotone voice, lack of emotion and transparency, always talking about one thing - unable to transition from conversation to conversation (we always have to talk about one topic/subject), lack of sense of humor (very serious), only one dimensional (either you are always happy, sad, or mad)
- Are my boring person descriptions the same as your descriptions? I guess the question is: what's boring to one person - is it boring to another?
- Does a person know that they are boring?
- Someone talking about video games for 45 min. would be boring to me - but the conversation is what's boring not neccessarily the person. But yet, we all know "boring" people - it's deeper than the conversation alone - so what is it?
- Is "boring" a natural characteristic? Is it even a characteristic?
