Re: USAGE: Words for "boredom"

Lars Henrik Mathiesen wrote:
>
> > Date:         Mon, 17 Jun 2002 18:09:13 +0000
> > From: Andreas Johansson <and_yo@...>
> >
> > At a wild guess, boredom might require the combination of free time
> > and the idea that one ought to be productive all the time -
> > something most likely to be found in industrial societies. But I
> > want more evidence that the concept of boredom is unknown in
> > pre-industrial societies before I quite believe that.
>
>You are bored if you do not get to perform any activity that interests
>you. In a modern society, there can be many reasons for that --- lack
>of money, lack of time, lack of access, lack of knowledge, lack of
>capability. Many of these didn't apply in earlier societies.
>
>But even in a hunter-gatherer society, you can be laid up for a month
>waiting for a cracked rib to mend. I'm sure it feels boring, but it's
>possible that the need for a word is not felt.
It's certainly conceiveable - I however find it sufficiently unlikely that
every pre-industrial society should've lacked a word for it that I won't
quite believe the original claim till I see some kind of evidence beyond "I
read that ...".

                                          Andreas

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