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Re: USAGE: Words for "boredom"

From:Andreas Johansson <and_yo@...>
Date:Tuesday, June 18, 2002, 16:11
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 _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx