Boredom visits all of us at some point. Sometimes it is fleeting. Other times it is deep, lasting, or profound. We even experience it in groups. Boredom can be so intolerable that some are willing to do almost anything just to escape it. In this provocative and eloquently argued book, Josefa Ros Velasco invites us to listen to the voice of boredom, explore the reasons behind it, and allow it to guide our actions and return us to a place of satisfaction.
Shedding light on a universal yet misunderstood aspect of the human experience, Ros Velasco shows how boredom is a phenomenon that torments us when reality does not meet our expectations. While it has been described as an illness of the soul and even as a pathological condition, boredom is only a symptom. Its purpose, Ros Velasco argues, is to notify us that our relationship with our surroundings is damaged, and to compel us to identify the root of the problem and address it. Along the way, she explores the cultural and intellectual history of boredom, tracing how philosophers, theologians, literary figures, and clinicians have contended with this unpleasant, sometimes tortuous state of mind.
Drawing insights from thinkers ranging from Horace and Augustine to Goethe, Kierkegaard, and Heidegger, The Disease of Boredom explains boredom as an emotional call to action and advocates for a radical change in how we perceive and deal with tedium.
“Josefa Ros Velasco offers a masterfully engaging history of one of humanity’s most misunderstood experiences, following boredom’s trajectory from antiquity to contemporary neuroscience. Ranging across philosophy, theology, literature, psychology, and medicine, she reveals how boredom has been portrayed as vice, sin, clinical affliction, and even metaphysical curse—yet also as a crucial signal of the need for transformation. Ros Velasco invites readers to see boredom not merely as a problem to be solved, but as an experience that discloses who we are, what we value, and what we might hope to change.”—Lars Svendsen, author of A Philosophy of Hope
“This book presents a fascinating journey through the history of boredom from almost the dawn of time to the present day. Many of us, especially modern boredom researchers, think of the emotion as a rather modern phenomenon, synonymous with the advancement of the age of leisure, but The Disease of Boredom suggests that boredom is as old as man. If you enjoy a ramble through historic literature, you definitely won’t find this book boring!”—Sandi Mann, author of The Science of Boredom: The Upside (and Downside) of Downtime
“Boredom has become a hot topic in recent years, attacked from all corners of academia, from philosophers to historians to psychologists and beyond. Ros Velasco, a prime mover in the establishment of the International Society of Boredom Studies, brings all these approaches together in this volume. An erudite—and never boring—read, The Disease of Boredom synthesizes an enormous and varied data set into a compelling story about one of the most ubiquitous, important, and understudied human experiences.”—James Danckert, University of Waterloo
“It used to be said that boredom was a product of the modern world—not so for philosopher Ros Velasco, who leads us carefully through boredom’s often painful history from Achilles to the twenty-first century, with fascinating side glances to acedia, melancholia, the mal de si猫cle, German philosophy in train stations, and leisure time in the lives of our cave dwelling ancestors. The product of more than a decade of research, The Disease of Boredom offers the most interesting intellectual history of boredom to date.”—Peter Toohey, University of Calgary
“A fascinating, eye-opening tour of how boredom has been perceived by thinkers and writers throughout history. This is an essential read for anyone wishing to explore and comprehend the full complexity of this universal human experience.”—Maik Bieleke, University of Konstanz
“In times marked by specialization, The Disease of Boredom offers a powerful mise en perspective, situating boredom historically, culturally, philosophically, psychologically, and, above all, humanly. It reframes boredom as a signal that our lives may have become too narrow or empty of meaning.”—Corinna Martarelli, UniDistance Suisse
