Boredom: Is It Good For You?

April 30, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Boredom is a negative, agitated state that your brain actively dislikes—and the evidence that pushing through it unlocks creativity is surprisingly weak. What people actually seem to crave is not boredom itself, but intentional disconnection from constant stimulation.

What boredom looks like in the brain

Cognitive neuroscientist James Danckert from the University of Waterloo put people in an fMRI machine and made them watch an eight-minute video of two guys hanging laundry, looped twice. Compared to participants who watched an engaging clip from BBC's Planet Earth, the bored brains showed two clear changes. First, the default mode network (DMN) lit up—this is the network associated with daydreaming, mind-wandering, self-reflection, and thinking about the past or future. Second, the insular cortex, part of the salience network that helps you decide what to pay attention to, dialed down. Danckert describes this as the brain signaling that nothing interesting is available—while lying in wait for an escape route.

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What you'll learn

1 (03:43) **Introducing the Science of Boredom** - Producer Michelle Dang joins to explore what happens in the brain when we're bored and whether it's actually good for us.
2 (05:04) **The Brain on Boredom: The Default Mode Network** - Cognitive neuroscientist James Dankert from the University of Waterloo describes a study where participants watched a mind-numbing video of men hanging laundry inside an fMRI machine.
3 (08:06) **The Downside of the Default Mode Network** - The DMN isn't always beneficial; it can also fuel rumination and negative thoughts.
4 (09:24) **The Salience Network: A Brain on the Hunt for Escape** - Another brain region, the insular cortex (part of the salience network), dials down during boredom but lies in wait for a way out.
5 (10:50) **Boredom as a Motivating, Negative State** - Scientists define boredom as a negative, agitated feeling that motivates us to find something meaningful.
6 (13:24) **Can Boredom Spark Creativity?** - The episode pivots to test the popular claim that persevering through boredom leads to creative breakthroughs.
7 (14:15) **The Bean-Sorting Experiment** - Gihan had over 50 students sort two colors of beans one-by-one with one hand for 30 minutes—a monotonous, boring task.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

We keep hearing that we need to be BORED more, with people online swearing that boredom can work magic — restoring your mind, and even supercharging your creativity. So, is boredom secretly good for us? We talk to cognitive neuroscientist Prof. James Danckert and organizational psychologist Prof. Guihyun Park to find out.

Find our transcript here: https://tinyurl.com/ScienceVsBoredom

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) They say we need more boredom

(02:06) This is your brain on boredom

(12:30) Does boredom push us into creativity?

(22:08) Should you try to be more bored?

(23:53) When you give your brain time to rest

This episode was produced by Michelle Dang, with help from Meryl Horn, Rose Rimler and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. Wendy Zukerman is our executive producer. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Erica Akiko Howard. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bobby Lord, Bumi Hidaka, So Wylie, Emma Munger and Peter Leonard.

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