Where we obviously differ from numerous other species is in the extent to which boredom spurs creativity. We play, we fiddle, we experiment, we talk (even if only to ourselves), we daydream, we imagine, and, eventually, we get up and find something to do. Surprisingly little scientific research has been done on boredom, given how much time many of us spend bored. Historically, boredom has only proved of sustained interest to those in solitary professions, like philosophers and writers. Some of Newton’s, Einstein’s, Descartes’s, and Archimedes’s greatest insights have all been attributed to
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