If any readers read my above comment on Phenomenology and are curious about how the Phenomenological method of Heidegger works to disclose Being, and the Being of beings, consider this brief phenomenological analysis of boredom:
What is boredom? We all get bored from time, some of us terribly, so why bother asking about boredom? We all know what it is, and how it is with boredom, don't we?
The above suggests a "Phenomenology" of Boredom. In previous posts, I described Phenomenology as a discourse on what shows itself. I related this to Heraclitus' saying "phusis kryptesthai philei," Being loves to hide, and the ancient Greek understanding of truth, which they expressed with, what was for them, the neologism a-letheia, truth, un-covered. So, if we are going to dis-close the hiding Being of boredom in that being which we ourselves are, the being of boredom may in fact need to be coaxed/forced out of hiding.
Regarding the phenomenological method, as I said, when Heidegger says a torn sock is better than a whole one, he means the "category of unity" that pertains to the Being of the sock (which remained hidden in our everyday dealing with the sock), has been "coaxed" to the surface in the tearing, precisely as a " lost unity." Hence, we say the "unity," which makes up part of the Being of the sock, is not just abstracted to, but can be "produced" in our tearing of it.
So, let's consider an example of boredom:
Aristotle asks why the great and creative thinkers are all such melancholics? Clearly, there is no shortage of boredom/anxiety and addiction among creative types. Perhaps they are a step back from everyday life, somewhat unsatisfied by the everyday, and so try to lose themselves in the esoteric/higher pursuits. Would this step back not give these creative types perspective, and hence the distance to see the forest for the trees in understanding the everyday world of the rest of us?
Heidegger and Psychiatrist Medard Boss suggest that our "being-addicted" to the beings that matter to us is thought out of a fundamental boredom that prompts us to lose ourselves in beings. Heidegger and Boss comment that:
Heidegger: ... To be absorbed by something ... [means] to be totally preoccupied by something , as for instance, when one says: He is entirely engrossed in his subject matter. Then he exists authentically as who he is, that is, in his task ... Da-sein means being absorbed in that toward which I comport myself... To be absorbed in beholding the palm tree in front of our window is letting the palm tree come to presence, its swaying in the wind, is absorption of my being-in-the world and of my comportment in the palm tree.
Medard Boss: Our patients force us to see the human being in his essential ground because the modem neuroses of boredom and meaninglessness can no longer be drowned out by glossing over or covering up particular symptoms of illness. If one treats those symptoms only, then another symptom will emerge again and again ... They no longer see meaning in their life and ... they have become intolerably bored
This tragic outlook is all well and good for depressed geniuses, but how can we coax/force this phenomenon out of hiding in our everyday life as a fundamental determination of our being-addicted to the beings that pertain to us?
Well, could you imagine doing your afternoon workout by yourself and without music/T.V. to help pass the time? Certainly, if we don't have these distractions, contemporary people experience a boredom, a stretching out of time (langweil in German), while exercising. Similarly, try going on a driving trip by yourself and without music.
Again, recall a time when something you are waiting for is late (eg., a friend, train, plain), and how you become acutely aware of the drawing out of time as you wait.
Remember being naughty as a child and getting punished by being separated from beings and made to sit in the corner facing the wall in a "time out," and how the stretching out of time afflicted you.
Further, consider how the misplacement of your cell phone caused you to have to endure the monotony/anxiety of the day in a way that simply didn't happen when you were younger and had not yet become addicted to smartphones. As Heidegger said, our being-addicted to beings is getting worse, not better with the contemporary age, which doctors try to bandage with processes like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness Meditation.
Phenomenologically, the more and more we separate ourselves from beings, the more we are able to produce/coax/force to the surface the Being of that being which we ourselves are (fundamental boredom, which is perhaps worse in our age than any other). We are all a step back from life, never fully satiated - creative types more so than most.
On the other hand, being a step back, not fully caught up in things, gives perspective, and so is the impetus for critical thinking.
One last thought.
If any readers read my above comment on Phenomenology and are curious about how the Phenomenological method of Heidegger works to disclose Being, and the Being of beings, consider this brief phenomenological analysis of boredom:
What is boredom? We all get bored from time, some of us terribly, so why bother asking about boredom? We all know what it is, and how it is with boredom, don't we?
The above suggests a "Phenomenology" of Boredom. In previous posts, I described Phenomenology as a discourse on what shows itself. I related this to Heraclitus' saying "phusis kryptesthai philei," Being loves to hide, and the ancient Greek understanding of truth, which they expressed with, what was for them, the neologism a-letheia, truth, un-covered. So, if we are going to dis-close the hiding Being of boredom in that being which we ourselves are, the being of boredom may in fact need to be coaxed/forced out of hiding.
Regarding the phenomenological method, as I said, when Heidegger says a torn sock is better than a whole one, he means the "category of unity" that pertains to the Being of the sock (which remained hidden in our everyday dealing with the sock), has been "coaxed" to the surface in the tearing, precisely as a " lost unity." Hence, we say the "unity," which makes up part of the Being of the sock, is not just abstracted to, but can be "produced" in our tearing of it.
So, let's consider an example of boredom:
Aristotle asks why the great and creative thinkers are all such melancholics? Clearly, there is no shortage of boredom/anxiety and addiction among creative types. Perhaps they are a step back from everyday life, somewhat unsatisfied by the everyday, and so try to lose themselves in the esoteric/higher pursuits. Would this step back not give these creative types perspective, and hence the distance to see the forest for the trees in understanding the everyday world of the rest of us?
Heidegger and Psychiatrist Medard Boss suggest that our "being-addicted" to the beings that matter to us is thought out of a fundamental boredom that prompts us to lose ourselves in beings. Heidegger and Boss comment that:
Heidegger: ... To be absorbed by something ... [means] to be totally preoccupied by something , as for instance, when one says: He is entirely engrossed in his subject matter. Then he exists authentically as who he is, that is, in his task ... Da-sein means being absorbed in that toward which I comport myself... To be absorbed in beholding the palm tree in front of our window is letting the palm tree come to presence, its swaying in the wind, is absorption of my being-in-the world and of my comportment in the palm tree.
Medard Boss: Our patients force us to see the human being in his essential ground because the modem neuroses of boredom and meaninglessness can no longer be drowned out by glossing over or covering up particular symptoms of illness. If one treats those symptoms only, then another symptom will emerge again and again ... They no longer see meaning in their life and ... they have become intolerably bored
This tragic outlook is all well and good for depressed geniuses, but how can we coax/force this phenomenon out of hiding in our everyday life as a fundamental determination of our being-addicted to the beings that pertain to us?
Well, could you imagine doing your afternoon workout by yourself and without music/T.V. to help pass the time? Certainly, if we don't have these distractions, contemporary people experience a boredom, a stretching out of time (langweil in German), while exercising. Similarly, try going on a driving trip by yourself and without music.
Again, recall a time when something you are waiting for is late (eg., a friend, train, plain), and how you become acutely aware of the drawing out of time as you wait.
Remember being naughty as a child and getting punished by being separated from beings and made to sit in the corner facing the wall in a "time out," and how the stretching out of time afflicted you.
Further, consider how the misplacement of your cell phone caused you to have to endure the monotony/anxiety of the day in a way that simply didn't happen when you were younger and had not yet become addicted to smartphones. As Heidegger said, our being-addicted to beings is getting worse, not better with the contemporary age, which doctors try to bandage with processes like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness Meditation.
Phenomenologically, the more and more we separate ourselves from beings, the more we are able to produce/coax/force to the surface the Being of that being which we ourselves are (fundamental boredom, which is perhaps worse in our age than any other). We are all a step back from life, never fully satiated - creative types more so than most.
On the other hand, being a step back, not fully caught up in things, gives perspective, and so is the impetus for critical thinking.