You crave boredom. Here’s why.

You *need* boredom. You’ll feel life’s meaning less. You’ll be more depressed if you *never* feel bored. I can’t make it clearer. Let me share the benefits of boredom in general. Boredom is when we’re not consciously engaged—it activates our brain’s passive mode, letting thoughts wander. It sounds complex, but it’s simple: that’s the part of the brain that kicks in when you’re not focused on anything specific. For example, you forget your phone at a red light. That’s when your passive brain network activates. We *hate* it. My Harvard psychology colleague ran an experiment where people sat 15 minutes in a room with no instructions—just a button to press. If they pressed it, they’d get a painful electric shock. *"Sit, be bored, or get shocked."* Many chose the shock over doing nothing. Boredom is terrible. Why? Because passive brain networks make us think about things we *don’t* want to—like existential questions: *What does my life mean?*