Pratik Ratadiya > Essays

The Case for Idleness

A lot of us are bored, but very few of us are idle. We do not have to worry about sustained boredom anymore. Thousands of content creators are at our fingertips, ready to deliver an instant dopamine hit. Social media and the internet brought millions of voices across the world closer to us. One would think such quick access to limitless entertainment and information would make us more joyous and thoughtful in our lives. Instead, mental health issues are on the rise, and more people feel confused and unsure about what lies ahead. If we have access to so many perspectives and experiences, what explains this disparity?

I believe this comes down to a rise in shallow thinking and poor conviction in our actions. Our attention spans have decreased. More decisions are now made on impulse rather than after careful thought. “Go with the flow” is the norm. So when something doesn’t go as planned, how would we know how to react? Emotional distress and subsequent impulsiveness are obvious. You can only be confident in your actions when you understand the reasoning behind them, including the principles and mental models that guide you. Strong conviction comes from serious, in-depth thinking. But we are spending very little time with ourselves these days. True solitude is rarely observed, thanks to the smartphone. We are lonely, but rarely alone.

This isn’t necessarily about physical isolation, but rather an isolated state of mind. Where your thoughts aren’t actively influenced by humans or algorithms. Getting to introspect hard and simply being thoughtful in the moment can be a superpower. It encourages you to be more observant. You will begin to reason through everything. It will be boring and painful at the start. But soon, you will start exploring thoughts and actions that wouldn’t be obvious to the impulsive actor. You will allow your mind to journey to the farthest stretches of imagination and perspective. That’s how you unlock creativity and greatness.

The Great Plague of 1665 forced a 23-year-old Newton to spend time in isolation, where he developed calculus and experimented with optics. Even the legendary apple incident occurred during this time of solitude, prompting him to deeply think about inertia and gravity. If at all we manage to get a 23-year-old to spend time alone in a garden today, the apple would probably hit their noise-canceling headphones. They might not even look up, assuming it was a hard beat in their “Spatial Audio” mode. Beethoven struggled with increasing hearing loss in his 30s and decided to live in isolation. One of his greatest compositions, the Ninth Symphony, came about when he was already completely deaf! Isolation forced him to “hear” music in his mind alone, igniting creative mastery for the ages. Emily Dickinson famously lived in seclusion, avoiding public distractions to gain the time and mental space to compose more than 1,800 poems with her strikingly original style. Periods of idleness gave these individuals the freedom to think deeply, experiment widely, and develop unique perspectives that contributed directly to their landmark achievements.

These examples aren’t to say that isolation is only needed for extraordinary outcomes. It is equally powerful in daily life, and you have probably experienced this already. Recall the positivity you felt after seeing a sunset, standing on a mountain top, or sitting by the beach. You got to step away from the rush and simply observe the beauty of nature in solitude, introducing gratitude and optimism about the future. Religion and prayers work for many because they force the follower to streamline their thoughts in one direction and, more importantly, compel them to prioritize what they truly want in life. Meditation is powerful because it makes you concentrate on your breathing and your mind, giving you more control over your thoughts and actions. In all these cases, the mind is isolated for a brief period, making you feel at peace and in control. There may be a side of you hidden deep inside that would only be uncovered through focused introspection.

Scrolling through videos and messages is easy and fun. Installing a major system update takes time and is boring. Only one of them makes your phone more effective and last longer. Choose wisely. You don’t need to update your phone every day. But not doing so for months will lead to that inevitable slowdown and permanently reduce its lifetime potential. Such is your life too. Be idle.

P.S. A few random musings when writing this essay

What do you think?