A Note by Morteza Mardiha: “The Feeling of Futility and Ennui”

Many great lies have been told about how things were in the old days and what the modern and contemporary world has done to humanity. A vast multitude even among the elite believe, earnestly and as self-evident, that in the past people were at ease, kind, benevolent, non-materialistic, and moral, and that with the advent of the new world not only did materialism replace spirituality and licentiousness replace morality, but a host of physical and mental illnesses, misery, and collapse also befell modern man, burying peace of mind, hope, and trust in the obscure recesses of history.

My point is that our predecessors were not only often in a far worse state than contemporary humans in terms of livelihood, hygiene, health, and security, but were also far inferior from the standpoint of culture, ethics, and humanity. I am not seeking to elaborate or argue for this matter here. Those interested can find and read its description in my other writings, including the first chapter of the book "Psychedelic Philosophies," titled "In the Sorrow of Ancient Alienation." What I wish to raise here is, as it happens, one of the predicaments and problems of the modern world, a trace of which I have not seen in the voluminous verbiage of the army of anti-modernists.

A few years ago I wrote an article titled "From Revelry to Killing Time" and in it I raised and argued for this claim that after first-order needs such as satisfying hunger and thirst, in their minimal sense, the most important human need is entertainment, preoccupation, and engagement. In the sense that we not only do some things purely for amusement, but we also seek many important and productive tasks, including our jobs, more for their entertaining nature, though we may often be unaware of this and cite income, for example, as the main reason. Solitary confinement prisoners understand this better than anyone, as do those who have experienced this punishment as highly effective.

Now I want to say that this quality of boredom, the feeling of futility, and pondering unanswerable questions concerning the meaning of existence, destiny, mistakes and regrets, misfortunes, shame about the past, fear of the future, anxiety about what will become of us, and ultimately the desire for oblivion and the attempt to escape from these into the clamor of busyness, is a trait more characteristic of the developed contemporary human than of our predecessors. Not only can man be defined as the animal that gets bored, but it can also be said of contemporary humans that they are humans who get bored more.

One obvious reason could be that the abundance and rapid growth of tools for producing pleasure and entertainment have intensified the inclination toward such things in society; somewhat similar to how pursuing certain pleasures does not diminish the desire for them but heightens it. Here we are faced with a phenomenon of the nature of habit; a bad habit that, by abandoning the individual to their desires, causes dependence on them and an increasing demand for their use. The ever-growing use of smartphones by humans is a clear example of this. When we wake up and our first act, still drowsy, is to reach for the phone, or when we are with family, at work, or at a party and our attention is on the phone, we may suggest to ourselves and others that we are on the lookout for news and worried about the situation, but it is unlikely that the question does not occur to us: what did the ancients, who lacked this tool, do with all the time we spend on this? And from here we might realize its non-essential, habitual, and entertaining nature, even when we are not playing games or browsing videos but listening to news and reading notes. This is one thing, but my main argument for the reason behind the growth and depth of this feeling and the increasing desire to assuage it is something else.

As a matter of scholarly caution, I should point out that we are not privy to the inner lives of animals and cannot speak with certainty about their feelings. Nevertheless, it does not seem difficult to accept as self-evident that the likelihood of animals such as turtles, snakes, and crocodiles becoming bored and weary from loneliness, idleness, or monotony is less than that of animals like cows, horses, and camels, and these, in turn, less than dogs, monkeys, and parrots. Part of this may arise purely from a biological trait (such as lions living in groups unlike tigers, and ants performing group work unlike flies), but the sum and average of this trait is not unrelated to the evolution of species. In other words, the more evolved an animal is, by the standards of biological classes, the more likely it is that something like boredom is a more serious matter for it. It seems that a creature is more prone to boredom and desirous of preoccupation and escape from loneliness, idleness, and monotony when it possesses a greater capacity to comprehend the past and understand its events, the future and anxiety about impending incidents, as well as the power to act to alleviate their pressure. What exactly happens during loneliness, idleness, and monotony that we flee from? A deficit of pleasure cannot be considered the cause, for often the means of food, drink, the sound of the flute, and the riverbank may be present and yet offer no remedy. During idleness, what is there in watching a film, listening to a podcast, scrolling through virtual pages, having a telephone conversation, even cooking and the like, that is, to some degree, a solution? I suspect the most important of these is the interruption of the train of thought; thoughts that, the more cultivated the individual, consist of more questions and fewer answers; the more rational the individual, the more fearful. And on this basis, the effort to escape from this chain of thought and further thought.

Now, if this is the primary cause, and not merely an instinct that exists according to the specific biological nature of some species and not others, and the dispositions that some individuals have and not others, then in the case of humans, too, a distinction must be made; meaning that not all humans, and especially not all generations, experience boredom to the same degree. Apart from certain amounts of this phenomenon that relate to genetic conditions, upbringing, and individual habit, and may differ from one person to another, there is another factor: in proportion to the scientific, intellectual, and emotional growth humanity has undergone in its history, the onslaught of thoughts upon it, accompanied more by sorrow, anxiety, and despair, has led to higher levels of the suffering of boredom and the desire to escape it. (Perhaps this can also be linked to the discussion of suicide. There is no convincing evidence that suicide exists among animals, and there is definitive evidence that suicide is far more common in advanced societies than in primitive ones.)

On this basis, to the question of how our ancestors, who lacked tools such as smartphones, satellites, and television, passed their days, one can answer thus: due to the limited development of their mental faculties, on average, they naturally had a more limited perception of the suffering of ennui, idleness, and perhaps even loneliness, and consequently felt less need for means to alleviate it. It is possible that the common saying that contemporary man has reached nihilism is not explained by his decline, but rather, conversely, because he possesses a sharper intelligence and greater understanding, he is less easily deceived by certain beliefs and, having attained an understanding of certain ambiguities and meaninglessnesses, finds it more difficult to convince himself. And for this reason, thinking is more a source of torment for him, and he strives to escape its suffering through work and preoccupation. Thus, not despite the growth of awareness and the privileges of modern man, but because of it, humanity increasingly strives to immerse itself more and more in work, entertainment, and oblivion, so as to think less about its dissatisfactions; dissatisfactions that are perhaps more cultural, philosophical, emotional, and human than merely financial and material.

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The Feeling of Futility and Ennui

Author: Morteza Mardiha

Farvardin 1399

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