{"id":3538,"date":"2014-08-29T08:53:12","date_gmt":"2014-08-29T12:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=3538"},"modified":"2014-08-29T08:53:12","modified_gmt":"2014-08-29T12:53:12","slug":"a-chilling-view-inside-the-quiet-room-electric-shocks-preferred-to-sitting-still","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2014\/08\/a-chilling-view-inside-the-quiet-room-electric-shocks-preferred-to-sitting-still.html","title":{"rendered":"A Chilling View Inside the Quiet Room: Electric Shocks Preferred to Sitting Still"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\bNA003978\"<\/a>A study recently published in Science<\/em> provides a window into the restless soul of Americans and a compelling case of why we need mindfulness.<\/p>\n

University of Virginia psychologist Timothy Wilson and colleagues conducted a series of experiments where subjects spent time alone in an unadorned room. We are not talking about a lot of time here: 6-15 minutes. Participants preferred to listen to music or interact with their smart phones rather than sit alone with their thoughts. Some even preferred to self-administer noxious electric shocks rather than just sit with themselves in silence.<\/p>\n

In one part of the study, they were stripped of their smart phones, books, and writing implements. They were instructed to “entertain” themselves thinking but were not encouraged to meditate. They just had to stay in their seat and not fall asleep. Sounds easy, right?<\/p>\n

The study confirms what anyone who has ever attempted to meditate knows–the mind wanders. 89% of the participants had mind wandering even though nothing was competing for their attention. More than half the participants reported that it was hard to concentrate and about half did not find the experience enjoyable.<\/p>\n

One test of the study had the students try the experiment at home but nearly a third cheated by engaging with external stimulation. These home particiaptns enjoyed the experience even less, so the lab was not to blame for the lack of enjoyment.<\/p>\n

Another experiment compared sitting quietly with engaging with listening to music, reading, or doing non-social activities on a phone. The externally focused people enjoyed it more, found it easier to concentrate, and their minds wandered less.<\/p>\n

These findings were not limited to college students and were replicated in a community sample ranging up to age 77.<\/p>\n

These findings seem to prove the point of \u00a0seventeenth century philosopher Pascal who said,\u201cAll men\u2019s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems apparent that sitting alone with one’s thoughts is unpleasant because people do not know what to do with their minds. They don’t know how to operate the equipment.<\/p>\n

Twelve of 18 men in the study gave themselves at least one electric shock during the study\u2019s 15-minute \u201cthinking\u201d period.\u00a0By comparison, six of 24 females shocked themselves. All of these participants had received a sample of the shock and reported that they would pay to avoid being shocked again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is striking,\u201d the investigators write, \u201cis that simply being alone with their own thoughts for 15 minutes was apparently so aversive that it drove many participants to self-administer an electric shock that they had earlier said they would pay to avoid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson and his team note that men tend to seek \u201csensations\u201d more than women, which may explain why 67 percent of men self-administered shocks to the 25 percent of women who did.<\/p>\n

We don’t know how to operate our most sophisticated piece of equipment. 86 billion neurons\u00a0that cannot direct themselves to the simple fact of being alive for fifteen minutes or less.<\/p>\n

Mindfulness is the cure for this stark restlessness. Whenever you are stuck in a situation that does not provide any gagdetized external stimulation, you have the experience of being alive to attend to. Of course there is always external stimulation. Just look with your eyes, listen with your ears, and feel with your body.<\/p>\n

The authors conclude:<\/p>\n

\n

Research has\u00a0shown that minds are difficult to control,\u00a0however, and it may be particularly hard to\u00a0steer our thoughts in pleasant directions and\u00a0keep them there. This may be why many people\u00a0seek to gain better control of their thoughts with\u00a0meditation and other techniques, with clear benefits. Without such training, people prefer\u00a0doing to thinking, even if what they are doing is\u00a0so unpleasant that they would normally pay to\u00a0avoid it. The untutored mind does not like to be\u00a0alone with itself.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Tutor your mind by practicing meditation!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A study recently published in Science provides a window into the restless soul of Americans and a compelling case of why we need mindfulness. University of Virginia psychologist Timothy Wilson and colleagues conducted a series of experiments where subjects spent time alone in an unadorned room. We are not talking about a lot of time…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1],"tags":[179,40,849,848,510,633,850],"class_list":["post-3538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mindfulnesss","category-the-laboratory","tag-boredom","tag-concentration","tag-distraction","tag-pascal","tag-restlessness","tag-science","tag-timothy-wilson"],"yoast_head":"\nA Chilling View Inside the Quiet Room: Electric Shocks Preferred to Sitting Still - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2014\/08\/a-chilling-view-inside-the-quiet-room-electric-shocks-preferred-to-sitting-still.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Chilling View Inside the Quiet Room: Electric Shocks Preferred to Sitting Still - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A study recently published in Science provides a window into the restless soul of Americans and a compelling case of why we need mindfulness. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3538"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3547,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3538\/revisions\/3547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}