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Comment by yamazakiwi | Hacker News Reader

Maybe that's just for children?

I'm bored everyday at work and it never motivates me. Boredom drives me towards the easy things just to kill time. The outcome is usually waiting for the cause of boredom to end. (Work)

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Boredom + Freedom = Creativity.

I see, the missing link is not age, it's freedom.

I myself do a bad job of being bored, even when freedom is provided. My reaction is reinforced due to how often I am compelled to deal with boredom without freedom.

I second this very much so. Even if I have the extra time due to working from home, I usually don't feel free enough during work hours to get engrossed in a hobby or side project. I just seek escape in the form of cheap temporary entertainment.

Freedom is debatable. Too much of it and you just get overwhelmed with possibilities.

I'd submit that it's boredom plus constraints that equal creativity. You're forced to think around your obstacles.

It's why bands and authors suck once they make it big. Once they have tons of time and money, output suffers and they stop delivering. The threat of starvation no longer forces them to make something that works on their broken keyboard.

I think contextually art is one thing that can be made great utilizing creative restraints, but it's less likely a person will be willing to jump around obstacles if they are too great or not specifically related to the creative pursuit. Many times a creative pursuit doesn't seem like an option BECAUSE of the constraints.

If starvation and bordom and constraints were the key to quality then we’d all have been annihilated by the 3rd world in less than a week.

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