An investigation led by scientists at the University of Virginia found that most people would rather be doing something – even if just hurting themselves – than sitting alone with their thoughts.
In a series of 11 studies, published in the journal Science in July, 2014, U.Va. psychologist Timothy Wilson and colleagues at U.Va. and Harvard University found that study participants generally did not enjoy spending even brief periods of time alone in a room with nothing to do but think, ponder and daydream.
Participants were asked to sit alone in an unadorned room at a laboratory, with no cell phone, reading materials or writing implements, and to spend up to 15 minutes entertaining themselves with their thoughts.
Most reported that they found it difficult to concentrate and that their minds wandered, though nothing was competing for their attention. On average the participants did not enjoy the experience.
The researchers took their studies further. Participants were given the same circumstances as most of the previous studies, with the added option of administering a mild electric shock to themselves by pressing a button. All of these participants had received a sample of the shock in advance and had reported that they would pay to avoid being shocked again.
Twelve of 18 men in the study gave themselves at least one electric shock during the study’s 15-minute “thinking” period. Some men shocked themselves repeatedly. By comparison, six of 24 females shocked themselves.
“What is striking,” the investigators write, “is 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.”
Wilson said that he and his colleagues are still working on the exact reasons why people find it difficult to be alone with their own thoughts. Everyone enjoys daydreaming or fantasizing at times, he said, but these kinds of thinking may be most enjoyable when they happen spontaneously, and they are more difficult to do on command. “The mind is designed to engage with the world,” he said. “Even when we are by ourselves, our focus usually is on the outside world. Without training in meditation or thought-control techniques, which still are difficult, most people would prefer to engage in external activities.”
Bicycling, like certain other simple rhythmic activities, can allow us to experience the benefits of meditative reflection without the anxiety of ‘doing nothing’. I find that riding long distances on my bike is at least as effective as my amateur efforts at meditation. I choose a quiet, very low traffic road that leads to a far horizon, and I head for that horizon at a very moderate pace. It works for me, and you can do it to. Don’t forget, however, that when looking inward on a bike, you ought to keep your eyes open.