Understanding Boredom and Creativity

The speaker shares her journey from being a journalist to a mother, highlighting how technology, particularly smartphones, impacted her creativity. She explores the concept of boredom and its role in sparking creativity, supported by insights from neuroscientists. The Bored and Brilliant project is introduced, encouraging people to reduce phone usage to boost creativity. Despite modest numerical results, participants reported feeling empowered and more creative. The talk concludes with a call to balance technology use and embrace boredom for enhanced creativity.

What was the speaker's profession before becoming a mother?

• A teacher

• A journalist

• A scientist

• A lawyer

What is the 'default mode' in the brain associated with?

• Increased stress

• Enhanced multitasking

• Creativity and problem-solving

• Improved memory

What did the speaker realize about her phone usage during her brainstorming session?

• It was making her more productive

• It was not affecting her creativity

• It was filling all the cracks in her day

• It was helping her be more creative

What did neuroscientist Dr. Daniel Levitin say about multitasking?

• It improves memory retention

• It enhances brain function

• It is beneficial for creativity

• It depletes neural resources

What was the main goal of the 'Bored and Brilliant' project?

• To increase phone usage

• To reduce phone dependency and boost creativity

• To develop new apps

• To improve social media skills

According to the speaker, what is the relationship between technology and attention?

• Technology is designed to capture and hold attention

• Technology helps improve attention

• Technology has no impact on attention

• Technology reduces the need for attention

What did participants of the 'Bored and Brilliant' project report after the challenge?

• Increased stress levels

• Feeling more empowered and creative

• No change in phone usage

• Decreased productivity

What did the speaker find most intriguing about young people's responses to the challenge?

• They were unaffected by the challenge

• They didn't recognize some emotions they felt

• They became more dependent on their phones

• They found it easy to disconnect

What did the speaker suggest as a part of digital literacy?

• Using technology to improve lives and self-regulate

• Learning to code

• Developing new apps

• Increasing social media presence

What did the speaker conclude about boredom?

• It is unnecessary in modern life

• It is only for boring people

• It can lead to brilliance

• It should be avoided