{"id":62754,"date":"2018-03-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foxtail\/2018\/03\/20\/manoush-zomorodi-bored-brilliant\/"},"modified":"2021-01-20T23:27:10","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T23:27:10","slug":"manoush-zomorodi-bored-brilliant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/firefox\/manoush-zomorodi-bored-brilliant\/","title":{"rendered":"Manoush Zomorodi says it’s time to get bored"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you remember when you got your first smartphone? I do. Having instant access to all the internet offers, right there in my pocket, a quickdraw from my eyes, felt magical. Now more than a decade later, most phones are \u201csmart,\u201d yet maybe they\u2019re making us dumber, or at least less brilliant, as we\u2019ve become ever more glued to our tiny digital overlords.<\/p>\n

Manoush Zomorodi, host of the Note to Self podcast<\/a>, spoke recently at Mozilla about the downside to our digital devotion. It starts like this. You have a few minutes, so you reach for you phone. When you\u2019re waiting for a dental appointment. Riding the bus. Having coffee. Watching your kid play soccer. Waiting for a movie to start. In between meetings. And what do you do? You check your email. \u00a0Scan the headlines. Connect a dot or two. Watch some cat videos. Scroll through social. Slay a dragon. Order light bulbs.<\/p>\n

Tap. Scroll. Swipe. Zone out. Time passes.<\/p>\n

All the formerly unoccupied in-between time is now is booked by our phones. We like to think we\u2019re being efficient and getting stuff done, but in fact, we\u2019re denying our brains something critical \u2014 boredom.<\/p>\n