The philosophical reason why Ed Sheeran put his mobile in a drawer and forgot about him

One of the main objectives of social networks and infinity scroll It is to ensure that users remain as much time as possible on their platforms, and they have really succeeded. The attention we dedicate To slide the screen already rivals the time we spend looking beyond 40 cm that, most likely, separate you from your smartphone at this time.

The singer Ed Sheeran He went Yesterday as guest at ‘The revolt ‘ of RTVE. During the interview he surprised Broncano himself revealing that I had no mobile. Confession could sound as an extravagance more than one superstar of music that can allow an assistant to manage his calls and social profiles.

However, their arguments were much more philosophical and consistent with the Hyperconnection times That we have to live.

It is not being disconnected, it is to reconnect again

During his interview, the British singer acknowledged that he has no smartphone, but he remains communicated by responding, attending to Instagram and even making voice calls Through facetime. However, instead of using a smartphone that can always carry in your pocket, Sheeran Use an iPad.

“That way, people do not expect an instant response, but if they really need you, they can call you for facetime. With the iPad you can do everything,” said the singer. However, the tablet format It does not allow you to always carry it on topas the smartphone allows. In this way, he prevents his hands instinctively from instinctively getting his pocket every time a dead time space arises.

“I realized that when I went out with my wife and got up to the bathroom, I took her mobile instantly. But I think getting bored is good for the brain because you start thinking about things,” Sheeran said. The superstar of music recognized that, most likely, I would not have written many of his songs If he had had a mobile because, he simply got bored and his brain found enough space to launch his creative capacity.

Sheeran concluded by ensuring that “being boring is the best for your creativity, because your brain starts thinking. If you are always with something, you can’t create.” With this simple explanation, the singer materialized on stage the arguments of the book ‘The society of fatigue’from the South Korean philosopher and writer by-Chul Han, recently prize with the Princess of Asturias of Communication and Humanities.

Doing nothing is very complicated

In ‘The society of fatigue’They have claimed contemplative life as a way to reconnect with the essence of what makes us humans, pointing to the Constant demand for attention that smartphones claim as the main enemy of mental calmhappiness and creativity.

In his book, the philosopher ensures that the constant bombardment of stimuli To which we submit to our brains, it prevents it from stopping to unite the points that connect abstract ideas and knowledge, limiting our ability to create and solve problems.

Beyond the philosophical approaches on the overexposure to dopamine that provide the social networks and the use of smartphonescience is also put on the side of Ed Sheeran and Byung-Chul Han: boring awakens creativity of the brain.

An investigation from the Northwestern University in the US, simply do nothing or perform monotonous and repetitive tasks that induce a mental state similar to trance, How to scrub dishes or fold socks, allow the brain to enter “diffuse thought” mode. This state allows the connections between ideas to be carried out without the pressure of attending external stimuli.

The scientific evidence has recorded that boredom is perceived as a negative sensationas if doing nothing outside of being an unproductive person or without ambition to improve. The researchers They detected that these negative emotions generate states of mental anxiety when the first glimpses of inactivity appear, inciting us to fill that void With content. The mobile is always at hand to fulfill that mission.

Assume that Boring is not negative and limit overestimulation are the first steps to allow the brain Take a small vacation and begin to “play” at the subconscious level. The results do not take to appear in the form of Bright ideas while showering or simply when You allow the brain to wander With the losing gaze in infinity.

Paradoxically, the best way to be productive and reduce stress will be get nothing.

In Xataka | “Doing nothing” is a great technique to improve your productivity. Neuroscience is clear

Image | RTVE, Unspash (Ben Collins, Vitolda Klein)