Study: Two-Thirds of Men Prefer Electric Shock to Being Alone With Thoughts

[BX3]

None too surprising, really. I don't think it's a problem of being introverted or extroverted. I have a friend that's quite introverted that tells me he hates being alone with his thoughts, so he usually occupies any and all free time he has to drawing.

As for me, I'm a bit on the non-conversational side myself, but even I don't like letting my mind wander too much. This is not to say I don't like sitting and thinking to myself sometimes; when left on my own with nothing to do, I usually take that time to think up ideas for some of my hobbies like writing or drawing. However, when my mind is left to wander, like legit wander off into stuff I hadn't consciously planned on thinking about prior, I end up scaring myself.


CAPCHA: "It's so Miami"...? Don't be a dick, capcha. I'm sure there are some Floridians who are just fine being with their thoughts.

 

[Random Argument Man]

Aside from the whole "introvert-extrovert" idea, men are prone to anxious thoughts. Sitting alone with 600 difference thoughts can be..a problem. I'm speaking from experience with my last statement.

 

[mindfaQ]

I guess men are creatures of action, so maybe that's where it stems from. Being a man myself, I like to use my time effectively, meaning if I have to do some house work, I normally listen to a audio book or stuff like that.
On the other hand I don't think sitting around for 15 mins and just thinking about the world and your own ideas is a bad way to spend your time, I don't mind that actually since I've got enough to think about. I don't mind a little electro shock either, but probably would prefer the thinking over it.
I can imagine that women tend to prefer the thinking over shocks, because they have a lower pain threshold and higher pain ratings (or so I've read). Or maybe it's because they like spending their time thinking about family and loved ones? Don't know.

 

[O maestre]

Ridiculously small sample size, there is nothing that can be concluded from this study.

 

[Leatherhead]

I totally believe it. It's the same reason people become alcoholics, so that they can stop thinking.

 

[Blarg Blargson]

It's the "Sitting" part that would get me, I think. When I'm alone with my thoughts, I like to walk around. It would also matter a lot if I were required to remain silent during the period. If not, I could pass the time singing, or monologuing aloud. As another fallback, I could try to take a powernap.

I don't know how bored I would have to be to painfully shock myself.

 

[WayOutThere]

"Take away a man's light, his clothes, his food, his friends, his air, and you leave him with nothing but himself. And for most, that is not pleasant company."

- Ranse Truman, The Suffering

Leave me alone with nothing to do but think and I'll start berating myself over every stupid or wrong thing I can remember doing, and I can't make myself stop. I am most certainly not pleasant company to myself, and would likely resort to shocking myself to make those thoughts momentarily cease.

 

[Xaryn Mar]

Remember, there is truth in the following: "The clever person is never bored".

I have always taken that saying to mean that a clever person can always create interesting thought and entertain themselves that way (it is called imagination).

I definitely have been able to do that since I was very young so I would have no problems sitting and thinking for 15 minutes (might have some lower back problems if the chair wasn't good/comfortable) and not shocking myself (apart from the first, just to test how it would feel).

 

[Bestival]

Hm, I love being alone, so no shocks for me thanks!

Then again, I'm practically a hermit, so maybe that's skewing the data a bit.

I have a coworker though, who's mentioned to me multiple times now that he really can't be alone. This morning he actually begged me to stay near him, because he didn't want to put the machines together alone, fearing boredom.
And although I can't know what that's like at all, I do think I prefer my introversion over that... The grass is definitely greener on my side of the fence...
Must be god damn terrifying to always need other people to be happy.

 

[SuperSuperSuperGuy]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I love being alone with my thoughts. However, I can't actually have that without some sort of sensory input; unless I'm listening to music or something, my thoughts have a tendency to go wild and become indistinct and I become very restless. While I do prefer having my computer and phone with me, I'm perfectly fine with being alone with my thoughts, so long as I have something to stop myself from getting stir-crazy.

I can't imagine preferring electric shocks over being alone with one's thoughts. That makes absolutely no sense to me, since I don't see how introspection could be more painful than electric shocks.

 

[Therumancer]

It doesn't surprise me, I think a lot of it is that people have been conditioned this way, and it tends to manifest as most people wanting to be lead or told what to do and think rather than having to resolve those things for themselves. Back when MTV was becoming a "thing" and they mostly played and focused on music, there was a lot of comments about what some of the things it was doing in terms of "factoids", "buzz clips", and it's rapid, in-your-face, style of programming and what kind of effect it would have on the youth. Certain conspiracy theories even revolved around this being an intentional experiment in conditioning run by left wing radicals. It posited that this played to the worst traits of the youth and impaired cognitive development and people's ability to think for themselves. What's more as time went on you've seen most media embrace something similar, and it's even creeped into classrooms and the like. The relatively early "content bombardment" MTV programming is actually pretty tame compared to what's taken for granted today.

Now, ignoring all of the conspiracy garbage, when hearing this it does make me wonder because this whole reaction is similar to what people feared would come from that style of media. People finding it painful to just think on their own, and inevitably wind up in a position where they are conditioned so they cannot think on their own without discomfort and will seek constant stimulation and guidance, going with whatever it seems the most people are doing at any given time (or they can be convinced is the case).

If anyone is interested there are probably still some articles about MTV Brainwashing (yes it was a thing) around, though a lot of this actually started before the internet was quite what it is now. When you get past the whole liberal conspiracy part of it (and understand. I'm right wing, and this was crazy by my standards) the basic science part of it is interesting, and here we are decades later, looking at something very similar to what we were told was going to happen and was allegedly "debunked". Of course according to many of these theories we would have seen this stage before now, and right now we'd all be hippy zombies who had long since abandoned things like our right to vote.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I mean it's a button, how could you not push it at least once!

Amen brother, never have truer words been spoken. Left alone, in a room with a button that I'm told not to press there are two certainties. The first is that I am alone in a room. The second is that a button is getting pressed.

This could explain why I'm not a Captain of a nuclear submarine.

 

[zumbledum]

well i would probably press the button , but not because i have any trouble being alone with my thoughts. i would just be curious

 

[FPLOON]

Uh... I seem to like being alone with my thoughts more than I willing to admit right now... But, seriously?

I get how curiosity could play a factor in the first "few" shocks as well as the possibility of an uncomfortable setting where these test were taking place, but I never thought pain was more enjoyable than being alone with one's thoughts...

Then again, I would not blame those that do hate their own thoughts or something like that...

 

[someonehairy-ish]

I'm fine with spending time alone with my thoughts, that's when I come up with all my best ideas. But that said, if somebody sat me in a room with an electric shock machine I don't think I could possibly not mess around with it. Machines that do cool or interesting things are basically catnip to me.

 

[Strazdas]

wow. every night before sleep i usually lay awake thinking about things for over an hour. i even started getting into bed earlier so i would have that awake time before going to sleep. and i dont use electronics while in bed. sitting around thinking is not bad. though i guess if you show up for experiment and what you have to do is sit and wait it could be boring for participants.

also in the other thread i just posted i could be alone underwater for 31 years, and here i read people cant be alone for 5 minutes.....

Introverts enjoy their own thoughts. Extroverts- not so much.

Sadly 70% of the planet falls into the latter category.

i believe its more like 70% of the planet tries real hard to fit into that category when in reality its more like 50%/50%. because society rewards extraverts.

 

[Samael Barghest]

I find these "men" weak. But then again, I love being alone with my thoughts.