Can’t get any peace?


How crazy busy are you? Turns out, a lot of the noise is in taking place our heads.

Recent studies have shown that the idea of sitting alone for any length of time, sans techno gadgets, is nearly unthinkable. In 11 experiments involving more than 700 people, most participants reported that they found it  “unpleasant” to be alone in a room with their thoughts for 6–15 minutes. What’s more, in one experiment, 64 percent of men and 15 percent of women preferred to self-administer electric shocks to keep them from thinking. What would the Buddha think of that?     —Diane Richard, writer, July 23

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Image: Clayton Brothers

Source: Kate Murphy, “No Time to Think,” The New York Times,July 25