Can’t wait for The Onion or Scott Ott to take a spin at this one: scientists in the UK found that bored bureaucrats drop like flies,
You really can be bored to death, scientists discover
Boredom could be shaving years off your life, scientists have found.
Researchers say that people who complain of boredom are more likely to die young, and that those who experienced ‘high levels’ of tedium are more than two-and-a-half times as likely to die from heart disease or stroke than those satisfied with their lot.
More than 7,000 civil servants were studied over 25 years – and those who said they were bored were nearly 40 per cent more likely to have died by the end of study than those who did not.
The scientists said this could be a result of those unhappy with their lives turning to such unhealthy habits as smoking or drinking, which would cut their life expectancy.
Yeah, substance abuse can do you in no matter whether you’re bored or not.
However, I’m curious as to whether the fact that the people studied were government workers had anything to do with it. Shouldn’t the study conclude that big government kills?
Specialists from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London, looked at data from 7,524 civil servants aged between 35 and 55 who were interviewed between 1985 and 1988 about their levels of boredom. They then found out whether they had died by April last year.
…
Those who reported feeling a great deal of boredom were 37 per cent more likely to have died by the end of the study.
No word as to whether the original scientists who interviewed the bored in 1985 were still around for the follow-up last year, or whether they, too succumbed to ennui.