Most of us prefer to focus on the outside world and we don't like to spend a lot of time thinking alone. That is the conclusion of a study promoted by psychologists from the universities of Virginia and Harvard, in the United States, which establishes that, in general, we try to do anything, even injure ourselves, as long as we are not alone with our thoughts .
And, according to these experts in the journal Science , almost all people try to avoid this situation. To demonstrate this, they conducted eleven studies with volunteers in which they were asked to spend between six and fifteen minutes in a room where there was nothing to do but spin the coconut.
When given the chance, the vast majority of participants chose to listen to music, use a smartphone and even apply mild electric shocks.
Psychologist Timothy Wilson , co-author of the trial, notes that the results are similar regardless of the age of the subjects, ranging from 18-year-olds to 77-year-olds.
"It was surprising to see that even older people weren't particularly drawn to the simple act of thinking," he says. In his opinion, this behavior is not due to the fact that today everyone has access to many entertainment devices.
On the contrary, he suspects that most users use them as a response to their need to do something at all times, even if that means never relaxing or simply not pondering.
