I think rationalists should consider taking more showers.
As Eliezer Yudkowsky once said, boredom makes us human. The childhoods of exceptional people often include excessive boredom as a trait that helped cultivate their genius:
A common theme in the biographies is that the area of study which would eventually give them fame came to them almost like a wild hallucination induced by overdosing on boredom. They would be overcome by an obsession arising from within.
Unfortunately, most people don't like boredom, and we now have little metal boxes and big metal boxes filled with bright displays that help distract us all the time, but there is still an effective way to induce boredom in a modern population: showering.
When you shower (or bathe, that also works), you usually are cut off from most digital distractions and don't have much to do, giving you tons of free time to think about what you want, which is hard to find today. People from various places and cultures report having flashes of insight while in the bathroom. This phenomenon is so common that we even have a name for it: shower thoughts.
So next time, please consider thinking about Friendly AI while you relax in a bathtub. The future of humanity might depend on it.
Strong disagree. This is an ineffective way to create boredom. Showers are overly stimulating, with horrible changes in temperature, the sensation of water assaulting you nonstop, and requiring laborious motions to do the bare minimum of scrubbing required to make society not mad at you. A much better way to be bored is to go on a walk outside or lift weights at the gym or listen to me talk about my data cleaning issues
IYKYK