A Nation Of Bores!

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http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_705207.html?menu=news.latestheadlines

New poll says Britons becoming a nation of bores

Britons are becoming a nation of bores according to researchers who say today's 30 and 40-somethings are more rut race than rat race.

In a two week study, most people spent their spare time watching television, abstaining from sex and going to bed before 11.30pm.

Ironically, accountants turned out to be the profession with the most get up and go - they're the most likely to socialise mid-week, play more sport, watch the least TV and have more sex.

The study, commissioned by Australian winemakers Lindemans, asked 100 households to keep a detailed two-week diary and shed the light on how we spend our work and leisure time.

The records were then analysed by social psychologist Christine Webber who discovered that the majority were living not just 'groundhog days' - daily routines filled with repetitive behaviour - but 'groundhog weeks'.

Ms Webber said: "The daily diaries have given us an illustrative snapshot of the type of lives many of us could be living, allowing us to drill down into the details of Briton's Monday to Friday routines."

The study revealed that 83% were tucked up by 11.30pm every night and that 56% eat takeaways at least once a week with 80% ordering the same meal every time.

Just 39% socialised with friends during the two weeks, only 28% visited the gym, a shocking 93% posted to ilxor.com, 100% watched TV at least five nights a fortnight and 61% were regularly unable to name a single 'highlight' of their day.

When asked to give their days a satisfaction rating, housewives scored highly with a typical day scoring an average of seven out of ten. In contrast advertising execs gave an average of just four out of ten.

Of the whole sample, only 39% admitted to having sex at all in the two weeks, and of those people, the average was three times.

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 8 November 2002 13:50 (twenty-three years ago)

Sample of 100 = monkey tennis but hooray!

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 8 November 2002 13:51 (twenty-three years ago)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_599873.html

Some counter evidence. I have done this! Mind you I have also taken a sickie to play Civ III.

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 8 November 2002 13:52 (twenty-three years ago)

I am very boring. The highlight of my week is going to laundrette.

― alix (alix), Friday, 8 November 2002 13:55 (twenty-three years ago)

Maybe the amount of Canadians in the country are skewing the sample results toward 'maximum boringness'

― dave q, Friday, 8 November 2002 14:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i am v v v boring (when i am not being a pop star, obv) and i FAIL TO SEE why that is a bad thing! everyone needs their sleep you know ect ect.

― katie (katie), Friday, 8 November 2002 14:01 (twenty-three years ago)

(haha 93 posted to ilxor.com. WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY mr. Ewing??)

― katie (katie), Friday, 8 November 2002 14:08 (twenty-three years ago)

evidence of monkey cricket there

― mark s (mark s), Friday, 8 November 2002 14:12 (twenty-three years ago)

I really enjoy NOT having sex.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 8 November 2002 14:17 (twenty-three years ago)

Tom's ability to distort realactual news with extra "facts" is well known and shows all signs of worsening.

― Alan (Alan), Friday, 8 November 2002 14:33 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm very boring.

― Ed (dali), Friday, 8 November 2002 14:35 (twenty-three years ago)

anyway, who decides what's "boring" man? personally i think going to the gym religiously and feeling pressured to "socialise" are quite boring. i wd much rather have the guts to admit that hey, i'm knackered and am quite happy to go home, hang out with the cuddlemonkey and maybe read some nice books and have some nice wine and food before turning in and if sex happens fine but if it doesn't hey, it's OK because sleep is good also. boring != bored.

― katie (katie), Friday, 8 November 2002 14:39 (twenty-three years ago)

In a two week study, most people spent their spare time watching television, abstaining from sex and going to bed before 11.30pm.

Hey, me too!

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Friday, 8 November 2002 14:43 (twenty-three years ago)

i didn't realise the meaning of life was sport and sex. i best change my entire lifestyle just to satisfy the researchers of this boring-ass report. pffff.

― g-kit (g-kit), Friday, 8 November 2002 14:59 (twenty-three years ago)

well said g-kit.
and what the hell's wrong with eating the same food? This report blows goats.

― Fuzzy (Fuzzy), Friday, 8 November 2002 15:24 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah. thanks fuzzy.

incidently, 100% of the researchers on this report spent their evenings making pie charts of this data when they could've been washing the bear.

― g-kit (g-kit), Friday, 8 November 2002 15:26 (twenty-three years ago)

washing the bear... DAN PERRY TO THREAD!!
(ooh i haven't said thatin a long time. that felt good)

― katie (katie), Friday, 8 November 2002 15:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Mind you I have also taken a sickie to play Civ III.

Ah, but Sid Meier is a harsh and demanding mistress. You need a whole day just to confirm that he's lost his charms.

Or in other words, Snap.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Friday, 8 November 2002 15:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Abstaining? So it's on offer, but we're saying "no, thanks, I'd rather catch up with Carol Smillie"?

I have stayed up till 2.30am for the last three nights! Suck that, you bores!

― Mark C (Mark C), Friday, 8 November 2002 16:22 (twenty-three years ago)

Sorry, I'm too busy "compiling the module" to properly comment.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 8 November 2002 16:28 (twenty-three years ago)

this was reported on the bbc news this morning immediately after this story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2416995.stm

"UK 'tops literary spending league'

Britons spend more on DVDs, videos and books than any of their European counterparts, according to new research."

(here on annanova: http://www.ananova.com/entertainment/story/sm_704754.html)

which to me is the same thing but with a positive slant put onto it.

― koogs, Friday, 8 November 2002 16:40 (twenty-three years ago)

the whole notion that routine and predictability is boring = fair enough, but surely this is a pretty global trend with similar figures for other nations/cultures similar to the ones found in the UK, esp. for the age group covered. what do they expect these people to be doing? most 30 and 40 somethings have families to take care of which tend to require security and responsibility - the reliability of parents to do certain things at certain times and with consistency over a long period of time is re-assuring in that sense is it not? the survey doesnt mention whether the surveyees had families but you would expect many of them to wouldnt you? the survey seems to suggest these people are boring because they're not acting like they're still 18 anymore...mind you my life's pretty predictable and mundane (b-but i've been out on two consecutive weeknights this week!) at the mo and i'm mid 20s with no dependants - hmmmm

― blueski, Friday, 8 November 2002 16:41 (twenty-three years ago)

i didn't realise the meaning of life was sport and sex.

you didn't?

― michael wells (michael w.), Friday, 8 November 2002 16:49 (twenty-three years ago)

nah, i thought it was all Sid Meier games and euphemisms.

― g-kit (g-kit), Friday, 8 November 2002 16:52 (twenty-three years ago)

I can't remember the last time I was in bed at 11.30 - I find this a bit frightening.

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 8 November 2002 16:54 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, I thought it was odd that BBC Breakfast News didn't seem to connect the nation-of-bookworms/nation-of-bores stories. Then they also had a "GrandTheftAuto 3" will be bigger than "Titanic" featurette, which could have been linked in too, but no. But to be fair, Breakfast can't do in-depth, only bitesize news. Perhaps Newsnight tonight will try and fit the pieces together better.

I am very boring btw, but I try and socialise at least once a week now.

― Jeff W (Jeff W), Friday, 8 November 2002 18:45 (twenty-three years ago)

I also am abstaining from sex.

― Graham (graham), Friday, 8 November 2002 18:54 (twenty-three years ago)

I am abstaining form absailing.

― jel -- (jel), Friday, 8 November 2002 18:58 (twenty-three years ago)

i have read studies that indicate that after the age of 35, most people are increasingly less likely to try anything new (food, music, etc)

― g (graysonlane), Friday, 8 November 2002 19:03 (twenty-three years ago)

This 11:30 stuff falls down when you consider that I am more boring than everyone else in the country put together and I stay up all night. Playing Civ3, for example...

― Rebecca (reb), Friday, 8 November 2002 20:20 (twenty-three years ago)

I find the gym considerably more boring than watching TV, personally. And how is eating takeaway food any indication of boringness?

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 9 November 2002 19:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Is "abstaining" really the word when your celibacy is involuntary?

― j.lu (j.lu), Saturday, 9 November 2002 19:57 (twenty-three years ago)

I have stayed up till 2.30am for the last three nights! Suck that, you bores!

I've stayed up till 2.30am for the last three years. (Actually, I think a few months ago, I went to sleep the same day as I woke up but I think that was because I'd not slept for a couple of days before that)

― jamesmichaelward (jamesmichaelward), Sunday, 10 November 2002 23:46 (twenty-three years ago)

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