Study: You’d Rather Shock Yourself Than Be Alone and Think

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If you think that you’d rather be sitting at home, doing absolutely nothing, instead of sitting in work on this post-long-weekend Monday, think again. Turns out most people would rather be doing anything than nothing at all. According to TIME, a new study published in the journal Science found that many people prefer administering mild electric shocks to themselves to being left alone with nothing to do but think for six to 15 minutes. 

During the study, participants were asked to sit in a room alone for six to 15 minutes and just think, or shock themselves. And oddly enough, a large chunk of people chose to shock themselves. Researchers found that, on average, those who chose to shock themselves did so 1.47 times in a 15-minute interval. The male study participants fared worse, with 67 percent electing to zap themselves at least once during the short thinking period, compared to only 25 percent of female participants. One man even went so far as to administer 190 shocks to himself. 190 shocks, everyone.

The study concluded that people prefer any stimuli to no stimuli, even if it’s super unpleasant. But why, you might be asking. Well, even after questioning all of the study participants post-thinking-period, the researchers have no idea. For now, you can rest easy knowing that even if you’re not loving whatever you’re doing right this second, you still probably love it a heck of a lot more than doing absolutely nothing at all.

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