Loneliness and Our Thoughts

A 2014 study concluded that people simply don’t like being alone with their own thoughts. The experiment called on participants who ranged in age from 18 to 77 to sit alone in a room for 6 to 15 minutes. Afterward, most of the subjects reported they did not enjoy it. In fact, 25 percent of the women studied and 66 percent of the men would rather give themselves a small electric shock than merely sit with their thoughts. University of Virginia psychologist Timothy Wilson told the Washington Post concerning the study: “We have this big brain full of pleasant memories, and we’re able to tell ourselves stories and make up fantasies. But despite that, we kept finding that people didn’t like it much and found it hard.” For the Christian, the opportunity to sit quietly and experience God should be a regular part of our spiritual discipline. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell