title: Can tasks be inherently boring?
abstract: Kurzban et al. argue that the experiences of "effort," "boredom," and "fatigue" are indications that the costs of a task outweigh its benefits. Reducing the costs of tasks to "opportunity costs" has the effect of rendering tasks costless and of denying that they can be inherently boring or tedious, something that "vigilance tasks" were intentionally designed to be.
authors.affiliation: Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0239. echar@duke.edu http://www.duke.edu/~echar/
authors.forename: Evan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Charney
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D005222:Mental Fatigue / Q000523:psychology*; D008960:Models, Psychological