Bill Wasik’s Round 1 Questions

In my marginal notes I mostly just summarized each section I had read in a short phrase. I find this helps me remember the most important topics and messages from each section or paragraph of the page. I found it interesting how deeply Wasik developed his idea of boredom that he based these two pages on. I was especially interested in the Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS). I wondered how accurate this test really was. Each phrase is pretty specific, but I was still curious as to how accurately the test could label someone’s proneness to boredom. Also, I was very interested in how individuals could study these results and their patterns. Specifically, I would be interested in studying related behavioral or background characteristics shared by individuals with similar BPS scores.

2. The internet aids Bill Wasik in his Mob Project. He first uses the internet to send an email to a large amount of recipients which is how he spread the word for his project in such a quick manner. After the first Mob, Wired News, an online technology-news site, posted an article about the mob taking on Manhattan. This online article led to an increase in awareness for the mob, and led to an increase in the population of the next mob. Technology continued to spread awareness for the project as well. In his piece, Wasik says “To spread the Mob Project, I endeavored to devise a media strategy.” He then continues to say that he “did perhaps thirty different interviews, not only with local newspapers” but also with “countless websites.” Wasik used the internet to create his idea, make it well-known, and then to continue to raise awareness for his project.

3. I don’t believe that Bill Wasik originally set out to pursue purpose or meaning. He starts his essay speaking about boredom, and explaining boredom and how it relates to and affects him personally. He explains that he was very bored, and randomly decided to form the Mob Project. He was originally just trying to find and activity that would keep him occupied or provide him with some type of interest or entertainment. The Mob Project incidentally became a project with a sense of purpose or meaning for Wasik. As it began to progress and become more popular, Wasik became more invested in the project and making sure it thrived. Wasik accomplishes what he set out to do and so much more. The Mob Project started out as an experiment and turned into something so much more meaningful for Wasik, and that is more then he could have ever imagined.