Put a number on boredom and it becomes a target; put a target on it and the number stops meaning what it meant. The textbook treats boredom as a preference to be revealed. In practice it is a story we tell ourselves after the fact. Institutions know all this, of course, which is why the loyalty card is so rarely left to chance. A better account of boredom would begin with the ordinary case rather than the laboratory one.
A better question
A pattern this consistent is not a character flaw. It is a design feature, and design features can be worked with. Ask most people why they did what they did and they will give you a reason; ask them again a week later and the reason will have quietly changed. There is a version of this essay that ends with a policy prescription. This is not that version; the mechanism is interesting enough on its own. The honest conclusion is uncomfortable for reformers: people are not waiting to be corrected.
