Most of us prefer to see an exciting movie over a boring one, or read an interesting book rather than one that’s excessively dry. What I would like to think about today is whether a person ought to seek excitement, adventure, and adrenaline, or not. I don’t suppose I will come to a conclusion, but I must try.

I will be the first to admit that I am a pretty boring person. I would rather read Tolkein, or Thoreau than Clancy, or Grisham. I would even rather be alone than be with people! [gasp]. I recently read an interesting article about why this might be. I have concluded that I am definitely an introvert, but don’t know if that is related to being a boring person or not. The point is that I don’t need much excitement to be happy. All I need are interesting things.

To me at least there is a large difference between exciting and interesting. Mathematics is interesting, but it is not exciting. The movie Mission Impossible II is exciting but not interesting (nor any good at all in fact). I guess if I were pressed I would say that anything that produces adrenaline is exciting, and anything that you wouldn’t mind spending an entire day (or longer) doing is interesting. So the two certainly are not mutually exclusive. e.g. I wouldn’t mind playing racquet-ball all day (if I didn’t get tired), and it’s exciting. As a side-note it took me a considerable amount of time to think of something exciting that I enjoyed. I’m still not satisfied with my example, but it serves my purpose. Perhaps a better example is The Matrix which is both interesting and exciting, but for completely different reasons.

The reason I included the two preceding paragraphs is to let you know that if excitement were to disappear tomorrow, my life wouldn’t change very much, and I wouldn’t be too heart broken. I realize not everyone is like this however. So take what I am about to say with a grain of salt. Or as they would say in Guatemala, with a bit of lime.

I read in the First Presidency message in the March Ensign the following interesting quote from the Deseret News:

A society that views graphic violence as entertainment … should not be surprised when senseless violence shatters the dreams of its youngest and brightest …

I think this is the first time that I have heard general authority say something that I thought supported (even a little) the thought that excitement is not necessarily good.

I think our modern society enjoys excitement so much that we are willing to watch violence to get it. I don’t think that most people actually like watching violence. Rather they like the adrenaline that watching it produces. In other words I don’t think that most people view violence as beautiful, or pretty. But it is exciting. One of my good friends recently said something to the effect of, “There is nothing inherently wrong in watching a chase scene, or seeing a car blow up.” I wonder.

Let me ask a slightly different question. Is there anything in the scriptures, or from the general authorities that says that we should seek excitement? In fact is there anything saying that we should seek entertainment of any kind? You must know I never thought I would hear myself say that. My father is a very austere man—not given to much game playing. As a child this drove me up the wall, and I dare say I rather disliked him for it. Now I find that I am my father’s son, and cannot help but feel a bit of disdain for people who are addicted to being entertained. I do realize the need that we all have at times to relax and be entertained, but this usually does not require that we be excited.

I shall now proceed to speak about something of which I am mostly ignorant. From what I know of the fall of the Roman Empire it was caused to a large extent by the people’s addiction to the gladitorial arena. I feel that the same thing is happening in our society. It is true that the first presidency has never said we shouldn’t watch Indiana Jones, but neither have they said that we should. I think it is like caffeine. Something that is left to our discretion in order to determine whether we will seek good, or just follow it. Most of the gospel is like this, the true doctrine is far beyond what we will ever hear in Sacrament Meeting or Sunday School. Now, I don’t claim that anyone who likes action movies is going to hell, nor anything similar. I just think that (perhaps) one way to become closer to Christ is to cut superfluous things out of our lives, especially if they have any negative effects. I think entertainment is an example, especially if it is exciting. Perhaps for other people it is necessary, but for me, I shall try to reduce the amount of unnecessary entertainment in my life.