Well, the way I see it, any standards that pin you as “incredibly boring” are totally worthless standards. :)

I get what you’re saying, though. A lot of people just aren’t that intellectually curious. I didn’t used to be, either. It was something that just sort of grew over time, and the funny thing is that it only happened because of desperation. My OCD became very severe, and I started obsessing about all sorts of existential questions. One thing lead to another, and one day I just suddenly stopped watching nighttime sitcoms and started reading Sartre and Kant instead. And then, funnily enough, I discovered that I was actually enjoying myself, lol.

I think most people think of intellectual pursuits as work, and anything that gets tossed into the “work” category is automatically avoided. I totally get that, since I used to be the same way. But it’s a shame, really, because learning can be super satisfying.

I think the key thing is to avoid making it too structured. You have to allow yourself the freedom to let your curiosity take you wherever it leads. That’s not something many people know how to do. In school, they’re taught to follow rigid lesson plans that don’t give them much room to do their own thing, and that makes the whole experience much less fun.