Electric Shocks Better than Solitude?

I first read about this phenomen in a column by Caille Millner, "It's harad to be alone with your thoughts."

I just now looked up the link to the report in Science, which says that people would rather zap themselves than sit silently and do nothing at all (having only their thoughts to keep them engaged).

I thought about the Leah Garchik eavesdropping of a man who said, "I forgot my iPod.  I'll have to use my brain" when he was about to work out at the gym.

I thought of Dana, who admitted that she has a TV in every room so that as she walks through the house she won't be alone with her own thoughts.

Here's the report:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/science/2014/07/03/idle/J2LpEcTdZzLykRCTnZ80fL/story.html