Third Quarter Syndrome
In typical frustrated boredom I emailed Master Bristow (with whom I do not work) thus:
"Can I go home now?"
To which he replied:
"Third Quarter Syndrome: A phenomenon observed by psychologists whereby the third quarter of any unpleasant or gruelling experience, where the duration is known by those endiring it beforehand, is the least endurable. For example, on a four-week tour of duty, a lighthouse keeper will be most lonely on the third week. Someone doing an unpleasant job from ten to six will find the time between two and four in the afternoon the slowest and most soul-destroying part of the dayThis phenomenon has been noted in many different situations from space missions to prisons, and appears to hold true for any length of time from several years to less than an hour.
TQS may be explicable by the general trend of things to get less endurable over time as the sufferer's reserves of strength are broken down, this downward trend then reversing in the fourth quarter as the end hoves into sight, causing an upswell in optimism. Between halfway and three-quarters of the way through your ordeal, however, the extent of your torment seems to stretch to eternity in both directions."
and paraphrased in the furthermore...
"Two interesting corollaries to TQS:
1. Knowledge of TQS on the part of the sufferer does not make the bad feelings go away.
2. The worst part of the third quarter - the worst of the worst - is, of course, the third quarter of the third quarter, or the eleventh sixteenth of the whole duration. If my maths is right (and it may not be), repeated iterations of this identify a point 2/3 of the way through as the single most unbearable moment of any bad experience. If you work nine-thirty to six-thirty, this will be at three-thirty -eight minutes after your original email."
Nice to know I'm suffering from a syndrome. Is it grounds for sick leave, though?
"Can I go home now?"
To which he replied:
"Third Quarter Syndrome: A phenomenon observed by psychologists whereby the third quarter of any unpleasant or gruelling experience, where the duration is known by those endiring it beforehand, is the least endurable. For example, on a four-week tour of duty, a lighthouse keeper will be most lonely on the third week. Someone doing an unpleasant job from ten to six will find the time between two and four in the afternoon the slowest and most soul-destroying part of the dayThis phenomenon has been noted in many different situations from space missions to prisons, and appears to hold true for any length of time from several years to less than an hour.
TQS may be explicable by the general trend of things to get less endurable over time as the sufferer's reserves of strength are broken down, this downward trend then reversing in the fourth quarter as the end hoves into sight, causing an upswell in optimism. Between halfway and three-quarters of the way through your ordeal, however, the extent of your torment seems to stretch to eternity in both directions."
and paraphrased in the furthermore...
"Two interesting corollaries to TQS:
1. Knowledge of TQS on the part of the sufferer does not make the bad feelings go away.
2. The worst part of the third quarter - the worst of the worst - is, of course, the third quarter of the third quarter, or the eleventh sixteenth of the whole duration. If my maths is right (and it may not be), repeated iterations of this identify a point 2/3 of the way through as the single most unbearable moment of any bad experience. If you work nine-thirty to six-thirty, this will be at three-thirty -eight minutes after your original email."
Nice to know I'm suffering from a syndrome. Is it grounds for sick leave, though?
posted by Hamilton's Brain | 2:28 pm
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