ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to answer some questions relating to boredom and stress and their relation to safety. The argument is illustrated with extracts from focus group research with train drivers. The chapter focuses on the arousal control mechanism, which is a 'feedback loop', and, therefore, a situation where the 'cause and effect' metaphor is not relevant. Although in information terms people have used the language of discrete 'bits' to quantify (digital) information, it is highly likely that in a 'real world' situation humans perceive information in an analogue fashion. In psycho-physiological terms, an increase in arousal tends to be associated with an increase in monoamine oxidase, a chemical which, amongst other things, regulates the amounts of serotonin and dopamine in the brain. Most up-to-date theories of human action stress the teleological, control-driven aspect of human behaviour. The idea of human beings functioning as thermostats is one of the best understood in systems science.
