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Daydreaming Is Really Complex Problem-Solving

Posted by timothy on from the how-about-daydreaming-about-girls dept.

beefsprocket writes "ScienceDaily reports that 'A new University of British Columbia study finds that our brains are much more active when we daydream than previously thought. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (abstract), finds that activity in numerous brain regions increases when our minds wander. It also finds that brain areas associated with complex problem-solving — previously thought to go dormant when we daydream — are in fact highly active during these episodes. "Mind wandering is typically associated with negative things like laziness or inattentiveness," says lead author, Prof. Kalina Christoff, UBC Dept. of Psychology. "But this study shows our brains are very active when we daydream — much more active than when we focus on routine tasks."'"

13 of 138 comments (clear)

  1. Huh? What? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Did you say something?

    1. Re:Huh? What? by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Funny

      My computer isn't wasting time, it's running System Idle Process at 99%!!!

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      Qxe4
  2. This won't go over well by pwnies · · Score: 4, Funny

    Boss: "Stop daydreaming, be productive."
    Me: "But I am! By daydreaming I'm even more productive than I would be if I were strictly working on the task assigned to me! Slashdot told me so!"
    Boss: "Fantastic, go be productive at another company."

    1. Re:This won't go over well by Chabo · · Score: 4, Funny

      Could you grimace so I know you're working?

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      Convert FLACs to a portable format with FlacSquisher
    2. Re:This won't go over well by madsenj37 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Killed to death? As opposed to killed to mostly dead?

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      Choosing the lesser of two evils is a choice for evil.
    3. Re:This won't go over well by 4D6963 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Me too, I find most of my ideas while either having a shower or doing number 2. Unfortunately I'm French so I don't shower that often, and I don't eat a lot of vegetables so I don't do number 2 often either.

      This being said I also found the whole idea for my commercial program while daydreaming at a lecture in college after waking up from a nap on my table.

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      You just got troll'd!
  3. You don't say.. by stevied · · Score: 4, Funny

    Please tag "noshitsherlock" ..

  4. I'll be sure to let my boss know... by pwnies · · Score: 4, Funny

    that if he wants productivity to soar he has to hire more hot co-workers for me to daydream about.

    ...annndddd if you guys need me I'll be in my mandatory sensitivity training.

  5. yes, i was just thinking about this the other day by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Funny

    and I think that...

    hmm

    mmm

    hmmmm

    mmm

    oh!

    anyway, what did you ask?

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    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  6. Re:Huh? What? WHAT THE HELL! by coryboehne · · Score: 2, Funny

    Talk about sleeping on the job... I didn't even post this in the right story...

    Did you say something?

    About right..

    However, I wonder if the author has looked into writing books for academic purposes...

    Anyone who has a degree knows just how much money is made on textbooks, and the frequency with which they are replaced and updated.

    If I was a writer looking to make a living at it, especially in a vertical field, I would seriously consider writing university level textbooks.

  7. Re:Mutually exclusive? by FooBarWidget · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's called concentrating, not daydreaming.

  8. Re:Mutually exclusive? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    very active on other topics

    Boobies?

  9. Re:It's true by tutori · · Score: 2, Funny

    Don't you mean regular expressions? http://xkcd.com/208/