Daydreaming Is Really Complex Problem-Solving

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."'"

Comments

Re:Is this really surprising to you?

[DriedClexler]

Daydreaming is basically shutting off (or at least ignoring) the bulk of the sensory inputs into your brain, and letting your imagination run the show for a period of time.

I accidentally discovered an interesting trick. I don't know if it's related to your point here, but if you get that "daydreaming" look in your eyes, you can stop (or rather, significantly alter) your eyes' saccadal movement (the way that they dart around to get a better model of your environment).

This illusion exploits your saccades to make it look like the snakes are rotating. However, if you start staring at it and get that "glazed" look that will tip people off you're not listening, the snakes stop rotating.

At Work

[Anonymous Coward]

I spend half my time daydreaming and half my time doodling.

I do great work.

Re:This won't go over well

[Chatsubo]

Once or twice I've taken a 20-30min nap in my car during lunch. I found I was very alert and productive in the afternoon on those occasions. Our company was getting a new office building and was fielding suggestions for conveniences we'd like as developers. I had two suggestions: Tiny, private offices for developers, as suggested by Joel Spolsky (even cited the article). And a bed.

Both suggestions had the managers in stitches, and that was that.