Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

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."'"

15 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%!!!

      --
      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 Niris · · Score: 5, Insightful

      When comparing two jobs I've had, one with the government where people pretty much do their job and screw around a bit at random times, and another for a bank where everyone took their 15 minute break at the exact same time and everything was scheduled and systematic, I think the job where people just kinda daydream and do whatever every so often gets more done on accident than the corporate job ever did. Plus it's a lot more of a happy environment. I'd rather "go be productive at another company" :D

    2. Re:This won't go over well by CorSci81 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I find this to be true for myself a lot. I generally find solutions to hard problems I'm working on at completely random times like zoning out on my commute home or out walking around. I get more of the hard/creative part of my job done outside of work hours when I'm not trapped in a boring office and then spend my working hours writing and coding whatever my brain came up with when I get there.

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

      Could you grimace so I know you're working?

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

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

      --
      Choosing the lesser of two evils is a choice for evil.
    5. Re:This won't go over well by unlametheweak · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Daydreaming, and taking cat-naps at work are also helpful for productivity. Unfortunately Managers don't read science articles, and when they do they dismiss the results as a joke because they think they are smarter than scientists.

  3. Mutually exclusive? by Leibel · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "Mind wandering is typically associated with negative things like laziness..." and "our brains are very active when we daydream"

    These aren't mutually exclusive. It just means our brains are very active on other topics

  4. Is this really surprising to you? by cowscows · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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. Is it really surprising that having to create an ongoing reality that replaces a bunch of those ignored sensory inputs requires the brain to do some serious work? Especially when compared to performing a routine task that you've already done hundreds of times?

    Laziness isn't really connected in any meaningful way to how hard your brain is working. I could give my brain a pretty serious workout by staying home, sitting on the couch, and doing crossword puzzles until next thursday, but that's still a pretty lazy way to spend a week.

    Unfortunately, my boss isn't impressed by general problem solving as much as he's impressed by the solving of the specific problems that he's paying me to figure out.

    --

    One time I threw a brick at a duck.

    1. Re:Is this really surprising to you? by DriedClexler · · Score: 4, Informative

      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.

      --
      Information theory is life. The rest is just the KL divergence.
  5. You don't say.. by stevied · · Score: 4, Funny

    Please tag "noshitsherlock" ..

  6. 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.

  7. 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?

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  8. Daydreaming, introversion and associative horizon by blahplusplus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wonder how common daydreaming is in introverts vs extroverts and those with a large associative horizon.

    I'd imagine having a good imagination and constantly working it can lead to impressive creativity and novel ways of viewing problems... but it could also lead to not accomplishing a lot at all because it is just so enamoring.