Allowing the Mind To Wander Aids Creative Problem Solving

ananyo writes "From the Nature story: 'Scientists from Archimedes to Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein are said to have had flashes of inspiration while thinking about other things. But the mechanisms behind this psychological phenomenon have remained unclear. A study now suggests that simply taking a break does not bring on inspiration — rather, creativity is fostered by tasks that allow the mind to wander.' The researchers gave 145 students 2 minutes to list as many possible uses for an everyday object (the creative thinking task). Participants then either rested, undertook a demanding memory activity that required their full attention or engaged in an undemanding reaction-time activity known to elicit mind-wandering. A fourth group of students had no break. The researchers then set the students a second set of unusual-uses tasks and found those that had, in the interim, been set the undemanding task that encouraged mind-wandering performed an average of around 40% better than they did before. The students in the other three groups showed no improvement."

Comments

Creativity

[The God of Code]

rather, creativity is fostered by tasks that allow the mind to wander.

And this is why mild drugs should be legal. The effects greatly increase mind wandering and in right amounts, lead to highly increased creativity. I don't support highly abusive drugs as they have risky side effects, but for example marijuana should be legal.

It is actually even more healthy and good for the society than alcohol. For most people alcohol drinking tends to bring out their bad sides like aggressiveness, health problems and uncontrolled thinking. Pot on the other hand increases creativity, brings relaxation and has no negative effects on your health (especially if you don't smoke it but eat with browns or pizza [tastes like oregano actually, but better]).

Re:Creativity

[Anonymous Coward]

In AA I was introduced to the M.M.P., Marijuana Maintenance Plan.

Basically for an Alcoholic that is drinking enough to eventually kill them it provides them a very effective way to quit drinking. And eventually they "should" quit smoking pot after they have gotten over the worst parts of early sobriety. And quitting pot is so so so much easier than quit drinking.

This has saved hundreds of lives, but it's illegal.

Re:Creativity

[mcgrew]

And this is why mild drugs should be legal.

No, mind-altering drugs should be legal because there should be no law against harming yourself. Marijuana should be legal because there's no reason whatever (besides right-wing lies) why it should be illegal. And yes, it does help creativity. Often some of my best stories come from a pot haze. Unfortunately half the time I forget what I was going to write before I get it written down.

As to the study, once again science has proven that which most of us have noticed. But proving it scientifically is a GOOD thing. Without testing one can never be sure.

Re:Creativity

[spiffmastercow]

No, mind-altering drugs should be legal because there should be no law against harming yourself

The self-harm argument falls to pieces when you consider that people are not islands unto themselves, and that the actions of one person often have detrimental effects on others. Pot should be legal because its social benefits outweigh the risks. Meth should be illegal because 99.9% of meth users eventually start stealing or killing to support their habit. I wouldn't mind if meth users simply killed their brain cells and then left the rest of us alone, but that's simply not the case.

Re:Creativity

[vlm]

Meth should be illegal because 99.9% of meth users eventually start stealing or killing to support their habit

As an ex totally legit chemist not involved even remotely in the amateur pharm trade, I none the less know that the cost of precursor chemicals would make legal meth roughly (very roughly) as expensive as your average OTC generic pharmaceutical. There's nothing in that chemical structure that should cost much more than psuedoephedrine cold medicine and its biologically active "around" that level. A couple days worth of the stuff, if legalized, would cost about as much as a weeks worth of cold medicine, in other words pretty damn cheap compared to the cost of food, etc.

When you have to steal copper cable every day to get one day's illegal supply society has a big problem. When the cost of a 6-pack of beer is more than the cost of a months supply then society has no real problem. It is true that scum occasionally kill for the cost of a soda, but its rare enough to be an outlier, thankfully.

It would be cheap enough that junkyards could give it away in order to improve their public image (hey general public, we don't accept stolen goods anymore because we give the addicts stuff for free, so stop blaming us for your stolen catalytic converters, mkay?)

Its much harder on the body than alcohol, so unlike drinking where you have senior citizen bums, meth heads, especially if given all-you-can-smoke-for-free would not live long, leading to a ridiculously lower total lifetime cost and a much smaller population.

Re:Creativity

[PopeRatzo]

No, mind-altering drugs should be legal because there should be no law against harming yourself.

Well, yes and no. While I agree that mind-altering drugs should be legal, there are behaviors that are self-destructive that end up costing society a whole lot, say, motorcyclists not wearing a helmet or at least goggles. When I first started riding in my late teens, I never wanted to put anything on my head and goggles interfered with my then-long hair flowing in the wind making me look just a little less cool. I was on 94 headed out toward the Western Suburbs when a small stone got kicked up and sent right into my eye. The weather was perfect, but it sent me into a long slide that could have easily ended up with a lot more people hurt or dead besides just me. After that, I always wore goggles, and after a close friend who was doing an emergency room rotation back then told me she wouldn't be my friend any more unless I started wearing a helmet, I actually managed to live long enough to see the wisdom in these simple requirement. About the same time, I realized that no, I did not in fact drive better after getting a few ounces of ethanol behind my belt. Funny, I was absolutely sure about that one, but no. Also, that the fragrant and sticky red bud did not actually improve my musical ability.

Nobody's behavior is unconnected to other peoples' lives. Nobody makes it all on their own and nothing a person do "has no effect on anyone else. The "this is a free country and if I want to kill myself I will" argument makes a lot more sense before you grow up than after.

But certainly there is no good reason to make the growing or use or purchase of marijuana illegal. And sale and distribution should be regulated, if only to make sure one doesn't end up being sold an ounce of rosemary for $120 by those high school juniors over on Jackson Blvd. The little shits.

Re:Creativity

[spiffmastercow]

Fair enough on the cost of the product itself.. And I think your argument would actually go a long way in regards to something like heroin. I was wrong to state that the meth addicts steal or kill to support their habit.. They steal and kill because meth eats away everything but the base animal instincts, and they essentially steal and kill for fun at that point. Also, unlike heroin addicts, meth users tend to have lots of children to whom they do irreparable harm. If we had a program of "all you can smoke, provided you are permanently sterilized and live in this fenced off area away from people who actually contribute to society", I'll be all for it.

Re:Creativity

[SomeJoel]

I blogged about your comment on angrylibertarian.tumblr.com if you care (I did it even if you don't care too).

This is from your blog:

Iâ(TM)m pretty sure that nobody in their right mind is claiming that âoeWhat I do doesnâ(TM)t affect youâ but rather the claim is âoeNot everything that affects you allows you to legitimately respond with violenceâ.

Now since you were responding to me, and I was talking about helmet laws, how do you get "respond with violence" from "require motorcycle riders to wear helmets or goggles"?

I think this is how libertarians get their reputation as being a little bit goofy.

Hey man, calm down, there's no reason to get all violent!

Re:Creativity

[Capsaicin]

Right. They just need to grow up if they don't agree with you.

I think the point is that the angry young libertarian males need to grow up if they are still manifesting their late adolescent rejection of paternal authority after about the age of 24. From the point of view especially of those of us who used to identify as "libertarian" (even though in years past that may have meant an anti-properterian libertarianism, or even anarcho-communism), older men who persist in imagining that political utopia is to be found in their unresolved familial issues seem slightly pathetic.

In the Shower

[InfiniteZero]

Some of the best ideas I've come up with happened in the shower, usually after a long day of working on a project.

Re:In the Shower

[mindwhip]

For me its not dreams, rather its lying in bed late at night or on lazy Sunday mornings daydreaming for an hour or two. I'll just let my mind run 'in neutral' not thinking about anything in particular. Sometimes I'll end up thinking about what I did today or will be doing tomorrow. Sometimes its more abstract stuff like what does the square root of -1 actually mean. Sometimes its about the people around me, either friend or foe. Sometimes just about one pointless thing like a slashdot post I made, over and over again but considering it from every angle.

Every so often these random 'wanderings' result in me linking two previously unrelated facts together to get a better understanding or in me having an idea to solve some problem or issue.

Either way without letting my mind wander I wouldn't have anywhere near as many 'eureka' moments and would probably have missed out on promotions etc as a result.

Camping

[Hatta]

This is why I like camping. Nothing like being stuck outside, hopefully far away from any sort of electrical devices, alone with nothing but your mind and dappled sunlight through the trees to keep you company. I'm never more productive than the week after I spent a weekend sleeping under the stars.

Stuck at home, my hobbies use a lot of the same parts of the brain my work does. But I enjoy them more, so I work harder at them. That often leaves me wearier on Monday than I was on Friday.

It's the step back effect

[jholyhead]

I expect those of us in intellectually demanding jobs have encountered the step back effect.

You'll spend three hours banging your head against your desk trying to find a solution to a tricky problem. Eventually, the caffeinated beverages you've been throwing back conspire against you and you have to make a trip to the bathroom. I solve more tricky problems during those 2 minute bathroom breaks than at any other point in the day.

Incidentally I find I can use this effect to justify all kinds of frowned upon office behaviour. I'm not watching cat videos on Youtube, I'm stepping away from the problem. I'm not browsing the Dilbert archives, I'm putting some distance between myself and the dilemma. I'm not facebook stalking the temp on reception, I'm seeking an alternative perspective on the issue du jour.

Yes yes yes!

[ohnocitizen]

When I am working on a particularly difficult problem, I read Slashdot for a bit. After drinking down an article about the TSA or censorship, boom! The solution just pops into my head and away I go. That's the Slashdot Advantage(tm)!

Re:Yes yes yes!

[PRMan]

I'm not sure if you are joking, but this totally happens to me all the time.

Re: Or dreams

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

When it's something I work really intensely, I often come up with the best solutions indirectly in a dream. That is, I'll dream of a solution - usually it's not directly helpful, but upon waking it's easy to follow the impractical dream solution to its roots and find the real answer. Usually in a "oh that's so obvious, why didn't I see it sooner?!" kind of way.

Walking is another good time for me - unless I"m listening to an audiobook, which seems to suppress the necessary 'mind wandering'.

What they aren't saying:

[Poltron Inconnu]

An undemanding task that lets the mind wander... I think they're not wanting to come right out and admit that most people do their best thinking on the toilet.

And yet ...

[PPH]

... Slashdot has a -1 Offtopic mod.

It's good to have proof because...

[nashv]

Try explaining to your boss or spouse, that the time spent playing a mindless game on the computer is actually an intense mind-wandering session that is going to boost your productivity. Or that you need this time to be your creative best.

In my experience, few people 'get it'.