Sunday, September 07, 2008

Freak out in a moonage daydream, oh yeah

Walter Mitty was right- if you want to be a better thinker, get back to daydreaming!

"Many scientists argue that daydreaming is a crucial tool for creativity, a thought process that allows the brain to make new associations and connections. Instead of focusing on our immediate surroundings - such as the message of a church sermon - the daydreaming mind is free to engage in abstract thought and imaginative ramblings. As a result, we're able to imagine things that don't actually exist..."

The article also talks about Teresa Bolton, a researcher in England who got worried that children were losing their creativity, "as if the children were stuck with this very restricted way of thinking. Even when they were encouraged to think creatively, they didn't really know how." She eventually decided that parents should turn off the television set and encourage their kids to daydream.

I've said here before that my mind doesn't really wander when I'm online, even though I'm surfing all over the place. I wonder if Bolton and I are talking about the same thing.

3 comments:

Greg von Winckel said...

I understand the argument for turning off the television, but I actually do get a lot of my ideas while watching TV, playing video games, reading something else, or essentially doing some other activity than my work. Then I get an idea and go try it out. It fails, I kick the window out and despair to where I need some kind of distraction and the process begins anew.

Holly said...

My mind wanders most when I'm supposed to be engaged in conversation.

... this is probably why I don't have any friends.

Greg von Winckel said...

No. It's because the mayonnaise jar thing.