how mind-wandering and “positive constructive daydreaming” enhance our creativity and social...
TRANSCRIPT
11/12/2013 00:35How Mind-Wandering and “Positive Constructive Daydreaming” Enhance Our Creativity and Social Skills | Brain Pickings
Page 1 of 9http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/10/09/mind-wandering-and-creativity/
Search
aboutsupportcontactbookshelfnewsletterliterary jukeboxsoundsart
newsletter
Brain Pickings has a freeweekly interestingness digest.It comes out on Sundays andoffers the week's bestarticles. Here's an example.Like? Sign up.
Name
subscribe
donating = loving
Brain Pickings remains ad-free and takes hundreds ofhours a month to researchand write, and thousands ofdollars to sustain. If you findany joy and value in it, pleaseconsider becoming a Memberand supporting with arecurring monthly donationof your choosing, between acup of tea and a good dinner:
♥ $7 / month
You can also become a one-time patron with a singledonation in any amount:
How Mind-Wandering and “PositiveConstructive Daydreaming”Enhance Our Creativity and SocialSkillsby Maria Popova
The science of why fantasy and imaginative escapism areessential elements of a satisfying mental life.
Freud asserted that daydreaming is essential to
creative writing — something a number of
famous creators and theorists intuited in
asserting that unconscious processing is
essential to how creativity works, from T. S.
Eliot’s notion of “idea incubation” to Alexander
Graham Bell’s “unconscious cerebration” to
Lewis Carroll’s “mental mastication.” In the
1950s, Yale psychologist Jerome L. Singer put
these intuitive observations to the empirical
test as he embarked upon a groundbreaking
series of research into daydreaming. His
findings, eventually published in the 1975 bible
The Inner World of Daydreaming (public
library), laid the foundations of our modern
understanding of creativity’s subconscious underbelly. Singer described three
core styles of daydreaming: positive constructive daydreaming, a process fairly
free of psychological conflict, in which playful, vivid, wishful imagery drives
creative thought; guilty-dysphoric daydreaming, driven by a combination of
ambitiousness, anguishing fantasies of heroism, failure, and aggression, and
obsessive reliving of trauma, a mode particularly correlated with PTSD; and
poor attentional control, typical of the anxious, the distractible, and those having
difficulties concentrating.
In a recent paper titled “Ode to Positive Constructive Daydreaming” (PDF),
published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, writer Rebecca McMillan and
NYU cognitive psychologist Scott Kaufman, author of Ungifted: Intelligence
Redefined, revisit Singer’s work to deliver new insights into how the first style of
Singer’s mind-wandering, rather than robbing us of happiness, plays an
essential, empowering role in daily life and creativity.
11/12/2013 00:35How Mind-Wandering and “Positive Constructive Daydreaming” Enhance Our Creativity and Social Skills | Brain Pickings
Page 2 of 9http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/10/09/mind-wandering-and-creativity/
labors of love
My highlights from Anaïs Nin's diary, illustrated by Lisa Congdon. Click imagefor details.
One of the most fascinating aspects the authors explore is the seeming paradox
of the high costs of daydreaming, which prevents us from wholly inhabiting the
present moment, and the astounding frequency with which we engage in it. This
is related to the default mode network (DMN), which neuroscientists discovered
in the late 1990s and which Singer presaged by decades — a neural network that
engages when our brain is at wakeful rest, as in meditation, rather than actively
focused on the outside world. The authors explain:
While the costs of mind wandering are apparent and easilyquantifiable, the benefits seem less obvious and tangible. Theyrequire us to dig a bit deeper.
Singer and colleagues report many of the costs associatedwith mind wandering, yet the central theme of Singer’s largebody of work is the manifestly positive, adaptive role thatdaydreaming plays in our daily lives. We turn now to thebenefits of daydreaming first described by Singer, thenbolstered by recent studies exploring the adaptive role of theDMN and mind wandering on cognition.
Right from the start, Singer’s research produced evidencesuggesting that daydreaming, imagination, and fantasy areessential elements of a healthy, satisfying mental life. His earlyresearch included studies looking at delayed gratification andthe interaction of imagination and waiting ability in young
11/12/2013 00:35How Mind-Wandering and “Positive Constructive Daydreaming” Enhance Our Creativity and Social Skills | Brain Pickings
Page 3 of 9http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/10/09/mind-wandering-and-creativity/
must-reads
children. In another early study presented evidence ofcorrelation between daydreaming frequency, measures ofcreativity, and storytelling activity. … Singer explored therelationship between daydreaming, personality, divergentthought, creativity, planning, problem solving, associationalfluency, curiosity, attention, and distractibility. Singer notedthat daydreaming can reinforce and enhance social skills, offerrelief from boredom, provide opportunities for rehearsal andconstructive planning, and provide an ongoing source ofpleasure. In later work, Singer describes those who engage inpositive constructive daydreaming as “happy daydreamers”who enjoy fantasy, vivid imagery, the use of daydreaming forfuture planning, and possess abundant interpersonal curiosity.
Pointing to recent research, McMillan and Kaufman argue that Singer presaged
the same four primary adaptive functions of positive constructive daydreaming
that modern neuroscience has identified since the discovery of the DMN:
Future planning which is increased by a period of self-reflectionand attenuated by an unhappy mood; creativity, especiallycreative incubation and problem solving; attentional cyclingwhich allows individuals to rotate through different informationstreams to advance personally meaningful and external goals;and dishabituation which enhances learning by providing shortbreaks from external tasks, thereby achieving distributedrather than massed practice. All four functions are present inSinger’s work, though his terminology differs.
11/12/2013 00:35How Mind-Wandering and “Positive Constructive Daydreaming” Enhance Our Creativity and Social Skills | Brain Pickings
Page 4 of 9http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/10/09/mind-wandering-and-creativity/
HOW TO FIND YOUR PURPOSE AND DO
WHAT YOU LOVE
FAIL SAFE: COURAGE AND THE CREATIVE
LIFE
FAMOUS WRITERS ON WRITING
HOW TO STAY SANE
CULTURAL ICONS ON THE MEANING OF LIFE
Lynda Barry watercolor over Freud's essay on creative writing and daydreaming.Click image for details.
The authors debunk yet another paradox in the study of daydreaming — the
notion that mind-wandering is often bemoaned as a “mental mishap” or
“cognitive failure,” yet it can also be, and often is, an act of volition:
Individuals can choose to disengage from external tasks,decoupling attention, in order to pursue an internal stream ofthought that they expect to pay off in some way. The pay offmay be immediate, coming in the form of pleasing reverie,insight, or new synthesis of material, or it may be more distantas in rehearsing upcoming scenarios or projecting oneselfforward in time to a desired outcome. Projection backward intime to reinterpret past experiences in light of new informationis also a possibility. All of these activities, which take placeinternally, sheltered from the demands of external tasks andperception, offer the possibility of enormous personal reward.These mental activities are, in fact, central to the task of
11/12/2013 00:35How Mind-Wandering and “Positive Constructive Daydreaming” Enhance Our Creativity and Social Skills | Brain Pickings
Page 5 of 9http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/10/09/mind-wandering-and-creativity/
ALBERT EINSTEIN ON THE SECRET TOLEARNING ANYTHING
THE BEST BOOKS OF 2012
THE DAILY ROUTINES OF FAMOUS
WRITERS
5 ESSENTIAL BOOKS ON FEAR AND THE
CREATIVE PROCESS
10 TIPS ON WRITING FROM DAVID OGILVY
meaning making, of developing and maintaining anunderstanding of oneself in the world. … Certainly a largeshare of mind wandering occurs without permission orawareness. But some mind wandering occurs because weactively choose to decouple from external tasks andperceptions and focus instead on an internal stream ofthought with full awareness both of the choice being made andthe contents of consciousness.
[…]
It seems likely that the ability to engage in volitionaldaydreaming, i.e., to switch easily back and forth betweendifferent streams of consciousness, might be sensitive topractice effects. Choosing to disengage from external tasks,decouple, turn attention inward, and follow an internal streamof thought with full awareness undoubtedly requires skill. Theprocess can break down in a number of places along the way:at the decision point, decoupling, the switch from outer toinner streams of consciousness, or meta-awareness. But themore a person does it, the easier it is likely to become.
They cite Singer himself, who noted this cognitive dance:
Our human condition is such that we are forever in thesituation of deciding how much attention to give to self-generated thought and how much to information from theexternal social or physical environment.
Though McMillan and Kaufman’s conception of mind-wandering does border on
11/12/2013 00:35How Mind-Wandering and “Positive Constructive Daydreaming” Enhance Our Creativity and Social Skills | Brain Pickings
Page 6 of 9http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/10/09/mind-wandering-and-creativity/
9 BOOKS TO HELP YOU READ MORE AND
WRITE BETTER
JOHN CLEESE ON THE 5 FACTORS TOMAKE YOUR LIFE MORE CREATIVE
JOAN DIDION ON KEEPING A NOTEBOOK
100 IDEAS THAT CHANGED GRAPHIC
DESIGN
7 MUST-READ BOOKS ON THE ART &SCIENCE OF HAPPINESS
romantic idealism at times — there are, after all, some hard numbers on the
matter — it does give one pause about the art of pausing and offers a necessary
antidote to our cultural cult of extreme goal-oriented productivity:
We mind wander, by choice or accident, because it producestangible reward when measured against goals and aspirationsthat are personally meaningful. Having to reread a line of textthree times because our attention has drifted away mattersvery little if that attention shift has allowed us to access a keyinsight, a precious memory or make sense of a troublingevent. Pausing to reflect in the middle of telling a story isinconsequential if that pause allows us to retrieve a distantmemory that makes the story more evocative and compelling.Losing a couple of minutes because we drove past our offramp, is a minor inconvenience if the attention lapse allowedus finally to understand why the boss was so upset bysomething we said in last week’s meeting. Arriving home fromthe store without the eggs that necessitated the trip is a mereannoyance when weighed against coming to a decision to askfor a raise, leave a job, or go back to school.
And yet, there’s something to be said for bridging these adaptive benefits of
mind-wandering with an active intention to remain awake to the world before
us — because, as Annie Dillard poignantly observed, “how we spend our days is,
of course, how we spend our lives,” and while spending some of those in
daydreams might be delicious, the art of living, unlike the art of writing, is
more than a guided dream.
The article, which you can read in PDF here, concludes by reminding us just how
far ahead of his time Singer was, and how seminal his theories were for modern
cognitive science:
Whatever aspect of mind wandering current researchersmight wish to pursue, it is likely that Singer considered thequestion first and made as thorough an investigation as thetechnology of the day would allow. His research serves as asolid foundation and springboard for all who come after himand share his fascination with positive constructivedaydreaming, mind wandering, and the imaginative capabilitiesof the human mind.
A used copy of Singer’s The Inner World of Daydreaming — sadly, long
relegated to the lamentable cemetery of out-of-print gems — is very much
worth the hunt. Complement it with this omnibus of cultural icons on what
creativity is.
Thanks, Scott Myers
Donating = Loving
11/12/2013 00:35How Mind-Wandering and “Positive Constructive Daydreaming” Enhance Our Creativity and Social Skills | Brain Pickings
Page 7 of 9http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/10/09/mind-wandering-and-creativity/
RICHARD DAWKINS ON EVIDENCE INSCIENCE, LIFE AND LOVE: A LETTER TOHIS 10-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER
CREATIVE CARTOGRAPHY: 7 MUST-READ
BOOKS ON MAPS
CARL SAGAN ON SCIENCE AND
SPIRITUALITY
JOHN STEINBECK ON FALLING IN LOVE: A1958 LETTER
7 OBSCURE CHILDREN’S BOOKS BY
FAMOUS AUTHORS OF ADULT LITERATURE
70871
Bringing you (ad-free) Brain Pickings takes hundreds of hours each month. If
you find any joy and stimulation here, please consider becoming a Supporting
Member with a recurring monthly donation of your choosing, between a cup of
tea and a good dinner:
♥ $7 / month
You can also become a one-time patron with a single donation in any amount:
Brain Pickings has a free weekly newsletter. It comes out onSundays and offers the week’s best articles. Here’s what toexpect. Like? Sign up.
8milaMi piaceMi piace
691
TAGS: BOOKS CREATIVITY CULTURE PSYCHOLOGY SCIENCE
Does My GoldfishKnow Who I Am?Scientists and WritersAnswer Little Kids'Big Questions about...
The 13 BestBiographies, Memoirs,and History Books of2013
Bird by Bird: AnneLamott's TimelessAdvice on Writing andWhy PerfectionismKills Creativity
Fritz Kahn: The Little-Known Godfather ofInfographics
You might also enjoy:
11/12/2013 00:35How Mind-Wandering and “Positive Constructive Daydreaming” Enhance Our Creativity and Social Skills | Brain Pickings
Page 8 of 9http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/10/09/mind-wandering-and-creativity/
WHY WE LOVE: 5 BOOKS ON THE
PSYCHOLOGY OF LOVE
7 MUST-READ BOOKS ON MUSIC,EMOTION & THE BRAIN
BERTRAND RUSSELL'S 10COMMANDMENTS OF TEACHING
5! TIMELESS COMMENCEMENT SPEECHES
TO TEACH YOU TO DEFINE YOUR OWN
SUCCESS
explore
activism advertising
animation artbooks children'sbooks collaboration
creativity
11/12/2013 00:35How Mind-Wandering and “Positive Constructive Daydreaming” Enhance Our Creativity and Social Skills | Brain Pickings
Page 9 of 9http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/10/09/mind-wandering-and-creativity/
Brain Pickings participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earncommissions by linking to Amazon. In more human terms, this means that whenever you buy a book on Amazon from a link on here, I get a smallpercentage of its price. That helps support Brain Pickings by offsetting a fraction of what it takes to maintain the site, and is very much appreciated.
Brain Pickings Subscribe
RSSemail
Design by:Josh Boston
culture data
visualization designdiaries documentaryeducation film food
happiness historyillustrationinnovation interviewknowledge letters
literature love musicneuroscience omnibusphilosophyphotography poetry
politicspsychology remix
science social web
SoundCloud
sustainabilitytechnology TEDvideo vintage vintage
children's books world
writing