The benefits and harms of the wandering mind

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Meditation helps to get rid of the wandering mind, teaches concentration on a subject or task. But is the free flow of thoughts really so useless? It turns out that a wandering mind is essential for creativity and is a sign of a good memory.

When you are in a traffic jam or in a queue with a discharged smartphone, washing the floors in your apartment, relaxing between sets in the gym, what do you think about? About nothing in particular, your mind just wanders, clinging to different events, taking you into the past or looking into the future. You yourself do not know where such thoughts will lead you, and you do not control this thought flow.

One study found that our mind is wandering 46.9% of the time.

Today people are talking more and more about meditation and concentration on tasks. So free thinking or wandering the mind without a specific goal seems like a useless activity that only takes up your time. But is it? Let's figure it out.

How the brain works during mind-wandering

With the help of MRI and electroencephalogram, scientists can track which parts of the brain are working in the process of performing different tasks. This is how many studies of brain activity are conducted and conclusions are drawn about which brain structures are responsible for performing specific tasks.

during the wandering of the mind, scientists saw an unusual, even unique picture. The process involved two systems: the brain's default system and the executive system.

Brain default system is a set of brain structures that decrease in activity during most tasks. The default system is activated when a person remembers important events in his life, thinks about what awaits him in the future, or about relationships with other people.

The executive system of the brain - a set of processes that allow you to plan actions in accordance with the goal and change the reaction depending on the context. Responsible for suppressing learned responses to stimuli, such as refusing to eat tasty foods in order to lose weight. Also works while learning new stimuli to keep the mind flexible.

Usually these systems in the brain work in turn: when the default system is turned on, the executive is turned off. During the wandering of the mind, both are turned on, which is similar to the work of the brain during creative thinking. Before the understanding and solution of the problem comes, such areas of the brain as the dorsal cingulate gyrus and the posterior cingulate cortex are included.

Thus, mind-wandering allows you to simultaneously trigger executive processes without oppressing the brain's default system for creativity and mental modeling.

Wandering mind and creativity

have shown that people who are prone to mind-wandering are better at creative tasks. For example, with the task of verbal associations, when you need to say what is common between three seemingly unrelated words. Perhaps this is due to the simultaneous operation of two brain systems.

To stimulate creativity, you can go for a walk or take on tasks that you can reflect on. However, for creativity it is not enough to let go of thoughts, you also need to learn to notice that your mind is wandering, and to catch the ideas that come during this.

A wandering mind is an indicator of good working memory

The novel showed that the wandering mind interacts with working memory.

Working memory is a type of memory that allows you to remember and save events, despite the distractions.

Here is an example of how such a memory works. You had dinner with a friend, you say goodbye and promise to call him when you get home. On the way, you get into a minor accident. Stress, swearing, worries, registration of an accident … And when after all this you finally come home, you still remember that you need to call a friend.

In the course of the experiment, the researchers established whether there is a relationship between the amount of a person's working memory and his tendency to think freely. To find out, they first asked the participants to complete two very simple tasks that would get them lost in their thoughts. For example, pressing a button in response to a letter appearing on the screen. During the assignment, the researchers recorded whether the participants retained their attention or not. After that, they checked the state of the working memory of the subjects, asking them to memorize a series of letters, alternating this task with simple mathematical examples.

It turned out that there is a relationship between wandering in thoughts in the first task and good memorization indicators in the second. Participants who were more in their thoughts during the first task were better at memorizing the series of letters, despite constantly switching to math examples.

When performing simple tasks, people with a good working memory may drift away in thought, thinking about something other than the task. In other words, they have too much memory to spend on simple tasks.

Researchers suggest that the thought process underlying the wandering mind is similar to the process of working memory. And it, in turn, is associated with the level of intelligence in general.

Avoiding stress and information hunger

A wandering mind helps to abstract from reality to some extent in order to reduce stress and psychological pressure. For example, research has found that prison inmates are constantly dreaming away from harsh reality. Sometimes they do it deliberately, but more often the brain itself chooses this way of protection from unattractive reality.

In addition, the wandering mind helps to brighten up the boring moments during the information hunger. For example, when you have absolutely nothing to do and nothing to see (in the subway, in a traffic jam, in a queue), you just go into your thoughts, and time flows faster. Try at such a moment to concentrate on what is happening, and every minute for you will last an eternity.

Also, the wandering mind is a way to get some dopamine for free. Each non-existent achievement that you scroll through your head triggers the release of this neurotransmitter. However, this can work against you: getting used to this way of getting dopamine, you can turn into an idle dreamer, all the achievements of which are only in his head.

A wandering mind versus happiness in reality

Many religious teachings and practices claim that happiness can only be found in the present moment, focusing on reality. Meditation helps to do this.

If you do not control the wandering mind and get used to enjoying dreams and non-existent accomplishments, this will not bring you happiness. On the contrary, the discrepancy between the imaginary world and the real picture will plunge you into depression and unwillingness to change something. Therefore, as in the case of creativity and new ideas, it is necessary to learn how to control the wandering mind: letting thoughts float freely, but keeping track of where they take you, and be able to stop this flow at will.

Evolutionary jackpot

So, the wandering mind is part of the exceptional human ability that distinguishes our species from everyone else. Some great discoveries, beautiful creations, and deep thoughts are the result of not having a specific topic of thought. Anyone who has ever experienced a moment of epiphany during a relaxed flow of thoughts, for example, washing in the shower, can confirm this phenomenon.

Wandering Thoughts is an evolutionary jackpot for our species. Perhaps there is an even greater advantage in it than in conscious strategic thinking. Free thinking, with a unique neurological picture, opens up opportunities for building the random connections and associations that are so necessary for creativity.

So put your gadgets aside and let your thoughts flow freely. Perhaps you will find unexpected solutions or worthwhile ideas.