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Scientists: Why Daydreaming Is Essential and Helpful For You

boston.com — In recent years, scientists have begun to see the act of daydreaming very differently. They've demonstrated that daydreaming is a fundamental feature of the human mind - so fundamental, in fact, that it's often referred to as our "default" mode of thought. Many scientists argue that daydreaming is a crucial tool for creativity.

Who dugg this? Made popular Sep 1, 2008

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  • krete, on 09/01/2008, -3/+28"Scientists" in the title?! This must be accurate!
  • RevAradia, on 09/01/2008, -3/+27Like this is NEWS to us? Sometimes a good fantasy is the ONLY thing that gets us through the crap that is REALITY!!
  • DickyT83, on 09/01/2008, -0/+21As a scientist, I must agree with the accuracy of this article.
  • BinderGang, on 09/01/2008, -0/+16If I didn't accomplish so much in my daydreams, nothing would get done.
  • h0ser, on 09/01/2008, -2/+16I devote a couple hours each day to doing absolutely nothing, this is a great time for daydreaming. Your imagination is much more interesting then reality.
  • ricoboy24, on 09/01/2008, -0/+11Smoke weed and daydream All day......
  • ide3308, on 08/31/2008, -4/+15This was really an excellent read. Thank you for posting!
  • BTConan, on 09/01/2008, -0/+10As a politician, I am outraged at the inaccuracy of this article. For shame!
  • Iztikeit, on 09/01/2008, -1/+11Actually, to be fully present in the moment is how one really appreciates existence.

    But I cannot imagine life without the moments where I am fully lost in thought.
  • nickbr00tality, on 09/01/2008, -1/+11I'll show it to my teachers!
  • Junior612, on 09/01/2008, -0/+9I'm sure daydreaming of miss nevada licking nipples all day long is going to help me be more productive.
  • kirakun, on 09/01/2008, -1/+10I'll be showing this to my imaginary girlfriend.
  • BlaenkDenum, on 09/01/2008, -0/+7Great, finally an excuse for all the zoning out that I do ;)
  • Nubli, on 09/01/2008, -0/+7I daydream so much I think I have ADD.
  • MrSkills, on 09/01/2008, -0/+6As a person who reads about science on Digg, I have no opinion on the matter.
  • KingGorilla, on 09/01/2008, -0/+6As a person who studies science I trust the accuracy of his agreement.
  • arjie, on 09/01/2008, -0/+6I would like to believe this, but when I daydream my schemes are a bit grandiose and the effect lasts for a little while after daydreaming. When I finally come back down, looking at what I was thinking I get the feeling I'm a bit of a megalomaniac with nothing to show for it.
  • Sepeteus, on 09/01/2008, -1/+6As a sheep I trust anything I read.
  • KloroFormd, on 09/01/2008, -1/+6As a quantum physicist I believe this article can be completely accurate and inaccurate simultaneously.
  • skippy562, on 09/01/2008, -1/+5I'll show it to a pilot!
  • DforSpiD, on 09/01/2008, -1/+5Politics? Really?
    This is a ***** science post... keep politics away...
  • Khast, on 09/01/2008, -0/+4....what was that you were saying? I wasn't paying attention.

    I get an awful lot of chances to daydream at my job. I can't take my mind completely off what I am doing, but I don't have to use my mind for anything while I am working except to make sure I am going in a straight line, and where to pick up, and put down. Usually about 4 hours of this a day. :) I love letting my mind wander on a leash... It gets a little fresh air, and I can listen to my music a little more freely. :P Try doing that at *your* job. :D
  • skippy562, on 09/01/2008, -0/+4As a archaeologist, this post has no relevance to the subject i study, therefor i cannot say if its accurate or inaccurate based on my knowledge.
  • MrSkills, on 09/01/2008, -0/+3All Day Dayreaming?
  • Meocross, on 09/01/2008, -0/+3Heh thanks to anime i daydream waaay too often like how im going to blast that idiot with my Windfire wand. XD
  • inactive, on 09/01/2008, -0/+3The brain is a bunch of hyperlinks... daydreaming is just surfing the web of your brain, and sometimes combining two separate ideas creating a spark.
  • jinnie, on 09/01/2008, -0/+3always nice to tell the parents "in your face!" 20 or so years after the grade school teachers pulled them in for a "spends all of class daydreaming" conference.
  • matrixbandit, on 09/01/2008, -0/+3I made it most of the way through the 2nd page but then I just sorta ... lost..
  • inactive, on 09/01/2008, -1/+4Good article - nice change from the political ***** that usually floods this site
  • chickentonight, on 09/01/2008, -0/+2Ooooh burn! How insightful.
  • johnsmith3210, on 09/01/2008, -0/+2According to this article I'm the most productive person in existence.
  • stuffradio, on 09/01/2008, -1/+3I'll show it to the cops!
  • WHOOMP, on 09/01/2008, -0/+2this is one of those things I've known all along but am now very glad to have a real, scientific article behind my conviction
  • charm803, on 09/01/2008, -1/+3Now I don't feel so guilty about day dreaming about my wedding to Brad Pitt.

  • sidianmsjones, on 09/01/2008, -2/+4One of the more fascinating ideas I've come across regarding daydreaming, or more specifically thinking about the future is the interpretation of these thoughts as 'telling the future'. Prescience.
    Have you ever thought about the idea that everyone predicts the future every day? The question is only 'to what degree'?
  • vincentweber, on 09/01/2008, -0/+2Wow this explains a lot. Now that I am not a child anymore I started to realize that I wasn't creative anymore. But then again, I was always daydreaming back in the day and now I'm not doing that anymore. I used to be very good at entertaining myself but now, when I am at home and not hanging out with friends I am bored to death.

    It's time to start daydreaming again... that includes during class hehehe. At least now I have an excuse for it...
  • vincentweber, on 09/01/2008, -0/+2Except for the fact that thát isn't going to happen ;)
  • kitkatsavvy, on 09/01/2008, -0/+2 "One leading theory is that atypical default activity interferes with the sort of meandering memories and social simulations that typically characterize daydreams, causing people with autism to instead fixate on things in their environment.

    The exact opposite phenomenon seems to occur in patients with schizophrenia, who exhibit overactive default networks. This might explain the inability of schizophrenics to differentiate properly between reality and the ideas generated by the imagination."

    how can this be right? i have a question mark over a diagnosis of high functiong autism, and i also have schizophreniform disorder too!

    yeah i daydream alot but these "labels" on disorders mix over each other so much that this part of the article must be incorrect!
  • Khast, on 09/01/2008, -0/+2I work at a golf course. When mowing the greens, we have to stay so far ahead of the golfers, that we start very early in the morning. Usually 4 hours is plenty. Then after the greens, the mind has to be a lot more focused, because then we work on the playing field, often when golfers are around.
  • MrSkills, on 09/01/2008, -0/+2Wow, a one-in-a-million chance.

    Which means that something equally unlikely happens to 6000 people a day.
  • charm803, on 09/02/2008, -0/+2Damn you bubble burster!!!!

    ;P
  • drunkjack, on 09/01/2008, -0/+2Where were these scientists when I was stuck in grade school? I coulda used some backup.

    *****.
  • skippy562, on 09/01/2008, -0/+2every time i come to digg i always see something i do everyday helpful,
  • MrSkills, on 09/01/2008, -2/+4I showed it to your mum.
  • Sepeteus, on 09/01/2008, -0/+1I'm calling your bluff.
  • vincentweber, on 09/01/2008, -0/+1@ Khast: Thanks for the reply but I was just making a joke ;)
  • badastronaut, on 09/01/2008, -0/+1I've actually predicted the future once, sort of. A deer poped into my head and I instantly got a crazy instinct/urge to turn on my brights. I NEVER turn on my brights, EVER. And I was ALMOST home. Needless to say a third of a second later a huge deer that would have just wrecked my car runs out in front of me. I nearly hit it. I would have hit it if I didnt see it earlier becuase of my brights. I've had a few other crazy things like that happen as well. I discount the others off as coincidences, but not the deer one. Do a google search for "pineal gland", and then look at ancient civilizations obsession of the "third eye". I think our brains are a lot crazier than we think they are.
  • clickwir, on 09/02/2008, -0/+1Great, now I can take this to the principal that beat me in 2nd grade for daydreaming.

    I was honest with them and all I got was a boat oar to my ass.
  • inactive, on 09/01/2008, -0/+1That`s like, I drink so much water that I quench my thirst.
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