Psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman suggests that daydreaming is not necessarily a waste of time, and that creativity may depend on moving between focused attention and a wandering mind. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of his remarks from a Big Think interview. The claims about brain networks and creativity are his own view, not settled findings.
In Kaufman’s account, creativity comes from toggling between two main modes of thought. So what exactly are these modes, and how do we take the middle path?
The way human evolution has worked is that humans are constantly toggling between two main modes of thought, a mode of thought where we’re focused on the moment for survival issues, because if you miss like a saber-toothed tiger coming after you and you’re daydreaming you’re not going to be daydreaming much longer, do you know what I’m saying? But, we also have this other really important mode of thought in the downtime when we don’t have to be vigilant about our environment where we’re constantly planning for the future.
Our brain has evolved to toggle between two main modes of thought, the moment processing, and future planning. That’s actually what – the planning part is actually what makes humans uniquely human because other animals have a hard time transcending the present moment. So we’re constantly toggling between these two things. And I would argue that for optimal creativity you need to strike a balance; you need to come to what we call the middle way. And a middle way is knowing when it’s contextually appropriate to pay attention to the present environment for survival, as well as gathering information, and allow yourself when that isn’t necessary to dip into your inner stream of consciousness and plan for your future.
Two critical brain networks that are involved in this toggling process between the present moment and our future planning is the default mode network, which I like to refer to as the imagination network because all the kinds of processes associated with this brain network I think are associated with imagination in some way. From like perspective-taking, and when I’m taking the perspective of someone else I’m imagining what that person is thinking, right?
To daydreaming, to thinking about the future, you know, the future planning. It’s all imagination. A lot of it has to do with social imagination, a particular kind of imagination but I think it’s definitely having to do with imagination. And the other major brain network is the executive attention network.
Executive attention network is really crucial for working memory, such as holding information in your mind and consciousness and processing and manipulating it, as well as focusing on the outside world. It’s also important, by the way, for focusing on your inner world. So you can be a mindful daydreamer, and when you’re a mindful daydreamer both of those brain networks actually couple together because you’re focusing that limited spotlight of attention inward and so your daydreams might become more focused when these two brain networks are collaborating with each other.
So these brain networks are not always at odds with each other. There is a unique state of consciousness when both of those networks are on the same level as the seesaw. Right? And that, he suggests, is where creativity happens. Expert meditators, in his telling, have an amazing executive attention network. They’re really, really good at focusing, but that doesn’t necessarily relate to creativity. You could be the greatest most proficient meditator in the universe and not have one iota of creativity.
I think that’s the honest truth. I go to some of these conferences, you can go to some of these mindfulness conferences and they’re all just like zombies like looking at paying attention to the speaker and you look at them and they’re all so laser-focused on the speaker because they’ve honed their mindful attention. And it drives me crazy sometimes because I just want to scream daydream! Like it’s okay! Like to go back in and make meaning out of that experience and then go back out. It’s that toggling process that creators are really good at.
So I wouldn’t make a case that’s too extreme in either direction. There are chronic daydreamers who can’t stop daydreaming, and some of them seek help from psychiatrists. And I think on the other end, we can become a too mindful society where we lose sight of the importance of dipping back in to create meaning out of that outer world that we’re mindful of.
Daydreaming that feels impossible to control can be worth raising with a mental health professional. This post is for general interest and complements, rather than replaces, professional care.
