oh sorry miles away Anthony here for D news I have always had what people call a
problem with daydreaming I probably spent about sixty percent of my time in
school as a kid just off somewhere which actually is not too terrible it's been
estimated that we spend about a third to a half of our lives daydreaming and I
was always chastised but because the standard thinking is that it shows a
lack of focus and respect and work ethic but now new research from the Max Planck
Institute confirms a theory that's been around for a while daydreaming is not
idleness
it's a healthy sort of tapped like readiness so your brains got about 20
different networks that can be firing on all cylinders but not at once there's a
kind of competition up there and if one network is taking command the others
take a back seat and that's why multitasking isn't actually multitasking
and if you want to know more about that Trace just did a great video on it anyway
the network that controls daydreaming is called the default network and it comes
into play when nothing is happening that your brain considers important
the main bits of it include your medial prefrontal cortex your posterior
cingulate cortex and the temporoparietal Junction
now these are areas that handle big important things like planning and
personality and processing information and with all of their executive powers
combined they make you zone out during your drive home and imagine that you are
a werewolf
admittedly that does not sound useful also constantly imagining being a
werewolf might just be a me thting
unimportant here does not mean that the activity is useless by the way your
teachers presentation is useful driving home safely is useful but you don't
really need all of your brain power for it you've driven home a million times
you can do it without total focus but your brain is not a lazy place it
doesn't like to be idle so if another network isn't needed it switches to the
default network as silly as my werewolf dreams may sound my friends daydreaming
imagination and self-referential thought are incredibly complex tasks
it's sort of a mental training exercise it can also serve a similar purpose to
the dreams we have at night helping us process information figuring things out
sort of a spring cleaning we may not be focusing on something immediately
important like your teachers' presentation but it could be important
for long-term goal planning and learning
and you know you need down time just like you can't always be running at full
speed you can't always be working at your top mental capacity for getting
stressed flustered unproductive switching and default mode can help you
lower your stress levels organize all the input being thrown at you and help
you come back to clarity and efficiency
have you ever snapped out of a daydream with an answer to a problem that was
really bugging you
there you go and the nice thing about the default network is that it allows
for easy override the second something important happens like an unexpected red
light or a teacher calling your name it immediately surrender is control back to
the important stuff
so the next time someone calls you lazy for daydreaming you just let them know
that you are defrag organized and three steps ahead of them and also that you
thirst for blood during the full moon once again maybe just a me thing
what is your most common daydream let me know down below and subscribe for more
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