I visited an old friend with cognitive issues (and no internet presence) recently. He is
no longer good at distinguishing between events he imagines and events that
actually happened. Under the circumstances, in his case this is mostly a
harmless quirk. He told me he had purchased a house, for example. He didn’t,
but he seemed to enjoy thinking he had, so I saw no reason to contradict him. We are all Walter Mittys with elaborate fantasies spinning in
our heads in which we are the stars. We generally know they are fantasies. When
we believe them they are delusions. (We all harbor some delusions, too, but
that is a subject for another time.) What is surprising is just how much time
an average person spends daydreaming: “watching your own mental videos” as Yale
professor emeritus Jerome Singer put it. According to numerous studies it is
between 30% and 47% of our waking hours. Sometimes it’s intentional and
sometimes we just zone out when reading something boring or performing a dull
task. We usually snap back to the real world fairly quickly.
1947 adaptation of James Thurber's short story
Recent research suggests daydreaming ought not be considered
a bad thing, assuming it doesn’t crowd out too much of real life. On the
contrary it helps us form our values and sense of self by testing them in
extraordinary situations without actual risk. It exercises our brains to recall
the past, imagine the future, and make novel connections among disparate pieces
of information. It thereby enhances creativity. It is positively correlated
with productivity at work. Smithsonian
Magazine notes that “researchers from the University of Wisconsin and the
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science, suggests that a
wandering mind correlates with higher degrees of what is referred to as working
memory.” “Working memory” is what it sounds like: an ability to retain and call
up memories even when faced with distractions. The upshot is that all the
mental work we put into making coherent daydreams enhances our capacities in
ways that are transferable to the real world. Daydreams most obviously inspire authors and artists. Woody
Allen, Tim Burton, and J.K. Rowling all credit their best work to daydreams.
This is not a new observation. Sigmund Freud noted, “A piece of creative
writing, like a daydream, is a continuation of, and a substitute for, what was
once the play of childhood.” Yet they inspire scientists and engineers too. Robert Goddard, father of modern rocketry, credited his childhood daydreams of
flights to Mars for his work in the field. Are there downsides? Sure, for some people it is like a drug.
For them real life can’t compare. Addicts of any kind have a hard time paying
bills and keeping friends, and chronic daydreamers are no different. Others get
depressed that real life never measures up to their imaginations. But, of
course, it’s not supposed to measure up. I do not know, but I’d be willing to
bet Elon Musk daydreams about colonies around Alpha Centauri. That is not
happening in his lifetime or the lifetime of anyone alive today, but that
doesn’t make what SpaceX has accomplished so far any less remarkable. Still
others set their hearts on aspects of their fantasies, which of course is a
recipe for heartbreak. In general, though, we benefit from our mental excursions
provided we remember the difference between the real and make-believe. If the
day ever comes, however, when I say (and clearly believe) I bought a house when
you know I didn’t, be kind and don’t argue.
I saw the remake to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty recently with Ben Stiller, and it was pretty good, perhaps a tad too long, but an interesting watch. I need to track down the original now as I've forgotten how it was handled. Long ago I read a newspaper article on Doug Trumbull, who died early this year. He said rumination was one of his more valuable assets. At the time I was working steady with very little time off at all, and I thought so much about the article I cut it out and taped it to my calendar next to the kitchen table. I still think that way today.
The '47 film is closer to the spirit of the original Thurber story. I used to cut out the occasional article, too, but I got out of the habit when so much went online.
I saw the remake to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty recently with Ben Stiller, and it was pretty good, perhaps a tad too long, but an interesting watch. I need to track down the original now as I've forgotten how it was handled. Long ago I read a newspaper article on Doug Trumbull, who died early this year. He said rumination was one of his more valuable assets. At the time I was working steady with very little time off at all, and I thought so much about the article I cut it out and taped it to my calendar next to the kitchen table. I still think that way today.
ReplyDeleteThe '47 film is closer to the spirit of the original Thurber story. I used to cut out the occasional article, too, but I got out of the habit when so much went online.
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