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GAPPED TEXT Daydreaming can help solve problems, trigger creativity, and inspire great works of art and science By Josie Glazier Most people spend between 30 and 47 per cent of their waking hours spacing out, drifting off, lost in thought, wool-gathering or building castles in the air Yale University emeritus psychology professor Jerome L Singer defines daydreaming as shifting attention “away from some primary physical or mental task toward an unfolding sequence of private responses” or, more simply, “watching your own mental videos.” He also divides daydreaming styles into two main categories: “positive-constructive,” which includes upbeat and imaginative thoughts, and “dysphoric,” which encompasses visions of failure or punishment 119 Such humdrum concerns figured prominently in one study that rigorously measured how much time we spend mind wandering in daily life In a 2009 study, Kane and his colleague Jennifer McVay asked 72 students to carry Palm Pilots that beeped at random intervals eight times a day for a week The subjects then recorded their thoughts at that moment on a questionnaire The study found that about 30 per cent of the beeps coincided with thoughts unrelated to the task at hand and that mindwandering increased with stress, boredom or sleepiness or in chaotic environments and decreased with enjoyable tasks That may be because enjoyable activities tend to grab our attention 120 We may not even be aware that we are daydreaming We have all had the experience of “reading” a book yet absorbing nothing—moving our eyes over the words on a page as our attention wanders and the text turns into gibberish “When this happens, people lack what I call ‘metaawareness,’ consciousness of what is currently going on in their mind,” he says But aimless rambling can be productive as they can allow us to stumble on ideas and associations that we may never find if we intentionally seek them 121 So, why should daydreaming aid creativity? It may be in part because when the brain is floating in unfocused mental space it serves a specific purpose It allows us to engage in one task and at the same time trigger reminders of other, concurrent goals so that we not lose sight of them There is also the belief that we can boost the creative process by increasing the amount of daydreaming we or replaying variants of the millions of events we store in our brains 122 The mind's freedom to wander during a deliberate tuning out could also explain the flash of insight that may coincide with taking a break from an unsolved problem A study conducted at the University of Lancaster in England into this possibility found that if we allow our minds to ramble during a moderately challenging task, we can access ideas that are not easily available to our conscious minds Our ability to so is now known to depend on the normal functioning of a dedicated daydreaming network deep in our brain 123 It was not until 2007, however, that cognitive psychologist Malia Fox Mason, discovered that the default network — which lights up when people switch from an attention-demanding activity to drifting reveries with no specific goals, becomes more active when mind wandering is more likely She also discovered that people who daydream more in everyday life show greater activity in the default network while performing monotonous tasks 124 The conclusion reached in this ground-breaking study was that the more complex the mind wandering episode is, the more of the mind it is going to consume This inevitably leads to the problem of determining the point at which creative daydreaming crosses the boundary into the realms of compulsive fantasising Although there is often a fine dividing line between the two, one question that can help resolve the dilemma relates to whether the benefits gained from daydreaming outweigh the cost to the daydreamer’s reputation and performance 125 On the other hand, there are psychologists who feel that the boundary is not so easily defined They argue that mind wandering is not inherently good or bad as it depends to a great extent on context When, for example, daydreaming occurs during an activity that requires little concentration, it is unlikely to be costly If, however, it causes someone to suffer severe injury or worse by say, walking into traffic, then the line has been crossed A Although these two findings were significant, mind wandering itself was not measured during the scans As a result, it could not be determined exactly when the participants in her study were “on task” and when they were daydreaming In 2009 Smallwood, Schooler and Kalina Christoff of the University of British Columbia published the first study to directly link mind wandering with increased activity in the default network Scans on the participants in their study revealed activity in the default network was strongest when subjects were unaware they had lost focus B However, intense focus on our problems may not always lead to immediate solutions Instead allowing the mind to float freely can enable us to access unconscious ideas hovering underneath the surface — a process that can lead to creative insight, according to psychologist Jonathan W Schooler of the University of California, Santa Barbara C Yet to enhance creativity, it is important to pay attention to daydreams Schooler calls this “tuning out” or deliberate “off-task thinking.”, terms that refer to the ability of an individual to have more than just the mind-wandering process Those who are most creative also need to have meta-awareness to realise when a creative idea has popped into their mind D On the other hand, those who ruminate obsessively—rehashing past events, repetitively analyzing their causes and consequences, or worrying about all the ways things could go wrong in the future are well aware that their thoughts are their own, but they have intense difficulty turning them off The late Yale psychologist Susan Nolen-Hoeksema does not believe that rumination is a form of daydreaming, but she has found that in obsessive ruminators, the same default network as the one that is activated during daydreaming switches on E Other scientists distinguish between mundane musings and extravagant fantasies Michael Kane, a cognitive psychologist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, considers “mind wandering” to be “any thoughts that are unrelated to one's task at hand.” In his view, mind wandering is a broad category that may include everything from pondering ingredients for a dinner recipe to saving the planet from alien invasion Most of the time when people fall into mind-wandering, they are thinking about everyday concerns, such as recent encounters and items on their to-do list F According to Schooler, there are two steps you need to take to make the distinction First, notice whether you are deriving any useful insights from your fantasies Second, it is important to take stock of the content of your daydreams To distinguish between beneficial and pathological imaginings, he adds, “Ask yourself if this is something useful, helpful, valuable, pleasant, or am I just rehashing the same old perseverative thoughts over and over again?” And if daydreaming feels out of control, then even if it is pleasant it is probably not useful or valuable G Artists and scientists are well acquainted with such playful fantasizing Filmmaker Tim Burton daydreamed his way to Hollywood success, spending his childhood holed up in his bedroom, creating posters for an imaginary horror film series Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish novelist who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006, imagined “another world,” to which he retreated as a child, Albert Einstein pictured himself running along a light wave—a reverie that led to his theory of special relativity H Like Facebook for the brain, the default network is a bustling web of memories and streaming movies, starring ourselves “When we daydream, we're at the center of the universe,” says neurologist Marcus Raichle of Washington University in St Louis, who first described the network in 2001 It consists of three main regions that help us imagine ourselves and the thoughts and feelings of others, draw personal memories from the brain and access episodic memories Your answers 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 119E “Yale University emeritus psychology professor Jerome L Singer defines daydreaming as” connects with “Other scientists distinguish between mundane musings and extravagant fantasies” “Most of the time when people fall into mind-wandering, they are thinking about everyday concerns, such as recent encounters and items on their to-do list” connects with “Such humdrum concerns” 120B “That may be because enjoyable activities tend to grab our attention.” connects with “However, intense focus on our problems may not always lead to immediate solutions.” “The study found that about 30 per cent of the beeps coincided with thoughts unrelated to the task at hand and that mind-wandering increased with stress, boredom or sleepiness or in chaotic environments” connects with “Instead allowing the mind to float freely can enable us to access unconscious ideas hovering underneath the surface — a process that can lead to creative insight” 121 G “But aimless rambling can be productive as they can allow us to stumble on ideas and associations that we may never find if we intentionally seek them.” connects with “Artists and scientists are well acquainted with such playful fantasizing Filmmaker Tim Burton daydreamed his way to Hollywood success, spending his childhood holed up in his bedroom, creating posters for an imaginary horror film series Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish novelist who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006, imagined “another world,” to which he retreated as a child, Albert Einstein pictured himself running along a light wave—a reverie that led to his theory of special relativity.” 122C “So, why should daydreaming aid creativity?” connects with “Yet to enhance creativity, it is important to pay attention to daydreams.” and “The mind's freedom to wander during a deliberate tuning out could also explain the flash of insight that may coincide with taking a break from an unsolved problem.” 123H “Our ability to so is now known to depend on the normal functioning of a dedicated daydreaming network deep in our brain.” connects with “Like Facebook for the brain, the default network is a bustling web of memories and streaming movies” and “It consists of three main regions that help us imagine ourselves and the thoughts and feelings of others, draw personal memories from the brain and access episodic memories.” 124A “Marcus Raichle of Washington University in St Louis, who first described the network in 2001” and “It was not until 2007, however, that cognitive psychologist Malia Fox Mason, discovered that” connect with “Although these two findings were significant, mind-wandering itself was not measured during the scans.” 125F “This inevitably leads to the problem of determining the point at which creative daydreaming crosses the boundary into the realms of compulsive fantasising Although there is often a fine dividing line between the two, one question that can help resolve the dilemma relates to whether the benefits gained from daydreaming outweigh the cost to the daydreamer’s reputation and performance.” connects with “ “To distinguish between beneficial and pathological imaginings” and “On the other hand, there are psychologists who feel that the boundary is not so easily defined They argue that mindwandering is not inherently good or bad” Exercise HELP GUIDE US THROUGH THE UNIVERSE Sir Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, launches this year's Young Science Writer competition If you ask scientists what they're doing, the answer won't be 'Finding the origin of the universe', 'Seeking the cure for cancer' or suchlike It will involve something very specialised, a small piece of the jigsaw that builds up the big picture 119 So, unless they are cranks or geniuses, scientists don't shoot directly for a grand goal - they focus on bite-sized problems that seem timely and tractable But this strategy (though prudent) carries an occupational risk: they may forget they're wearing blinkers and fail to see their own work in its proper perspective 120 I would personally derive far less satisfaction from my research if it interested only a few other academics But presenting one's work to non-specialists isn't easy We scientists often it badly, although the experience helps us to see our work in a broader context Journalists can it better, and their efforts can put a key discovery in perspective, converting an arcane paper published in an obscure journal into a tale that can inspire others 121 On such occasions, people often raise general concerns about the way science is going and the impact it may have; they wonder whether taxpayers get value for money from the research they support More intellectual audiences wonder about the basic nature of science: how objective can we be? And how creative? Is science genuinely a progressive enterprise? What are its limits and are we anywhere near them? It is hard to explain, in simple language, even a scientific concept that you understand well My own (not always effective) attempts have deepened my respect for science reporters, who have to assimilate quickly, with a looming deadline, a topic they may be quite unfamiliar with 122 It's unusual for science to earn newspaper headlines Coverage that has to be restricted to crisp newsworthy breakthroughs in any case distorts the way science develops Scientific advances are usually gradual and cumulative, and better suited to feature articles, or documentaries - or even books, • for which the latent demand is surprisingly strong For example, millions bought A Brief History of Time, which caught the public imagination 123 Nevertheless, serious hooks find a ready market That's the good news for anyone who wants to enter this competition But books on pyramidology, visitations by aliens, and suchlike even better: a symptom of a fascination with the paranormal and 'New Age' concepts It is depressing that these are often featured uncritically in the media, distracting attention from more genuine advances 124 Most scientists are quite ordinary, and their lives unremarkable But occasionally they exemplify the link between genius and madness; these 'eccentrics' are more enticing biographees 125 There seems, gratifyingly, to be no single 'formula' for science writing - many themes are still underexploited Turning out even 700 words seems a daunting task if you're faced with a clean sheet of paper or a blank screen, but less so if you have done enough reading and interviewing on a subject to become inspired For research students who enter the competition, science (and how you it) is probably more interesting than personal autobiography But if, in later life, you become both brilliant and crazy, you can hope that someone else writes a best-seller about you A However, over-sensational claims are a hazard for them Some researchers themselves 'hype up' new discoveries to attract press interest Maybe it matters little what people believe about Darwinism or cosmology But we should be more concerned that misleading or over-confident claims on any topic of practical import don't gain wide currency Hopes of miracle cures can be raised; risks can be either exaggerated, or else glossed over for commercial pressures Science popularisers perhaps even those who enter this competition - have to be as skeptical of some scientific claims as journalists routinely are of politicians B Despite this there's a tendency in recent science waiting to be chatty, laced with gossip and biographical detail But are scientists as interesting as their science? The lives of Albert Einstein and Richard Feyman are of interest, but is that true of the routine practitioner? C Two mathematicians have been treated as such in recent books: Paul Erdos, the obsessive itinerant Hungarian (who described himself as 'a machine for turning coffee into theorems') and John Nash, a pioneer of game theory, who resurfaced in his sixties, after 30 years of insanity, to receive a Nobel prize D For example, the American physicist Robert Wilson spent months carrying out meticulous measurements with a microwave antenna which eventually revealed the 'afterglow of creation' - the 'echo' of the Big Bang with which our universe began Wilson was one of the rare scientists with the luck and talent to make a really great discovery, but afterwards he acknowledged that its importance didn't sink in until he read a 'popular' description of it in the New York Times E More surprising was the commercial success of Sir Roger Penrose's The Emperor's New Mind This is a fascinating romp through Penrose's eclectic enthusiasms - enjoyable and enlightening But it was a surprising best seller, as much of it is heavy going The sates pitch 'great scientist says mind is more than a mere machine' was plainly alluring Many who bought it must have got a nasty surprise when they opened it F But if they have judged right, it won't be a trivial problem - indeed it will be the most difficult that they are likely to make progress on The great zoologist Sir Peter Medawar famously described scientific work as 'the art of the soluble' 'Scientists,' he wrote, 'get no credit for failing to solve a problem beyond their capacities They earn at best the kindly contempt reserved for utopian politicians.' G This may be because, for non-specialists, it is tricky to demarcate well-based ideas from flaky speculation But its crucially important not to blur this distinction when writing articles for a general readership Otherwise credulous readers may take too much on trust, whereas hard- nosed skeptics may reject all scientific claims, without appreciating that some have firm empirical support H Such a possibility is one reason why this competition to encourage young people to take up science writing is so important and why I am helping to launch it today Another is that popular science writing can address wider issues When I give talks about astronomy and cosmology, the questions that interest people most are the truly `fundamental' ones that I can't answer: 'Is there life in space?', Is the universe infinite?' or 'Why didn't the Big Bang happen sooner?' 119 F In the first sentence of F, the first it refers back to the phrase what they're doing in the opening paragraph, which it at the beginning of the second sentence in the opening paragraph also refers to The writer continues with this point in the first sentence of the paragraph after the gap 120 D In D For example, links the paragraph before the gap with the example of Robert Wilson, who the writer believes was 'wearing blinkers' and “not seeing his work in its proper perspective' In the paragraph after the gap, having made the point that scientists can become too absorbed in their work and not relate it to other people, the writer says that personally he wants his work to be of interest to non-specialists rather than only a few other academics 121 H At the start of H, Such a possibility refers back to the possibility of someone 'converting an arcane paper' into something inspiring for other people, mentioned at the end of the paragraph before the gap At the start of the paragraph after the gap, on such occasions refers back to the writer's talks mentioned at the end of H and means 'when I am giving talks' 122 A In the first sentence of A, them refers back to the science reporters mentioned in the last sentence of the paragraph before the gap The writer says that a problem they face is over- sensational (exaggerated in order to surprise and attract attention) claims on the part of scientific researchers In the paragraph after the gap, the writer moves on to a new aspect of his subject - the lack of coverage (the extent to which something is present or discussed) that science gets in newspapers, 123 E In the first sentence of E, More surprising refers back to the success of the book mentioned at the end of the paragraph before the gap The writers says that the success of the book he mentions in E was more surprising than the success of the other book, and he then describes the second book In the paragraph after the gap Nevertheless refers back to what he says about the second book at the end of E 124 G At the beginning of G, This refers back to the `depressing' fact he describes at the end of the paragraph before the gap, of certain scientific matters being given more publicity than others he regards as “more genuine' In the paragraph after the gap, the writer moves on to another aspect of the subject the characteristics of most scientists 125 C In the first sentence of C, have been treated as such refers back to what he says about certain scientists in the paragraph before the gap, and means have been treated as eccentrics' He then gives examples of two scientists who fit into this category In the final paragraph, the writer moves on to another aspect of the subject and talks about the topic of science writing from the point of view of people who may be considering entering the competition Exercise WELCOME TO ECO-CITY The world has quietly undergone a major shift in balance According to UN estimates, 2008 marked the first year in history when more than half of the world's population lived in cities There are now around 3.4bn human beings stuffed into every available corner of urban space, and more are set to follow At a time when humanity has woken up to its responsibility to the environment, the continuing urban swell presents an immense challenge In response, cities all over the world are setting themselves high targets o reduce carbon emissions and produce clean energy But if they don't succeed, there is another option: building new eco-cities entirely from scratch 119 `Rather than just design a city in the same way we'd done it before, we can focus on how to minimise the use of resources to show that there is a different way of doing it', says Roger Wood, associate director at Arup Wood is one of hundreds of people at Arup, the engineering and architecture giant, hired by Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation to set out a master plan for the Dongtan eco-city 120 When the first demonstrator phase is complete, Dongtan will be a modest community of 5000 By 2020, that will balloon to 80,000 and in 2050, the 30km2 site will be home to 500,000 Arup says that every one of those people will be no more than seven minutes' walk from public transport Only electric vehicles will be allowed in the city and residents will be discouraged from using even those because each village is planned so that the need for motorised transport is minimal 121 That's a big cornerstone of Arup's design for Dongtan The aim is that the city will require 66 percent less energy than a conventional development, with wind turbines and solar panels complementing some 40 percent that comes from biological sources These include human sewage and municipal waste, both of which will be controlled for energy recovery and composting Meanwhile, a combined heat and power plant will burn waste rice husks 122 Work on Dongtan had been scheduled to begin in late 2008 with the first demonstration phase completed by 2010 Unfortunately, problems resulting from the complicated planning procedures in China have led to setbacks Dongtan's rival project in Abu Dhabi has suffered no such hold-ups