Comments on: A Wandering Mind Can Be Hard at Work

By: bltmn

bltmn — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:22:25 +0000

I ran across a cool quotation that addresses a very similar idea:

“Mostly, when you see programmers, they aren’t doing anything. One of the attractive things about programmers is that you cannot tell whether or not they are working simply by looking at them. Very often they’re sitting there seemingly drinking coffee and gossiping, or just staring into space. What the programmer is trying to do is get a handle on all the individual and unrelated ideas that are scampering around in his head.”

Charles M. Strauss

By: drmelho

drmelho — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:02:11 +0000

Thanks for the info, Chris. Interesting topic!

By: slobot

slobot — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:19:45 +0000

i find this fascinating, but true for me as well. i make robot art, and i find that when i am sitting idly, i tend to be building them in my head. it makes it much easier when i go into the studio, as i have seen some of the parts already in my daydreams.

By: Chris Craft

Chris Craft — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:39:26 +0000

There is actually a basis for this in cognitive neuroscience.

First, the working memory is very limited. As it gets full, we tend to slow our processing down (controlled by the central executive processes).

As that happens, we often get frustrated and begin to think poorly. This is toxic to anything worthwhile, be it coding, writing an essay, or just speaking in front of people. All of these can be high-load environments naturally, adding to the trouble here.

When we look out a window or allow daydreaming, that helps to clear the working memory and frees up the central processes to focus exclusively on processing. It’s very much akin to the computer that occasionally needs a reboot because the memory gets full. Looking out the window helps the memory reboot.

Then, naturally, since we’re back to thinking right, we often come up with the answer.

The trouble is when we fail to take the time to process, and we end up in cognitive overload. This can be trouble, as the working memory is forcibly emptied (natural coping mechanism) and we default back to the last thing we learned or were taught. No good.

Hope this helps a bit.

Chris

By: clickpass.com/public/issa…

clickpass.com/public/issa… — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:27:36 +0000

I’ve found the exact same thing. Typically, I’m lucky enough to be able to get away from my desk. I try to sit only when I’m doing productive things, like tearing through my todo list or programming.

I got quoted in an itworld article a few weeks back for this same topic, that was sort of fun. http://www.itworld.com/development/67857/programming-magic-rituals-and-habits-effective-programmers

By: hotrao

hotrao — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:53:09 +0000

The preface is that what follows is only speculation and brainstorming, because I have no scientfic basis to say this nor I have similar skills.

I think is a way mind uses to use spare or costless resources for creating a sort of “cache” that permits faster renderings of real thoughts.

Sometimes when you start wandering is very similar to engaging autopilot. It seems that mind is taking control of your thoughts and start making (il)logical links, where some times is difficult to reconstruct th efull path used to get there.

I think when this happens is a sort of trigger hit by thoughts that starts this process, and by doing this, connections arre stimulated. and this solutioning helps solving problems faster because some (or all nodes) of the possible solution have been explored before.

This post as a comment also at
http://ictheworld.wordpress.com