Runaway mind: Boon and bane

Moshe Bar, a renowned neuroscientist, has authored a book on this very phenomenon called mind wandering.

I try to combine my morning walks with the recitation of my daily prayers. Alas, my mind doesn’t stay focused on the prayer all the time. This is something that vexes me no end. One moment I am worried about a key input I haven’t received for a story I am going to write that very day. Next, as I spot a gleaming Mercedes Benz near the park gate, I begin to think about the worn-out state of the upholstery in my own car, which requires urgent replacement. Then I realise that amid all this mental gallivanting, I have stopped saying the prayer. I guiltily turn my focus back to it.    

And so it goes on. The entire day is a struggle between focusing on the task at hand and the mind’s tendency to dart in all possible directions.

Moshe Bar, a renowned neuroscientist and former director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, has authored a book on this very phenomenon called mind wandering. According to him, we spend 30-47 per cent of our waking hours engaged in this activity. But is this a bad trait that one should try to curb? Or should we just learn to live with it, and in fact, try to use it to our advantage? These are the questions the book sets out to answer.

Mr Bar begins by addressing what we do during mind wandering. We often talk to ourselves. This inner chatter, explains the author, allows us to give more concrete shape to abstract thoughts that may have emerged from our subconscious. Through inner speech, we also firm up plans of action. We rehearse upcoming conversations we are going to have. During such self-talk, we narrate our experiences, helping fix them (or the version we recall) more solidly in our memories. And often, we criticise and admonish ourselves.

Next to ourselves, we humans are obsessed with those around us. Through mind wandering, we try to fathom others’ intentions. Such cogitation helps us decide whether to collaborate with someone or avoid them. According to the author, our very survival depends on this ability to anticipate others’ motivations and behaviour. He adds a caveat: We think we are good at understanding others — in fact, we are often over-confident about our ability to do so — but in reality, do a poor job of it.

Our minds function associatively. Our memories are built and strengthened through association. Such associative arrangement allows us to predict. For instance, when we see a table, we expect to see a chair along with it. Thanks to this build-up of associated memories, we don’t have to interpret everything in the world anew each time we perceive something.  

During mind wandering, we also run short movies in our brain about how things will turn out. Such simulation allows us to anticipate events. But mind wandering has a disadvantage—it does not allow us to be fully engaged with the present. Humans have limited mental capacity. If our mind is too loaded with thoughts of the past or the future, we then don’t have the capacity to process, and therefore savour, what we are experiencing in the present. As we age, we may even begin to be guided more by our experiences and memories. As a result, we may miss out on what is novel in the present.

Mind wandering is, however, intrinsic to the way our brains work. Try as we might, we can’t stop it. But we can harness it to our advantage. The author suggests that when you have to do something creative, put yourself in a positive frame of mind and let your mind wander more broadly and associatively. Doing so can trigger creative ideas. He also suggests that we keep an eye on our state of mind: Whether we are thinking broadly and associatively, or ruminatively (that is, obsessively repeating the same thoughts). He suggests taking up creative endeavours when we are in the former state of mind.

Dr Bar says that as we practise observing our state of mind, doing so will become second nature to us. And then we can tailor our activities to the state of mind we are in.       

Anyone looking to enhance his understanding of how the mind works will find this book rewarding. The author has achieved the remarkable feat of writing lucidly on a complex subject. Even if you find the going tough (especially if the subject is new to you), you must persevere, and the book will reward you with invaluable insights every few pages. It’s not a “how to do” book per se, but the insights it contains will help you harness the power of your mind and run it in an optimal fashion.