Why we should stop worrying about our wandering minds | Hacker News Reader

Why we should stop worrying about our wandering minds

bbc.com

52 pointsDanBC10 comments

I'd be curious to see a similar study on active meditators. People who actively work to quiet their minds might have a better chance of doing so in a study.

Meditating makes you realize just how much noise is in your head. Between starting meditation and where I am now I notice a stark difference in my brain. A lot of it comes from the environment too. We listen to songs on repeat, advertisements are burnt into our memories, we have emotions, there's just so much for our brains to drone on about.

It is absolutely possible to quiet your inner monologue. I'd be really interested to see what it looks like in a brain scan.

There have been several similar posts to this recently. (Acceptance of boredom, melancholy, etc.)

A question of ignorance, but people really worry about a wandering mind?

Ask an ADHD sufferer. Mind wandering from what you'd rather be focusing on is a constant irritant.

Yes.

The rare moments where my mind stays quiet and there isn't a garbled mess of audiovisual thoughts are bliss.

Most of the time it's painful hell, which I sometimes drown with various drugs.

So, screw this new research, wandering thoughts are horrible.

I suppose it depends where the mind wanders. Optimists have all the luck...

In the sense of not being able to concentrate as well as I want to, yes.

I imagine the majority of people on this forum are pressuring themselves to focus on something, a project, work, or relationship. Inevitably you'll have to battle a wandering mind. Maybe that's where burnout comes in, not letting your mind wander anymore.

I feel like those who are good at letting their minds wander are also good at concentrating when the need arises.

I can knock out a feature in 3 weeks or in three hours. I could do 13 features in a week, if there were that many to do. My ability to get things done is limited not by my own time, but in my company's ability to put projects on my plate.

Letting my mind wander, even when I'm pretty busy, allows me to think about the context of my work and is a pretty clear force-multiplier.

It's more of a problem when your mind wanders when you need to focus. For example, I know this is a problem for me when I'm tired, angry, or extremely stressed, but still need to do my job.

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