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Letting your mind wander is a major cause of unhappiness

56 点作者 tsmall超过 14 年前

15 条评论

nostrademons超过 14 年前
There seems to be a major uncontrolled variable in this study, namely external expectations of what you <i>should</i> be doing.<p>I found, as a kid up through college, that I was happiest when my mind was wandering. As a kid, I also had no expectations about what I should be doing - I basically decided that homework was bullshit as a young teen, so I could do whatever I wanted and not feel guilty about it.<p>That changed once I got into the working world and suddenly was responsible for my own success. Now, whenever my mind wanders, there's a little voice that goes off in my head and says "But you're not being <i>productive</i>! Nobody cares what you think about, they only care what you do."<p>It seems like a reasonable hypothesis to say "people are happiest when they're doing whatever their internal value system says they should be doing." And it's consistent with the data. People were least happy when resting, working, and using a home computer, which are also the times that social expectations are highest that you actually <i>should</i> be working. They were most happy when having sex, exercising, and conversing - but nobody expects you to do a job while having sex.<p>I'd like to see the data broken down by age group and cultural values, and in particular, I'd like to see if it holds true for cultural groups that do not have the same focus on productivity and achievement as middle-class Americans.
electromagnetic超过 14 年前
During my day job, my mind wanders constantly. I work in construction and I'm highly intelligent, which means I rarely have to concentrate hard like others do. So I spend a lot of my time thinking up story and plot details, which actually makes me quite happy.<p>Although I think having a dozen different characters living in my head probably exempts me from inclusion in a study on happiness.
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icegreentea超过 14 年前
This is pretty much related to the concept of flow [1]. Simply put, we are most satisfied (in the long term) when in flow, which could be characterized as the blurring of awareness and action, the feeling of control, a distortion of time perception, and some other stuff outlined in the link.<p>Simply its a more formal definition of 'the zone'. Yeah, the same zone as in sports, music, or coding sessions. Basically, the idea is that almost any activity can be experienced in the flow, and the further away from flow characteristics we move, the less satisfied we are. Thinking about something else while doing the current task is about as far from flow as you can get (unless the other thing you are thinking about is an flow experience thing).<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29</a>
msie超过 14 年前
By extension, spending too much time on Hacker News will make you unhappy. Get back to work! ;-)
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Tycho超过 14 年前
If your mind is wandering, it's probably because you're not interested in what you're doing. Therefore I doubt simply focussing on whatever boring task is before you will bring happiness: the trick is to actually be doing stuff that interests you. Not exactly an Earth-shattering revelation...
bprater超过 14 年前
What?! Have all the sages had it right by telling people to live in the moment, to become more present? :)
geekfactor超过 14 年前
This article reminds me of a TED talk I liked by Barry Schwartz on "The Paradox of Choice."<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6XEQIsCoM" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6XEQIsCoM</a><p>The speaker argues that that freedom and choice are held as unassailable virtues by Western cultures, but in fact research shows that too much choice leads to unhappiness.<p>If you think of mind wandering as perhaps a product of too much choice for the mind, the two ideas are complementary.
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mcritz超过 14 年前
This study documents an association but fails to prove causation. Therefore this headline is misleading.
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angusgr超过 14 年前
I'm faintly bemused that the study used an iPhone app to prompt volunteers.<p>I got rid of my iPhone precisely because I thought it was leading me to not enjoy the times when my mind wandered.
shorttime超过 14 年前
This makes sense, if you're intently focused on doing a task or completing something you wouldn't have time to really display any emotion, let alone unhappiness.
paulgerhardt超过 14 年前
"But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin."
crazydiamond超过 14 年前
The several thousand year old practice of "Mindfulness". Derived from the earlier (pre-Buddhist) practice "Vipashyana" (i.e., clear seeing).<p>Yes, keeping one's mind centered, aka, in the present moment, in awareness, is being happy. Being happy without external causes.<p>Unhappiness is basically thought-forms or thought-waves saying "I am unhappy" or "I am bored" or "I will be happy when ...". There is no more reality to unhappiness than mere thought-forms. The underlying silence revealed by a still mind is happiness itself.
jamesbritt超过 14 年前
Previous discussion: <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1895008" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1895008</a>
bhewes超过 14 年前
This reminds me of John Gray's idea that idleness is a burden for most. "Work fends off the heavier burden of idleness, and even the round of commuting keeps the self at bay." <a href="http://www.thedrawbridge.org.uk/issue_17/mostly_a_wise_leap_from_grace/" rel="nofollow">http://www.thedrawbridge.org.uk/issue_17/mostly_a_wise_leap_...</a>
scottw超过 14 年前
Happiness is overrated. I'm just fine with a life of mild melancholy peppered with occasional fits of ecstacy.