經常發呆的人更有創造力

Humans have daydreamed for thousands of years, and yet, these days, spare moments are filled with using our smartphones and other devices—scrolling through social media, listening to podcasts, responding to emails—leaving us little time to let our minds wander.

人類的白日夢已做了數千年，而近來，這樣放空自己的時光卻被智能手機以及其它設備佔據了 — 瀏覽社交網站、聽播客、回郵件......留給思想神遊的時間變得寥寥無幾。

“Daydreaming is how we access our big-picture state of mind,” says Amy Fries, author of Daydreams at Work. “When you’re in a daydreaming state of mind, you can visualise or simulate your own version of events."

“白日夢是我們假借思緒構建藍圖的途徑。”《上班也做白日夢》的作者艾米·弗萊斯如是說。“思緒放空的狀態幫助人們預見與模擬具有個人特色的事件。”

“My most creative moments come when my brain is allowed to rest,” says Megan King, a graphic designer, “But I’m addicted to my smartphone.”

“放鬆的大腦是我靈感的溫牀。”圖表設計師梅根·金說道。“但我現在卻終日沉迷於智能手機。”

She’s not alone. According to Nielsen, Americans spend 10.5 hours a day consuming media. And UK residents are close behind at almost 10 hours a day, according to eMarketer.

她的情況並非個例。據尼爾森市場研究公司調查，美國人均媒體消費達到10.5小時。而另一家市場調研公司“電子營銷人”的調查顯示，英國居民的日均媒體消費時長也有將近10小時。

This extended screen time has made some of us uncomfortable sitting alone with our own thoughts.

人們盯着屏幕看的時間越來越久，與思想獨處似乎已然令部分人渾身不自在。

This may seem a small change, but its effect, on the way our minds work and on our collective creativity, could be far-reaching. In fact, it could be hindering your ability to come up with fresh, innovative ideas.

你也許認爲這個變化微不足道，但是實際上，它深刻地影響着我們的思維運轉方式與集體創造力。

Over years of studies, researchers found that our brain has two separate attention systems — an external one and an internal one. The internal attention system, which is activated during daydreaming, is called the default network.

多年研究表明，我們的大腦擁有外部和內部兩個獨立的注意力系統。白日夢便是由俗稱“默認網絡”的內部注意力系統所激發。

“The default network is particularly active when you are thinking about yourself, thinking about the past, thinking about the future,” says Daniel Willingham, Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. “You can’t really have both [attention systems] active at the same time.”

“人們反思自我、回顧過去、展望未來時，‘默認網絡’運轉尤爲活躍。”弗吉尼亞大學的心理學教授丹尼爾·威林厄姆如是說。“你無法同時激活兩個（注意力）系統。”

If both systems can’t be active at the same time and we’re spending 10 hours a day in one attention system, it begs the question: what is that doing to our brains — and our ability to come up with creative ideas?

那麼，如果說兩個注意力系統不能同時被激活，我們卻在其中一個系統上每天花費10小時，問題就來了：這樣做對我們的大腦有何影響？它又是否會削弱我們產生創造性觀點的能力？