Mind wandering

[tkadm30]

What causes mind wandering?

[StringJunky]

What causes mind wandering?

Boredom.

[geordief]

There can be physical /chemical causes. Addictions may be an example

 

Headaches also make it hard to concentrate.

[iNow]

Is the OP implying there is a single cause for this experience? If so, he's badly mistaken.

[tkadm30]

Thanks for the information.

 

It looks like the mind can switch between streams of consciousness. I have noticed smoking tobacco produces this psychological

effect.

Edited February 2, 2017 by tkadm30

[geordief]

Thanks for the information.

 

It looks like the mind can switch between streams of consciousness. I have noticed smoking tobacco produces this psychological

effect.

Is it more accurate to suggest that the mind can "hop onto " any one of smorgesbord of unconscious streams?

 

There is only one conscious level (am I right?)

[tkadm30]

Is it more accurate to suggest that the mind can "hop onto " any one of smorgesbord of unconscious streams?

 

There is only one conscious level (am I right?)

 

Yes. There is one conscious level but multiple streams of consciousness.

 

Unconsciousness is defined by the absence of multiple streams of conscious activity.

Edited February 2, 2017 by tkadm30

[DrmDoc]

 

Yes. There is one conscious level but multiple streams of consciousness.

 

Unconsciousness is defined by the absence of multiple streams of conscious activity.

 

This "streams of consciousness" idea is primarily philosophical rather than scientific. Mind wandering references an insufficient measure of mental focus essential to the demands of some focal task. An inability to maintain mental focus could be caused by a variety of physical or environmental distractions, as well as, insufficiently stimulating or compelling attention focals or tasks.

[tkadm30]

Here's some cool papers on the science of mind wandering and the neurophenomenology of consciousness.

 

http://www.ini.ch/~alumit/ishai_jocn2002.pdf

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25293689

 

http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/jocn_a_00656

[dimreepr]

The mind only wonders when its not sufficiently engaged; I doubt my mind would wonder if I was being chased by a tiger.

[geordief]

Yes,we have to take into consideration states of mind which are extremely focused.

 

They may be chemically induced also perhaps.

[tkadm30]

Mind wandering is the independent introspection of the subconscious system by our sensory neurons.

[iNow]

No it's not

Not always, anyway...probably not even often

[tkadm30]

Take a look at this paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28161598

 

Basically, it suggest that introspection and language are correlated: Verbal working memory and inner speech facilitates awareness of mind wandering.

[DrmDoc]

Take a look at this paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28161598

 

Basically, it suggest that introspection and language are correlated: Verbal working memory and inner speech facilitates awareness of mind wandering.

 

If I may, your link does indeed lead to a paper discussing how inner speech may facilitate our awareness of mind-wandering. However, it does not appear to support your original assertion that "Mind wandering is the independent introspection of the subconscious system by our sensory neurons." There was no mention of sensory neurons in the abstract and I'm always immediately suspicious of any assertion that references subconscious any sort of system relative to brain structure and function. As I have previously explained many times elsewhere in this forum, our brain does not have or produce subconscious systems because subconscious is not a state of mentation that brain function produces. As I explained, our brain produces just two measureable states of activity: Conscious and Unconscious. Unfortunately, many of us perceive and reference subconscious and unconscious as synonymous terms, which they are not. Unconscious references a state of brain function and activity while subconscious references an influence that either affect brain function or is produced by brain function. This distinction is analogous to person and package. In this analogy, as I previously commented, unconscious references the person while subconscious references the package that person may either receive or deliver.

[Velocity_Boy]

The mind only wonders when its not sufficiently engaged; I doubt my mind would wonder if I was being chased by a tiger.

 

Great analogy, and one that supports many of the tenets of Evolutionary Psychology, which is contiuing to "earn its stripes" and be taken more seriously every year with new insights as to how our homo sapiens brains work.

 

It also no coincidence that all those "study drugs" that are popular among some students these days--Adderal, Ritalin, et al--change brain activity in such a way so it vitrually becomes replicate of what your brain would be doing when chased by your proverbial tiger. That is to offer: a PET scan of one's mind actively under the influence of a mild stimulant would be "lit up" in a very similar fashion to one whose host is being pursued by a lethal predator!

 

I am compelled to add a caveat to that last claim. Insofar as the "brain on Adderal" example. I was of course referring to the brain of a person NOT affected with ADD, ADHD, or any other disorder of that type. We all know that those meds actually "soothe" that sort of mind. Rather, I was referring to what those meds usually "do" to a person of "normal" brain chemistry and functions.

 

ps....I was finally explained to by a Psychiatrist a few years ago HOW those drugs, that for you and me amount to pure speed, actually slow down a hyperactive mind. He put it in excellent layman terms and I found the answer very intriguing. We can discuss of anybody is interested who doesn't already know. VB

Edited March 20, 2017 by Velocity_Boy