
Think Less, Think Better - saeranv
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/opinion/sunday/think-less-think-better.html
======
milesf
The best material I've found on this subject so far is Barbera Oakley's
"Learning How to Learn" course ([https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-
to-learn](https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn)) along with
the companion book "A Mind For Numbers".

The two modes they refer to are focussed and diffuse, and the admission that
our brains can't do both at the same time. She provides examples and
techniques that, while some might find silly, are effective.

~~~
makmanalp
I feel like this is a lot of what should be taught (and indirectly is being
taught) in middle / high schools! There's so much specialization later in life
that no curriculum can cover everything and learning to learn seems essential.

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stared
> your life leaves too much room for your mind to wander

Well, for me mind wandering is the creative state, and something often richer,
fuller and more interesting than mundane stuff. When walking or hiking, one of
the most important things is to allow my mind stroll too (but its much better
when it has some background stimuli).

While sometimes I regret not leaving in "now" because of being to busy, I
rarely ever regret mind wandering. Even if it comes at a price - see "A
Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind" \- Daniel Gilbert
[http://www.danielgilbert.com/KILLINGSWORTH%20&%20GILBERT%20(...](http://www.danielgilbert.com/KILLINGSWORTH%20&%20GILBERT%20\(2010\).pdf).

~~~
christinecha
I definitely agree that mind wandering is where a lot of creativity happens
and that it shouldn't be dismissed as just extraneous activity.

However, I think in this case, the author is talking more about this kind of
mental baggage that people accumulate while scrolling through Facebook feeds
and the like. We're essentially - whether we like it or not - memorizing crazy
amounts of unnecessary information, and thus throttling creativity because
we're still processing where Kathy went on vacation and what she ate there.

~~~
stared
I try to reduce FB feeds, and try to read more offline, as too many low-
quality thoughts are not only eating time, but are tiring and distracting,
with little benefit.

But... this is more like "tough rush", a very opposite state of mind to "mind
wandering" (even if both are different from the "animal-like" focus on current
stimuli).

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w-m
Until now I knew the exploration-exploitation-dilemma mainly from the path
finding problem in a partially unknown environment. Exploitation will
definitely get you to the goal, even if not in the optimal path. You can
choose to spend some resources on exploration, hoping (but not guaranteed to)
find a better global solution.

It's interesting to see the same concept applied to what the author calls
'mental load'. When there are mental resources available, not being tied down
by anything, I can spend some of them freely on exploration. In stressful
situations I always have to fall back to exploitation-only, possibly getting
stuck in the local minimum of what I'm doing.

While it is definitely good to leave the mind free of unnecessary dead weight
(Did somebody already reply referencing GTD? Can't be long.), it doesn't
answer the question of how much time should be spent on exploration to achieve
the best results. I find it fascinating when people talk about their own modes
of operation and allocation of these mental resources, for example the recent
article about the 100:10:1 game design.

~~~
Joeri
> In stressful situations I always have to fall back to exploitation-only,
> possibly getting stuck in the local minimum of what I'm doing.

The situations where you are with your back to the wall and have to hunker
down to meet a hopeless deadline are exactly the situations where exploring
solutions benefits the most. Taking 5 or 10 minutes before you start down a
path to consider the problem from the outside does not hurt the time to
completion, and often benefits it when there are relatively obvious alternate
solutions that are more narrowly scoped.

Spending longer than a trivial time on exploration is only really worth it
when the possible upside is also very big. Before starting a year-long project
I would find it normal to spend a few weeks exploring ideas, instead of just
hunkering down to write code and seeing where it ends up.

~~~
mamon
>> Taking 5 or 10 minutes before you start down a path to consider the problem
from the outside does not hurt the time to completion

This is true for modern, civilized world. We humans still suffer from
"savannah brain", where main cause of stress was physical danger, and taking
even 5-10 seconds to consider your options might result in you ending up dead.

That's why we developed physiological reaction to stress, that with help of
hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol shuts down exploratory part of our
brain on chemical level.

Following your suggestion of taking 5-10 minutes to reconsider requires
serious effort to overcome that reaction and, depending on your individual
physiology, might even be not possible at all.

On top of that there's the thing called "stress addiction", which basically
means that some people start seeking new sources of stress when their live
becomes to peaceful. Which again works against your exploratory brain
potential.

~~~
Joeri
You are right. However, failing is inevitably part of trying. It does not mean
we should not try.

------
jacobolus
> _In everyday life, you may find yourself “loading” your mind in various
> ways: memorizing a list of groceries to buy later at the supermarket,
> rehearsing the name of someone you just met so you don’t forget it,
> practicing your pitch before entering an important meeting. There are also,
> of course, the ever-present wanderings of a normal mind. And there are more
> pathological, or at least more chronic, sources of mental load, such as the
> ruminative thought patterns characteristic of stress, anxiety and
> depression. All these loads can consume mental capacity, leading to dull
> thought and anhedonia — a flattened ability to experience pleasure._

This claim might well be true, but it isn’t at all proven by the experiments
done on people trying to keep a string of numbers in short-term memory during
a word-association game. Both of those demand deliberate conscious attention,
it’s little surprise they’d interfere with each-other.

I doubt many people continuously dwell on their grocery list items throughout
the day; once the list has been memorized, I doubt it’s seriously taxing
problem solving or creative thinking. I’d suggest anyone who finds this to be
a problem should try committing the list to paper.

Someone who is practicing a pitch before an important meeting either (a)
prepared enough, and doesn’t need to fill the entirety of their mind with the
narrow content of the memorized pitch, or else (b) didn’t prepare enough, and
probably _should_ be focused on the narrow content, to make sure they don’t
screw it up.

If making sure you don’t forget someone’s name leads you to anhedonia, I
recommend making an excuse up front and not worrying about it. Personally,
I’ve never found learning a small number of names prevented me from paying
attention to a conversation, but I’m not great with names, so perhaps the
wrong person to ask.

As for a wandering mind: it’s entirely possible to both be focused acutely on
the details of the environment, and simultaneously free-associating / letting
the mind “wander”. The main time I find thoughts intrude sharply on paying
attention to the immediate environment is when I’m trying to solve some very
difficult technical problem.

I’ll certainly back the author up that depression and anxiety make it
difficult to think creatively. These involve hormonal changes which give
thoughts a narrow short-term focus. I find about ½–1 alcoholic drink helps
relieve minor/temporary anxiety. Someone depressed should probably seek
professional help.

~~~
coldtea
> _I doubt many people continuously dwell on their grocery list items
> throughout the day; once the list has been memorized, I doubt it’s seriously
> taxing problem solving or creative thinking._

That's because the list was just an example among many.

And you don't need to dwell on it "throughout the day" for it to be harmful in
the way described: just dwelling on it for the 1-2 hours before you get to the
supermarket is enough.

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jmagaro88
Often I find that stepping away from the computer and do a bit of "mind
coding" is when I produce some of my best solutions to problems that I need to
solve. I suppose this is not a perfect representation of what the author is
describing because I am still actively pursuing answers in my mind. But
detaching from the physical environment of the grind (i.e. sitting at a desk,
staring at a blank Sublime Text window, etc.) often gives my mind just enough
space to wander so that I can discover an innovative solution to a problem
instead of trying to force it.

------
darawk
I really wish people would stop drawing insanely over-broad conclusions from
studies of something that is really quite narrow.

The leap from 'cognitive load decreases variability of free associations' to
'we should all go on silent retreats' is pretty silly and enormous.

~~~
quadrangle
Yeah, but leap works perfectly well… if it were presented as a _hypothesis_.
It's only the jump to _conclusions_ that is the problem.

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mckoss
Can we stop posting articles that are behind a pay wall? What's the point of
sharing if the link won't work for many readers?

~~~
reefoctopus
You can bypass the paywall for most of them by clicking the web link and
visiting from Google search results.

~~~
mckoss
I know that. So why not post the search link instead - i.e. one that will work
for everyone? Or HN could implement a "search on Google" feature to get around
it. Requiring readers to a) know this hack and b) perform it on a mobile
device keyboard is the ultimate in poor usability.

~~~
reefoctopus
You don't need a keyboard. Click on the comments link and then click on the
link marked "web" at the top of the page in the comments. There is a search
link.

~~~
mckoss
I've never noticed the "web" link before - that works for me (should this not
be "search", btw). Thanks.

~~~
jsprogrammer
Should be Google, I believe.

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ilaksh
Sure everyone's mind wanders, but there are some jobs where there isn't much
room for that compared to other jobs. For example when I am programming I
rarely make real progress when I am not pretty close to 100% focused on the
task, because most of the time what I am doing is not really a routine problem
for me.

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saaadhu
This is consistent with what Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking Fast and Slow" says -
engaging System2 (thinking) diminishes System1's (intuitiveness) capacity.

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tostitos1979
That is a comfy looking futon mattress in the picture. Any idea where one can
be purchased in North America (Bay area to be more precise).

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franzwong
This explains why I could solve some problems when I was in toilet.

~~~
henrik_w
I get many of my best ideas while taking a shower.

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miguelrochefort
Man do they lack vision. Two things stand out for me in this article:

\- Lack of mention of the semantic web

\- Obsession with privacy

It seems obvious to me that the semantic web is the way to organize the
world's information. It also seems obvious to me that the web is incompatible
with privacy.

I'm always surprised when people don't realize these things. It's even more
the case when those who invented the web do.

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tr1ck5t3r
They didnt control for how much ghrelin (the hunger hormone) is circulating
which is known to increase intelligence in particular spatial intelligence
which can be linked to creativity a naturally occurring survival function.

Afterall if in the wild, if you go hungry you need to innovate and be creative
at feeding that belly.

Maybe people should not give some "sciences" so much of what Milgram observed
as "obedience to authority" if they choose to not look at all factors which
will influence their "scientific" results.

