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The Wandering Mind: What the Brain Does When You're Not Looking
If we’ve done our job well—and, let’s be honest, if we're lucky—you’ll read to the end of this description. Most likely, however, you won’t. Somewhere in the middle of the next paragraph, your mind will wander off. Minds wander. That’s just how it is.
That may be bad news for me, but is it bad news for people in general? Does the fact that as much as fifty percent of our waking hours find us failing to focus on the task at hand represent a problem? Michael Corballis doesn’t think so, and with The Wandering Mind, he shows us why, rehabilitating woolgathering and revealing its incredibly useful effects. Drawing on the latest research from cognitive science and evolutionary biology, Corballis shows us how mind-wandering not only frees us from moment-to-moment drudgery, but also from the limitations of our immediate selves. Mind-wandering strengthens our imagination, fueling the flights of invention, storytelling, and empathy that underlie our shared humanity; furthermore, he explains, our tendency to wander back and forth through the timeline of our lives is fundamental to our very sense of ourselves as coherent, continuing personalities.
Full of unusual examples and surprising discoveries, The Wandering Mind mounts a vigorous defense of inattention—even as it never fails to hold the reader’s.
That may be bad news for me, but is it bad news for people in general? Does the fact that as much as fifty percent of our waking hours find us failing to focus on the task at hand represent a problem? Michael Corballis doesn’t think so, and with The Wandering Mind, he shows us why, rehabilitating woolgathering and revealing its incredibly useful effects. Drawing on the latest research from cognitive science and evolutionary biology, Corballis shows us how mind-wandering not only frees us from moment-to-moment drudgery, but also from the limitations of our immediate selves. Mind-wandering strengthens our imagination, fueling the flights of invention, storytelling, and empathy that underlie our shared humanity; furthermore, he explains, our tendency to wander back and forth through the timeline of our lives is fundamental to our very sense of ourselves as coherent, continuing personalities.
Full of unusual examples and surprising discoveries, The Wandering Mind mounts a vigorous defense of inattention—even as it never fails to hold the reader’s.
184 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
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536 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
October 20, 2014
Even though I've heard Mike speak and lecture dozens of times, read many of his books and scientific papers, and know a bit about the topics in this book myself, I still found it fascinating, AND learned plenty of new facts/theories about our minds and their wanderlust habits. Mike always has brilliant titles but they are just a reflection of his writing voice; the chapters inside are equally engaging.
January 7, 2015
Good, covering a broad range of interesting topics. However no real depth to the conversation, I found myself wanting more detail.
November 11, 2015
Really 3.5 stars.
I find this book wanders quite a bit on the topic, and only really has the first couple of chapters and the last strictly related to mind wandering. Everything else is just background on relevant mental functions or human activities. The original content of this book is way to small in my opinion, although it's relatively well written and interesting to read, even for someone who knows a lot of these things.
It also tackles a topic barely brushed in college, so I feel it deserves points for making the effort. Still, I would recomend waiting 5-10 years for when more research is done on the topic
I find this book wanders quite a bit on the topic, and only really has the first couple of chapters and the last strictly related to mind wandering. Everything else is just background on relevant mental functions or human activities. The original content of this book is way to small in my opinion, although it's relatively well written and interesting to read, even for someone who knows a lot of these things.
It also tackles a topic barely brushed in college, so I feel it deserves points for making the effort. Still, I would recomend waiting 5-10 years for when more research is done on the topic
October 15, 2015
The book's subtitle is pretty accurate. However, I was still disappointed. I was expecting more on the healthful benefits of letting your mind wander--creativity, calm, sanity, imagination, etc. There was some of that, but too much on dreams, ESP, hallucinations, drugs, etc. The chapter on story-telling and language acquisition was interesting, if bit of an outlier. In any case, it was a quick read, but I can't really recommend it unless you're very much into psychology or even psychiatry.
April 16, 2019
Not much went on in this book, felt like a lot of filler in order to make it long enough. Could have just stayed in a shorter format. I wish everything was better connected and wish there were less jokes - because they just made it more obvious that not much was actually going on in this book. I've seen humor employed well in books before, but the jokes were always integrated into the lesson or the information. These ones were not.
April 5, 2016
High redundancy , boring .......................the end
You must not read it absolutely!
You must not read it absolutely!
September 2, 2018
Si tratta di un saggio di divulgazione neuroscientifica sui viaggi mentali. Non è molto approfondito, ma è una bella lettura che mi ha anche intrattenuta.
January 11, 2023
Minu kui lugeja jaoks oleks võinud vähem lisateksti olla uuringute ja huvitavate tähelepanekute vahele. Seega ei olnud see raamat väga informeeriv, pigem meelelahutuslik.
November 29, 2021
Sanırım hepimiz içinde bulunduğumuz dünyada ilgimizi çekmeyen uyaranlardan kaçınmak için veya belki de organizmamız, zihnimizin kendi yarattığı imgelemleri daha çok sevdiğinden/ona sımsıkı sarıldığından -yahut farklı sebeplerden- zihnimizin avarelik ederek boş boş gezinmesine izin veririz.
Bu durumu incelemek amacıyla yola çıkan yazar, kitabın ilk bölümüne avare zihnin tanımıyla başlayıp, zihnin avarelik ederken beynin ne yaptığını ve avare zihnin iyi veya kötü işlevleriyle devam eder.
Yazar devam eden üç bölümde zihnin avarelik etmesi için gereken malzemeleri depolamaya yarayan bir yapı olan belleği inceler. Bu bağlamda geçmiş ve gelecek zamanın, zihnin avareliğiyle olan ilişkilerini irdelemeye çalışır.
Beşinci bölümde diğer insanların kimlik ve kişiliklerine bürünüp, insanların ne düşündüğüyle temas halinde olan avare zihin incelenir.
Yazar altıncı bölümde insanı biricik kılan ve zihinsel avareliklerimizi paylaşmamızda en temel araç olan dil kullanımını, ilk insanlardan başlayarak farklı perspektiflerde okuyucuya sunar.
Devam eden bölümde zihnin avareliğine benzeyen bir yapı olan rüyalardan bahsedilir. Yazar, rüyaları farklı teoriler kapsamında ele alarak zihnin avareliğiyle olan ilişkisindeki benzerlik ve farklılıkları ile rüyaların işlevi üzerinde durur.
Son iki bölümde zihinsel bir bozukluk belirtisi olan sanrı, algısal sistemler ve zihin avareliği ilişkileri ile avare zihnin yaratıcılığı üzerinde durulmuştur.
Kısaca özetlemek gerekirse; yazar, zihnin avareliğini, bilişsel sistemimizin farklı yapıları bağlamında duru bir dille açıklamaya çabalamıştır. Fakat avare zihnin bu yapılarla olan ilişkilerini incelerken, zaman zaman kitabın ana temasından kopup, sanki sadece o bilişsel yapıyı anlatan bir temayla ilgileniyormuş hissine kapılmamı (her ne kadar zevkli olsa da), yazarın avareliğine atfediyorum..
İyi okumalar...
Bu durumu incelemek amacıyla yola çıkan yazar, kitabın ilk bölümüne avare zihnin tanımıyla başlayıp, zihnin avarelik ederken beynin ne yaptığını ve avare zihnin iyi veya kötü işlevleriyle devam eder.
Yazar devam eden üç bölümde zihnin avarelik etmesi için gereken malzemeleri depolamaya yarayan bir yapı olan belleği inceler. Bu bağlamda geçmiş ve gelecek zamanın, zihnin avareliğiyle olan ilişkilerini irdelemeye çalışır.
Beşinci bölümde diğer insanların kimlik ve kişiliklerine bürünüp, insanların ne düşündüğüyle temas halinde olan avare zihin incelenir.
Yazar altıncı bölümde insanı biricik kılan ve zihinsel avareliklerimizi paylaşmamızda en temel araç olan dil kullanımını, ilk insanlardan başlayarak farklı perspektiflerde okuyucuya sunar.
Devam eden bölümde zihnin avareliğine benzeyen bir yapı olan rüyalardan bahsedilir. Yazar, rüyaları farklı teoriler kapsamında ele alarak zihnin avareliğiyle olan ilişkisindeki benzerlik ve farklılıkları ile rüyaların işlevi üzerinde durur.
Son iki bölümde zihinsel bir bozukluk belirtisi olan sanrı, algısal sistemler ve zihin avareliği ilişkileri ile avare zihnin yaratıcılığı üzerinde durulmuştur.
Kısaca özetlemek gerekirse; yazar, zihnin avareliğini, bilişsel sistemimizin farklı yapıları bağlamında duru bir dille açıklamaya çabalamıştır. Fakat avare zihnin bu yapılarla olan ilişkilerini incelerken, zaman zaman kitabın ana temasından kopup, sanki sadece o bilişsel yapıyı anlatan bir temayla ilgileniyormuş hissine kapılmamı (her ne kadar zevkli olsa da), yazarın avareliğine atfediyorum..
İyi okumalar...
September 2, 2018
The beginning of this book talked about our animal brains, the Hippocampus that forms our memories, then REM linked to our body temperature regulations. Of course, we should talk about dreams, Corballis thought dreams are the by product of REM. But don't stop here, a Finnish scientist considered dream is a practice ground for us to repeatedly train ourselves to react in a threaten situation. Then the hallucination, illusion and the drugs that could cause it happen.
Over all this is still a book talking about brain function, except, on the contrary to "focus", mind wandering is also a relaxing way of creativity according to the author.
我们的生活离不开走神。在走神时，我们可以进行思想的时间旅行——我们的思想在时间里来回漫游，不仅可以在过去经历的基础上畅想未来，还可以形成关于自身存在意义的持续性的观念。走神赋予我们进入别人思想的能力，增强了我们对他人和社会的理解。通过走神，我们得以发明创造、讲述故事、开阔视野。无论是像华兹华斯那样如一片云般独自游走，还是像爱因斯坦一样想象自己乘着光束旅行，走神都为我们的创造力提供了助力。
---走神可以是有意识的，比如我们会刻意地回忆以前的事情，或者规划未来可能会做的事情。走神也可以是无意识的，我们会做梦、会幻想，这些事情不受大脑控制。有时，走神介于有意识和无意识之间，例如我们会为特定的目的展开想象——也许为了刻意考虑某些进退两难的局面，也许是为解开复杂的拼字游戏中的一个谜题——但在此期间其他的想法也会不期而至。就像美国喜剧表演大师史蒂夫·赖特（Steven Wright）所说的：“我想专心做白日梦，可总是走神！”
--记忆的第三层是关于我们生活中特定事件的记忆，这一层被大家称作情景记忆。正是在情景记忆中我们才会用到“记起”这个词，而“记起”这个动作本身就是大脑走神的一种形式。上文所说的知识是一种基本稳定且能为我们提供信息的系统，“记起”的内容和知识不同，它更像是过去的动态情景重现。由于我们记得的事情基本上都很主观，因此这些事情就组成了我们所理解的“自我”。我们所知道的大部分事实都是和别人共享的、一致的，可是我们的情景记忆却是各不相同的。
--“柯萨科夫综合征”（Korsakoff Syndrome）是由于长期酗酒引起的一种病症，患有这种病症的患者的记忆也会有同样的问题。奥利弗·萨克斯（Oliver Sacks）曾著有《错把妻子当帽子》（The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat）一书，他在书里写过一个名叫吉米·G.（Jimmie G.）的人，吉米在二战结束之后就不能形成新的记忆了，尽管生活在20世纪80年代初期，他却仍然以为现在还是1945年。他每次照镜子时都会十分诧异，因为他仍然以为自己还是二十多岁、年轻健硕。而过度饮酒的一个好处便是可以在醉意中觉得自己变得年轻，当然，只要你远离镜子。
---“学者综合征”（Savant Syndrome），其患者具有十分强大的记忆力，但是在其他方面会有缺陷。金·皮克（Kim Peek）是这一症状的典型病例，他就是电影《雨人》的原型。
---“轨迹记忆法”是一种每个人都可以学习的技巧，并不一定是“联觉者”所特有的，但是恐怕在这一技巧的运用上，很少有人能达到舍雷舍夫斯基的水平。轨迹记忆法实际上是走神，或者大脑漫游的一种实际应用，只是这种走神是被大脑所控制的。据古罗马哲学家、文学家西塞罗（Cicero）的记载，这种方法是由一位名叫西蒙尼戴斯（Simonides）的希腊诗人发现的。一次宴会上，西蒙尼戴斯正在为一群有钱的贵族表演时，突然被两个神秘的人物叫到了外面，这两人正是奥林匹斯山之神卡斯托和波拉克斯的信使。他刚离开，宴会厅的屋顶就发生了垮塌，里面的人无一幸免。贵族们的尸体血肉模糊，难以分辨，还是西蒙尼戴斯过来一一指出每个贵族就座的位置，才能分辨出他们的身份。基于这个故事，据说古希腊和罗马的演说家们都使用轨迹记忆法来背诵他们的演讲稿。
---海马体对于精神时间之旅——我们在时间轴上穿梭过去未来的能力——来说至关重要。或许你还记得，在第二章里我们曾介绍过遗忘症病患亨利·莫莱森、K.C.和克莱夫·威尔林的案例，他们的共同特征在于海马组织的严重损伤。黛博拉·威尔林在一部关于克莱夫·威尔林的著作中记录了观看他脑部扫描的经历，其间写道：“他们发现克莱夫的问题之后开始给他注射抗病毒药物，曾经保存记忆的位置现在只剩下海马状的伤疤。”
当人们精神上漫步于过去和未来的时候，在整个系统中心引领方向的就是海马体。在前面的章节里我曾提到过类似《妙探寻凶》游戏的实验，让受试者回忆生命中的100个事件，然后重新编排事件中的人物、器具和场所，让长期承受实验折磨的参与者们根据这些新的安排设想未来的情况。
海马体是这一网络的中央车站，与网络内的其他区域相互连接，包括上部的皮层区和下部的情感区。它是所谓的“时间意识”或者人们知道自己身处时间轴何处背后的原因。说来奇怪，虽然海马体有损伤的人们似乎迷失在时间里，被困于当下，但对于自己未曾参与的时间里所发生的事件，他们却仍能回答相关问题——比如戴安娜王妃何时去世，又或者下一次医学界的重大突破会何时发生。海马体的职责似乎就是处理私事——个人事件的记录、检索以及个人计划的制订。
海马体似乎是个具备前瞻性的结构，前端（前部）更关注未来，后端（后部）则关注过去。在我们《妙探寻凶》的研究里，当人们在构想未来情景后被要求记住这些内容的时候，常常是海马体的两端都处于被激活状态。也就是说，想象中的场景和真实发生的事件被记忆的方式是一样的。
---任何粒子，只要曾经互动过，就会彼此纠缠，甚至于分开之后，这种纠缠也会继续，对其中一个粒子的观测会影响到与它纠缠的另一个粒子的反应。无论这两个粒子距离多远，这种纠缠都仍然成立，且这种纠缠是它们之间任何的物理信号都不能描述的。我们认为这样的“纠缠”同样适用于人类，尤其适用于那些现在或过去有着千丝万缕联系的人，比如情侣之间或者伴侣之间，这种纠缠可以解释超感知觉的存在。
---哲学家丹尼尔·丹尼特（Daniel Dennett）把读心称作“意向立场”，意思是我们会认为人们是“故意”做一些事的。“意向立场”这个概念在这里的应用很宽泛，并不局限于故意地采取某种方式。它还包含其他的主观状��，如信念、渴望、想法、希望、恐惧、担忧，等等。根据意向立场理论，我们同他人交往时，主要是依据我们所认为的他人的想法，而不是依据他人的身体素质——虽然从我早期在橄榄球场上和恋爱中的经历来看，身体素质也是有点儿参考价值的。当你在昏暗的小巷里碰见一��陌生人，通过观察对方的表情，意向立场可能会部分地决定你的反应，但是也有可能通过判断对方的块头有多大，所谓的“体质立场”可能也会参与决定你的反应。
--狗是从狼进化而来的，而狼却不会有这样的表现，可见狗可以理解人想法的关键在于狗经历了驯化过程。
另一种同样没有受到人类影响而经历驯化的动物就是倭黑猩猩——黑猩猩的近亲，和黑猩猩一样同人类具有紧密的亲缘关系。但是从性格上看，倭黑猩猩和黑猩猩是完全不同的。黑猩猩侵略性强、争强好胜，公猩猩经常攻击母猩猩和幼小的黑猩猩，而倭黑猩猩则友善团结、彼此关爱、善于分享。它们利用交配代替争斗来解决争端。遗憾的是，由于野生动物贸易猖獗，倭黑猩猩几乎在刚果盆地绝种，幸好后来成立了洛拉亚倭黑猩猩保护区，又称为“倭黑猩猩的天堂”，倭黑猩猩才获得了应有的保护。奇怪的是，动物在被不断驯化的过程中似乎大脑也变得越来越小。和差不多体积的狼相比，狗的大脑尺寸要小，而与黑猩猩相比，倭黑猩猩的大脑尺寸也小[9]些。同样，就尺寸而言，我们人的大脑也要略微小于目前已经灭绝的尼安德特人的大脑（Homo Neander-thalensis，现代欧洲人祖先的近亲）。
--REM睡眠始于胚胎阶段，在胚胎3个月时达到顶峰，那时的胚胎一直处于REM睡眠中，但是胚胎的梦境不具有任何现实世界的意义。稍后，在胎儿出生之前，NREM睡眠阶段和清醒阶段开始出现，与REM阶段一起形成循环。出生之后，婴儿分别处于三个阶段的时间是均等的，随着婴儿成长，REM睡眠阶段也在逐渐地缩短，最后固定在每晚1.5小时左右，我们生命的大部分时间里，每晚的REM睡眠时长都是1.5小时——大概就是我们看场电影的时间。但是，梦境本身在人的一生中发生的变化很小。学龄前儿童也做梦，不过他们的梦境比较简单、静态、没有情绪，做梦人也不会参与其中。有些孩子有夜惊症，但这并不是由做噩梦引起的，而是由不正确的叫醒方式引起的。大卫·福克斯（David Foulkes）发现当处于REM睡眠阶段下被唤醒时，7岁以下的孩子觉得自己只有20%的时间在做梦，而成人却达到80%或90%。梦境也许和精神时间旅行是平行发展的。正如之前解释过的，直到4岁，一个孩子才能在思想中脱离现实，在头脑中产生自己处于其他地点、其他时间的一些连贯的场景画面。在7岁左右，梦境开始具备叙事的性质，包含可以移动的主人公，做梦者自己也参与进来。
REM睡眠阶段并不是只产生梦境，这一阶段在调节体温方面也起到了至关重要的作用。鸟类和哺乳动物都是恒温动物，它们的体温都是由自身控制的，然而它们体内的温控系统则完全依赖于足够的REM睡眠。如果不让老鼠睡觉，哪怕仅仅剥夺它们的REM睡眠部分，它们也会全部死于新陈代谢和体温调节紊乱。这表明了REM梦境只是REM睡眠的附带功能，相当于副产品，本身并不重要。这些梦只是我们额外的收获，正如汽车销售员想要卖掉的是车，而不介意搭上一套车载音响。尽管如此，人们还是孜孜不倦地探求梦境中所充斥的半随机的、纷乱的影像和感觉背后的含义，丝毫不理会这就和探求茶叶的形态和星座排列的方式一样——意义不大。
---瑞文苏的理论促进了大规模的梦境研究，专家们从世界各地收集各种梦，其中2/3至3/4的梦包含威胁性事件，这个比例要远远高于我们白天生活中所遇到的威胁的比例，而梦中所经历的威胁也要严重得多。和生活平静的人相比，那些在真实生活中饱受威胁和创伤的人会在梦中经历更多的威胁。一项研究对比了不同国家的梦，结果显示芬兰儿童的梦威胁率最低，只有40%左右。据进行这项研究的专家反映，在所有被调查的儿童中，芬兰儿童的生活环境最为稳定、平静——他们可能都没听过恐怖故事。而反面的极端则是饱经战争创伤的库尔德儿童，他们经历的威胁梦的比例竟达到80%左右。
---幻觉常常产生于正常的感觉输入停止或减少的时候，就好像在真实世界被关闭的时候大脑创造了一个虚拟的世界一样，比如你晚上做梦的时候，你的大脑就是这么做的。感觉剥夺的形式之一是失明，失去视力的人常常会产生视幻觉。这对所谓的邦纳症候群（Charles Bonnet syndrome）患者来说是一种补偿。这种症状是以瑞士自然博物学家查尔斯·邦纳命名的，他对视觉衰退的祖父查尔斯·卢林所看到的“景象”非常感兴趣，因为这些幻觉非常绚丽华美。
--获取幻觉的最快方式是服用致幻药物，正如奥利佛·萨克斯所说的——“超越需求”。人类与致幻药物的关系如此亲密，以至于我们已经和差不多100种含有精神活性物质的植物建立起了共生关系。似乎植物需要我们就好像我们需要它们一样，而与致幻性相比，我们对其产生的愉悦感的需求要更加强烈，虽然我们不应该把一切都归功于这些植物的存在。有些植物能够释放作用于精神的活性剂来阻止捕食者，或者诱使其他动物吃掉自己的果实借此将种子散播出去。我们人类更是借助这些植物，合成了新的致幻剂。
在19世纪90年代，西方人发现了佩奥特掌，一种具有致幻性的仙人掌又称麦司卡林（mescal），5000多年来被美洲印第安人用于宗教仪式或作为药物。美国著名医师塞拉斯·韦尔·米切尔（Silas Weir Mitchell）曾描述过它的效果。他曾服用过一剂，之后在漆黑一片的房间里安定下来，闭上眼睛，体验“魔法般的两小时”。其间，他看到了鲜艳的颜色和光线的排列，一块灰色的石头不断长高最后变成了一座精致的哥特式大教堂，成群的巨型宝石又或许是彩色的水果——“相比之下，我以往所看到的一切颜色都黯淡无光。”
--在广泛地研究了与创造性认知相关的脑成像数据之后，雷克斯·荣格（Rex Jung）和他的同事们得出结论：作为“第一近似值”，创造力依赖思想漫游的最关键机制——默认模式网络。创造力的源泉很大程度上可能存在于无处不在的大脑网络中，我们的思想漫游得越远，
正是通过漫游，无论是身体的还是思想的，我们将随机性引入到我们的生活里，从而发现了新的事物，所以当威廉·华兹华斯在英格兰东北部的湖区漫步时，才能收获许多诗歌的灵感。
---我们不能漏掉酒精——酒精可能是被最广泛禁止的影响神经的药物了，但在很多方面，酒精都是最危险的。酒精是温斯顿·丘吉尔和富兰克林·罗斯福的首选致幻剂，同时也是很多作家的创作灵感来源——包括杜鲁门·卡波特、约翰·契弗、欧内斯特·海明威、威廉·福克纳、詹姆斯·乔伊斯、杰克·凯鲁亚克、多萝西·帕克、狄兰·托马斯。在她的小说《瓶中美人》中，西尔维娅·普拉斯写道：“我开始觉得伏特加是我最喜欢的酒。它没什么独特味道，但是它就像吞剑表演者口中的那把利剑，直冲我的胃肠，使我觉得充满力量，像上帝一般。”奥格登·纳什的表达更简洁：“糖果，不错；但酒精，简直妙极。”
Over all this is still a book talking about brain function, except, on the contrary to "focus", mind wandering is also a relaxing way of creativity according to the author.
我们的生活离不开走神。在走神时，我们可以进行思想的时间旅行——我们的思想在时间里来回漫游，不仅可以在过去经历的基础上畅想未来，还可以形成关于自身存在意义的持续性的观念。走神赋予我们进入别人思想的能力，增强了我们对他人和社会的理解。通过走神，我们得以发明创造、讲述故事、开阔视野。无论是像华兹华斯那样如一片云般独自游走，还是像爱因斯坦一样想象自己乘着光束旅行，走神都为我们的创造力提供了助力。
---走神可以是有意识的，比如我们会刻意地回忆以前的事情，或者规划未来可能会做的事情。走神也可以是无意识的，我们会做梦、会幻想，这些事情不受大脑控制。有时，走神介于有意识和无意识之间，例如我们会为特定的目的展开想象——也许为了刻意考虑某些进退两难的局面，也许是为解开复杂的拼字游戏中的一个谜题——但在此期间其他的想法也会不期而至。就像美国喜剧表演大师史蒂夫·赖特（Steven Wright）所说的：“我想专心做白日梦，可总是走神！”
--记忆的第三层是关于我们生活中特定事件的记忆，这一层被大家称作情景记忆。正是在情景记忆中我们才会用到“记起”这个词，而“记起”这个动作本身就是大脑走神的一种形式。上文所说的知识是一种基本稳定且能为我们提供信息的系统，“记起”的内容和知识不同，它更像是过去的动态情景重现。由于我们记得的事情基本上都很主观，因此这些事情就组成了我们所理解的“自我”。我们所知道的大部分事实都是和别人共享的、一致的，可是我们的情景记忆却是各不相同的。
--“柯萨科夫综合征”（Korsakoff Syndrome）是由于长期酗酒引起的一种病症，患有这种病症的患者的记忆也会有同样的问题。奥利弗·萨克斯（Oliver Sacks）曾著有《错把妻子当帽子》（The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat）一书，他在书里写过一个名叫吉米·G.（Jimmie G.）的人，吉米在二战结束之后就不能形成新的记忆了，尽管生活在20世纪80年代初期，他却仍然以为现在还是1945年。他每次照镜子时都会十分诧异，因为他仍然以为自己还是二十多岁、年轻健硕。而过度饮酒的一个好处便是可以在醉意中觉得自己变得年轻，当然，只要你远离镜子。
---“学者综合征”（Savant Syndrome），其患者具有十分强大的记忆力，但是在其他方面会有缺陷。金·皮克（Kim Peek）是这一症状的典型病例，他就是电影《雨人》的原型。
---“轨迹记忆法”是一种每个人都可以学习的技巧，并不一定是“联觉者”所特有的，但是恐怕在这一技巧的运用上，很少有人能达到舍雷舍夫斯基的水平。轨迹记忆法实际上是走神，或者大脑漫游的一种实际应用，只是这种走神是被大脑所控制的。据古罗马哲学家、文学家西塞罗（Cicero）的记载，这种方法是由一位名叫西蒙尼戴斯（Simonides）的希腊诗人发现的。一次宴会上，西蒙尼戴斯正在为一群有钱的贵族表演时，突然被两个神秘的人物叫到了外面，这两人正是奥林匹斯山之神卡斯托和波拉克斯的信使。他刚离开，宴会厅的屋顶就发生了垮塌，里面的人无一幸免。贵族们的尸体血肉模糊，难以分辨，还是西蒙尼戴斯过来一一指出每个贵族就座的位置，才能分辨出他们的身份。基于这个故事，据说古希腊和罗马的演说家们都使用轨迹记忆法来背诵他们的演讲稿。
---海马体对于精神时间之旅——我们在时间轴上穿梭过去未来的能力——来说至关重要。或许你还记得，在第二章里我们曾介绍过遗忘症病患亨利·莫莱森、K.C.和克莱夫·威尔林的案例，他们的共同特征在于海马组织的严重损伤。黛博拉·威尔林在一部关于克莱夫·威尔林的著作中记录了观看他脑部扫描的经历，其间写道：“他们发现克莱夫的问题之后开始给他注射抗病毒药物，曾经保存记忆的位置现在只剩下海马状的伤疤。”
当人们精神上漫步于过去和未来的时候，在整个系统中心引领方向的就是海马体。在前面的章节里我曾提到过类似《妙探寻凶》游戏的实验，让受试者回忆生命中的100个事件，然后重新编排事件中的人物、器具和场所，让长期承受实验折磨的参与者们根据这些新的安排设想未来的情况。
海马体是这一网络的中央车站，与网络内的其他区域相互连接，包括上部的皮层区和下部的情感区。它是所谓的“时间意识”或者人们知道自己身处时间轴何处背后的原因。说来奇怪，虽然海马体有损伤的人们似乎迷失在时间里，被困于当下，但对于自己未曾参与的时间里所发生的事件，他们却仍能回答相关问题——比如戴安娜王妃何时去世，又或者下一次医学界的重大突破会何时发生。海马体的职责似乎就是处理私事——个人事件的记录、检索以及个人计划的制订。
海马体似乎是个具备前瞻性的结构，前端（前部）更关注未来，后端（后部）则关注过去。在我们《妙探寻凶》的研究里，当人们在构想未来情景后被要求记住这些内容的时候，常常是海马体的两端都处于被激活状态。也就是说，想象中的场景和真实发生的事件被记忆的方式是一样的。
---任何粒子，只要曾经互动过，就会彼此纠缠，甚至于分开之后，这种纠缠也会继续，对其中一个粒子的观测会影响到与它纠缠的另一个粒子的反应。无论这两个粒子距离多远，这种纠缠都仍然成立，且这种纠缠是它们之间任何的物理信号都不能描述的。我们认为这样的“纠缠”同样适用于人类，尤其适用于那些现在或过去有着千丝万缕联系的人，比如情侣之间或者伴侣之间，这种纠缠可以解释超感知觉的存在。
---哲学家丹尼尔·丹尼特（Daniel Dennett）把读心称作“意向立场”，意思是我们会认为人们是“故意”做一些事的。“意向立场”这个概念在这里的应用很宽泛，并不局限于故意地采取某种方式。它还包含其他的主观状��，如信念、渴望、想法、希望、恐惧、担忧，等等。根据意向立场理论，我们同他人交往时，主要是依据我们所认为的他人的想法，而不是依据他人的身体素质——虽然从我早期在橄榄球场上和恋爱中的经历来看，身体素质也是有点儿参考价值的。当你在昏暗的小巷里碰见一��陌生人，通过观察对方的表情，意向立场可能会部分地决定你的反应，但是也有可能通过判断对方的块头有多大，所谓的“体质立场”可能也会参与决定你的反应。
--狗是从狼进化而来的，而狼却不会有这样的表现，可见狗可以理解人想法的关键在于狗经历了驯化过程。
另一种同样没有受到人类影响而经历驯化的动物就是倭黑猩猩——黑猩猩的近亲，和黑猩猩一样同人类具有紧密的亲缘关系。但是从性格上看，倭黑猩猩和黑猩猩是完全不同的。黑猩猩侵略性强、争强好胜，公猩猩经常攻击母猩猩和幼小的黑猩猩，而倭黑猩猩则友善团结、彼此关爱、善于分享。它们利用交配代替争斗来解决争端。遗憾的是，由于野生动物贸易猖獗，倭黑猩猩几乎在刚果盆地绝种，幸好后来成立了洛拉亚倭黑猩猩保护区，又称为“倭黑猩猩的天堂”，倭黑猩猩才获得了应有的保护。奇怪的是，动物在被不断驯化的过程中似乎大脑也变得越来越小。和差不多体积的狼相比，狗的大脑尺寸要小，而与黑猩猩相比，倭黑猩猩的大脑尺寸也小[9]些。同样，就尺寸而言，我们人的大脑也要略微小于目前已经灭绝的尼安德特人的大脑（Homo Neander-thalensis，现代欧洲人祖先的近亲）。
--REM睡眠始于胚胎阶段，在胚胎3个月时达到顶峰，那时的胚胎一直处于REM睡眠中，但是胚胎的梦境不具有任何现实世界的意义。稍后，在胎儿出生之前，NREM睡眠阶段和清醒阶段开始出现，与REM阶段一起形成循环。出生之后，婴儿分别处于三个阶段的时间是均等的，随着婴儿成长，REM睡眠阶段也在逐渐地缩短，最后固定在每晚1.5小时左右，我们生命的大部分时间里，每晚的REM睡眠时长都是1.5小时——大概就是我们看场电影的时间。但是，梦境本身在人的一生中发生的变化很小。学龄前儿童也做梦，不过他们的梦境比较简单、静态、没有情绪，做梦人也不会参与其中。有些孩子有夜惊症，但这并不是由做噩梦引起的，而是由不正确的叫醒方式引起的。大卫·福克斯（David Foulkes）发现当处于REM睡眠阶段下被唤醒时，7岁以下的孩子觉得自己只有20%的时间在做梦，而成人却达到80%或90%。梦境也许和精神时间旅行是平行发展的。正如之前解释过的，直到4岁，一个孩子才能在思想中脱离现实，在头脑中产生自己处于其他地点、其他时间的一些连贯的场景画面。在7岁左右，梦境开始具备叙事的性质，包含可以移动的主人公，做梦者自己也参与进来。
REM睡眠阶段并不是只产生梦境，这一阶段在调节体温方面也起到了至关重要的作用。鸟类和哺乳动物都是恒温动物，它们的体温都是由自身控制的，然而它们体内的温控系统则完全依赖于足够的REM睡眠。如果不让老鼠睡觉，哪怕仅仅剥夺它们的REM睡眠部分，它们也会全部死于新陈代谢和体温调节紊乱。这表明了REM梦境只是REM睡眠的附带功能，相当于副产品，本身并不重要。这些梦只是我们额外的收获，正如汽车销售员想要卖掉的是车，而不介意搭上一套车载音响。尽管如此，人们还是孜孜不倦地探求梦境中所充斥的半随机的、纷乱的影像和感觉背后的含义，丝毫不理会这就和探求茶叶的形态和星座排列的方式一样——意义不大。
---瑞文苏的理论促进了大规模的梦境研究，专家们从世界各地收集各种梦，其中2/3至3/4的梦包含威胁性事件，这个比例要远远高于我们白天生活中所遇到的威胁的比例，而梦中所经历的威胁也要严重得多。和生活平静的人相比，那些在真实生活中饱受威胁和创伤的人会在梦中经历更多的威胁。一项研究对比了不同国家的梦，结果显示芬兰儿童的梦威胁率最低，只有40%左右。据进行这项研究的专家反映，在所有被调查的儿童中，芬兰儿童的生活环境最为稳定、平静——他们可能都没听过恐怖故事。而反面的极端则是饱经战争创伤的库尔德儿童，他们经历的威胁梦的比例竟达到80%左右。
---幻觉常常产生于正常的感觉输入停止或减少的时候，就好像在真实世界被关闭的时候大脑创造了一个虚拟的世界一样，比如你晚上做梦的时候，你的大脑就是这么做的。感觉剥夺的形式之一是失明，失去视力的人常常会产生视幻觉。这对所谓的邦纳症候群（Charles Bonnet syndrome）患者来说是一种补偿。这种症状是以瑞士自然博物学家查尔斯·邦纳命名的，他对视觉衰退的祖父查尔斯·卢林所看到的“景象”非常感兴趣，因为这些幻觉非常绚丽华美。
--获取幻觉的最快方式是服用致幻药物，正如奥利佛·萨克斯所说的——“超越需求”。人类与致幻药物的关系如此亲密，以至于我们已经和差不多100种含有精神活性物质的植物建立起了共生关系。似乎植物需要我们就好像我们需要它们一样，而与致幻性相比，我们对其产生的愉悦感的需求要更加强烈，虽然我们不应该把一切都归功于这些植物的存在。有些植物能够释放作用于精神的活性剂来阻止捕食者，或者诱使其他动物吃掉自己的果实借此将种子散播出去。我们人类更是借助这些植物，合成了新的致幻剂。
在19世纪90年代，西方人发现了佩奥特掌，一种具有致幻性的仙人掌又称麦司卡林（mescal），5000多年来被美洲印第安人用于宗教仪式或作为药物。美国著名医师塞拉斯·韦尔·米切尔（Silas Weir Mitchell）曾描述过它的效果。他曾服用过一剂，之后在漆黑一片的房间里安定下来，闭上眼睛，体验“魔法般的两小时”。其间，他看到了鲜艳的颜色和光线的排列，一块灰色的石头不断长高最后变成了一座精致的哥特式大教堂，成群的巨型宝石又或许是彩色的水果——“相比之下，我以往所看到的一切颜色都黯淡无光。”
--在广泛地研究了与创造性认知相关的脑成像数据之后，雷克斯·荣格（Rex Jung）和他的同事们得出结论：作为“第一近似值”，创造力依赖思想漫游的最关键机制——默认模式网络。创造力的源泉很大程度上可能存在于无处不在的大脑网络中，我们的思想漫游得越远，
正是通过漫游，无论是身体的还是思想的，我们将随机性引入到我们的生活里，从而发现了新的事物，所以当威廉·华兹华斯在英格兰东北部的湖区漫步时，才能收获许多诗歌的灵感。
---我们不能漏掉酒精——酒精可能是被最广泛禁止的影响神经的药物了，但在很多方面，酒精都是最危险的。酒精是温斯顿·丘吉尔和富兰克林·罗斯福的首选致幻剂，同时也是很多作家的创作灵感来源——包括杜鲁门·卡波特、约翰·契弗、欧内斯特·海明威、威廉·福克纳、詹姆斯·乔伊斯、杰克·凯鲁亚克、多萝西·帕克、狄兰·托马斯。在她的小说《瓶中美人》中，西尔维娅·普拉斯写道：“我开始觉得伏特加是我最喜欢的酒。它没什么独特味道，但是它就像吞剑表演者口中的那把利剑，直冲我的胃肠，使我觉得充满力量，像上帝一般。”奥格登·纳什的表达更简洁：“糖果，不错；但酒精，简直妙极。”
September 6, 2020
This book is not quite as advertised. The author wanders into telekinesis, false memories, super memories and other brain-related topics. I expected a treatise on exactly why and where our minds wander.
That being said, some of the case histories are interesting. I particularly enjoyed reading about Henry Molaison who underwent surgery to treat his epilepsy. As a result, he lost the ability to record personal memories, but retained a high IQ.
As interested as I am in the study of human nature and finding out why we do what we do, I truly wish the army of scientists would experiment on one another and not on animals. Is it important to map the brains of rats? I vote “no”.
That being said, some of the case histories are interesting. I particularly enjoyed reading about Henry Molaison who underwent surgery to treat his epilepsy. As a result, he lost the ability to record personal memories, but retained a high IQ.
As interested as I am in the study of human nature and finding out why we do what we do, I truly wish the army of scientists would experiment on one another and not on animals. Is it important to map the brains of rats? I vote “no”.
June 26, 2023
Enjoyed the casual and charming tone of this book, and it helped me to give myself more grace for mind wandering (I now understand it is a much more important activity than I'd previously realised). This led me to help myself identify and detach from some of the guilt and shame around mind wandering.
Lots of helpful and interesting anecdotes but as other reviewers have said, sometimes I found discussion a bit surface level and craved to go a little deeper. I also think certain topics could be much better cited as they currently come across as opinion rather than scientific argument.
Overall, an easy but helpful read that I'm glad I came across.
3 stars
Lots of helpful and interesting anecdotes but as other reviewers have said, sometimes I found discussion a bit surface level and craved to go a little deeper. I also think certain topics could be much better cited as they currently come across as opinion rather than scientific argument.
Overall, an easy but helpful read that I'm glad I came across.
3 stars
February 23, 2022
Molto interessante e ben argomentato. L'autore analizza in breve tutti i principali modi in cui la nostra mente "vaga" (ricordando eventi passati, immaginando eventi futuri, sognando, cercando di capire cosa pensano gli altri, e altro ancora), allo scopo di scoprire il motivo per cui abbiamo questa capacità e quale potrebbe essere la sua eventuale utilità.
Alcune divagazioni le ho trovate piuttosto evitabili (mi riferisco ad esempio ai commenti personali sulle religioni), ma si tratta pur sempre di divagazioni, e quindi in linea con l'argomento trattato. Perciò va bene così.
Alcune divagazioni le ho trovate piuttosto evitabili (mi riferisco ad esempio ai commenti personali sulle religioni), ma si tratta pur sempre di divagazioni, e quindi in linea con l'argomento trattato. Perciò va bene così.
December 14, 2023
I found this book very interesting to read, it was easy to smile at times with the practical references and jokes. I wouldn’t say it came short, but it left me wanting to read more on how our minds work…even when we’re not looking.
The Wandering Mind: What the Brain Does When You're Not Looking
The Wandering Mind: What the Brain Does When You're Not Looking
December 20, 2020
Minu jaoks läks liiga uitama. St meel ja inimeseks olemine, mälu, unenäod, hallutsinogeenid. Pisut selle kõige all olevat rassismi ja male-default kirjutamist ja kokku saigi selline kiirelt loetav, aga suhteliselt meh raamat.
December 2, 2025
The book title is spot on. It feels like a culmination of wandering ideas without any real depth. However, I enjoyed the sections “Hippo in the Brain” and “Creativity of the Wandering Mind.” Pretty alright stuff there.
January 26, 2018
things I learnt from this book:
1. let your mind wander
2. don't do drugs (your brain is capable in doing things that drugs do, without the addicting part).
3. steve jobs did drugs
1. let your mind wander
2. don't do drugs (your brain is capable in doing things that drugs do, without the addicting part).
3. steve jobs did drugs
December 31, 2018
Easy to read popular science. A good introduction to sleep, sense of time etc. A bit too light for me, too little new information or surprises.
October 14, 2020
Gave this a shot after reading the recursive mind. I remember enjoying it, but it did not have the staying power of the previously mentioned book.
February 17, 2021
Struggled to get through it. More a history book then science.
April 18, 2021
non-exacting but interesting book, gave me some food for tought
June 15, 2022
Cool book
April 4, 2020
LA MENTE CHE VAGA è un saggio del neuroscienziato Michael C. Corballis che indaga la tendenza biologica dell’essere umano a…divagare!
Ebbene sì, se anche voi vi siete sentiti in colpa quando al lavoro non avete seguito la riunione o a scuola non avete seguito la lezione…beh, questo è il libro che fa per voi.
Con uno stile semplice e colloquiale, con cui veicola temi altrimenti altamente specialistici, Corballis affronta il tema della divagazione mentale analizzandola da diversi punti di vista: la memoria e l’importanza dei ricordi nella formulazione di piani mentali per il futuro; la teoria della mente, ovvero la capacità di sapere e intuire che cosa passi nella mente degli altri; il linguaggio in quanto peculiarità dell’uomo e strumento di condivisione; il sogno nelle sue peculiarità REM e NREM fino al tema delle allucinazioni, che tanti hanno cercato in alcool e oppio per risvegliare la propria creatività.
Alternando passaggi più teorici ad altri più episodici e curiosi, Corballis compie un interessante excursus all’interno della mente dell’essere umano e spiega alcuni dei funzionamenti del nostro cervello, strumento affascinante e complesso che non smette di stupirci.
[per la recensione completa, dai un'occhiata al mio blog: https://areadersblog.altervista.org/l...]
Ebbene sì, se anche voi vi siete sentiti in colpa quando al lavoro non avete seguito la riunione o a scuola non avete seguito la lezione…beh, questo è il libro che fa per voi.
Con uno stile semplice e colloquiale, con cui veicola temi altrimenti altamente specialistici, Corballis affronta il tema della divagazione mentale analizzandola da diversi punti di vista: la memoria e l’importanza dei ricordi nella formulazione di piani mentali per il futuro; la teoria della mente, ovvero la capacità di sapere e intuire che cosa passi nella mente degli altri; il linguaggio in quanto peculiarità dell’uomo e strumento di condivisione; il sogno nelle sue peculiarità REM e NREM fino al tema delle allucinazioni, che tanti hanno cercato in alcool e oppio per risvegliare la propria creatività.
Alternando passaggi più teorici ad altri più episodici e curiosi, Corballis compie un interessante excursus all’interno della mente dell’essere umano e spiega alcuni dei funzionamenti del nostro cervello, strumento affascinante e complesso che non smette di stupirci.
[per la recensione completa, dai un'occhiata al mio blog: https://areadersblog.altervista.org/l...]
April 4, 2019
There is something refreshing about a writer who has no qualms about creating a book of well-crafted sentences that meander from idea to idea without concern for direction. But for a non-fiction book, I would have appreciated more content and less wandering.
February 23, 2017
I hate when I read a book I think is going to be interesting and enlighten me and it just tells me things I already know. Felt like just one long tangent only loosely based on actual mind wandering and not remotely "full of unusual examples and surprising discoveries." It was more just a book on ANYTHING your mind does (too much about ESP, hallucinations, dreams, etc) and not until the last chapter did we get into the creativity of the wandering mind and at that point I didn't care! He also explained things tediously that didn't really need explaining as though I was reading a college essay with a word count. Like the definition of playing? Or quoting Beyoncé and not in a clever or funny way? Who'd he think he was writing this book for? And why was this in the notable section at B&N?
June 20, 2017
I enjoyed this book and learned a lot. The author was funny, which is always an added bonus. However, I feel that it was a bit misleading in that it didn't really get into why it's GOOD that we wander - it was more about types of wandering. While I did very much enjoy it, I'm left wanting more.
October 12, 2022
Cognitive scientist Michael Corballis died last year, leaving the world without an intriguing and humane mind. This collection of loosely-linked chapters is not his best work but well-worth the 2-3 hours of your time it requires. He explores the variety of ways in which the mind can profitably wander, empowering a liberated mind at a time when the social (and social media) world is pushing for the narrow and constrained.
June 11, 2015
For me, the book didn't deliver on the title/subtitle and I yearned to learn more about our minds when we are not cognitively busy. Some of the anecdotes were interesting, but, to me, didn't really apply to the topic of that chapter. That said, it was engaging and the author's humorous asides made it worth reading.
February 8, 2016
Some examples used in this book are also used in "The Power of Habit", and yet are presented less captivatingly. After all, the book is more about how our brain works and research/experiments supporting the author's points, rather than about emphasizing the power of the wandering mind, a message promised by the author.
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April 19, 2015Huvitav kiire lugemine, osa oli varem tuttav ka või tundus niisama mõistlikuna, aga päev hiljem pole nagu suurt midagi meeles. Ju siis väga õnnestunud uitlugemine.
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