Scientist Say a Wandering Mind Causes Sadness
November 12th, 2010 - 10:19 pm ICT by Angela Kaye MasonNov 12 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Some say that mental focus is the key to success, but new research shows that it may also be the road to happiness. CBS reports that according to this new study, having a mind which wanders leads to overall sadness.
Animal minds, not like human minds, are focuses, and not inclined to stray from a goal. People, on the other hand, tend to spend up to forty-seven percent of their day with their mind strayed away from what they are actually doing. This seems to have a very adverse effect on the emotional well-being.
The authors of the study, Matthew A. Killingsworth, a doctoral student in psychology at Harvard and Daniel T. Gilbert, a Harvard psychology professor, stated “A human mind is a wandering mind, and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind. The ability to think about what is not happening is a cognitive achievement that comes at an emotional cost.”
People seemed to be the happiest when making love, exercising, and engaging in conversation. They were the saddest while working, using a home computer, or resting. The tendency to let the mind wander leads to worry, and worry, as they say, is interest paid in advance on a debt that may never come due.
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Tags: adverse effect, animal minds, cbs, cbs reports, cognitive achievement, doctoral student, emotional cost, harvard psychology, home computer, killingsworth, making love, mental focus, psychology professor, road to happiness, sadness, scientist, tendency, wandering mind