I often think that a mind that wanders is a bit like the physical sensation of pain. In general, it is actually a very useful evolutionary advantage to experien

I often think that a mind that wanders is a bit like the physical sensation of pain. In general, it is actually a very useful evolutionary advantage to experience pain, as well as to have a mind that can contemplate multiple possibilities, past, future and hypothetical events. This makes us succeed. But at the same time, pain is also a bit primitive in that it is useless and counterproductive when you already know you're sick or injured. Similarly, a wandering mind that is out of control is basically the primary cause of depression. It might be the case that as we evolved, a wandering mind was extremely useful to wander about where to look for food or how to hunter gather better, etc, but perhaps the mechanism is less well-equipped to function properly in modern day society. All just conjecture of course, no clue if backed up by any evidence :-)