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Daydreaming is not slacking off. It’s key to creativity and innovation

48 points by JSeymourATL 4y ago

bingohbangoh 4y ago
Anecdotal but I daydream a whole lot less now in my late 20s than I did in my teens. I wonder if part of that is because I could only _dream_ about doing certain things but now I have the money and ability to actually fulfill them.
samstave 4y ago
My failure was that I would daydream some of the most amazing things, but without writing them down - they become ephemeral and I forget what I was designing in my head. It is said about Tesla - that he had such an incredible imagination that he could do fully complete design and engineering all in his head. I think that computers have stolen a lot of our ability to imagine complex and large projects. Look at all the great works of engineering and architecture that were done for thousands of years prior to the computer ; I think that the imagination and memory of all past generations were way stronger than ours are today.
- LoganDark 4y ago
  > It is said about Tesla - that he had such an incredible imagination that he could do fully complete design and engineering all in his head. > I think that computers have stolen a lot of our ability to imagine complex and large projects. Look at all the great works of engineering and architecture that were done for thousands of years prior to the computer ; I think that the imagination and memory of all past generations were way stronger than ours are today. It's possible that a lot of history's best engineers and inventors were neurodivergent. It is theorized that Einstein could have been autistic, for example, but there was no testing for that back in his day, so we will never know for sure. If these traits were actually neurodivergent qualities then it makes sense that you would rarely see them in neurotypicals.
labrador 4y ago
It can be good if I don't take it too far, which I often do and get lost in reverie ‘Daydreaming Is So Important To Me’: How David Lynch Fishes For Ideas https://artreview.com/daydreaming-is-so-important-to-me-how-david-lynch-fishes-for-ideas/ https://artreview.com/daydreaming-is-so-important-to-me-how-... Overactive imagination? You might have a fantasy prone personality type https://metro.co.uk/2020/09/11/overactive-imagination-you-might-have-a-fantasy-prone-personality-type-13247464/ https://metro.co.uk/2020/09/11/overactive-imagination-you-mi...
jmpman 4y ago
I find myself daydreaming as an escape mechanism. Most of my best inventions of suddenly emerged from those sessions. Typically during corporate all hands meetings where you were forced to attend in person. The sound of a self important executive droning on about something (no idea what) was enough to bring out the Walter Mitty in me.
Beaver117 4y ago
I had so many extravagant, creative, sometimes insane daydreams as a kid up until age 13 or so. Then the school system shut all those down. As an adult I have basically no creativity.
- justsomehnguy 4y ago
  I'm almost don't have memories of middle and high school. I have memories of dullness and dreadfulnes of that time.
  - the_only_law 4y ago
    I do remember some of HS, mostly because I actually managed to have some fun my freshman and senior years, but I will say 10th grade in particular was a blur.
- musicale 4y ago
  1. Stop moving your body. 2. Stop having fun. 3. Stop thinking and learning on your own. Now, you are ready for a life of (and eventual death from) compliant, sedentary drudgery. On your tombstone it will read: he gave his life selflessly creating value for the shareholders.
blurbleblurble 4y ago
Then why don't you pay me?
vba616 4y ago
I'm not sure I agree, at least for me personally. If my mind is wandering while I'm trying to do something creative, I am definitely not being productive. I'm struggling. Even worse that a lack of inspiration is being stuck with conflicting demands. What frees my brain is doing something repetitive, that doesn't require higher thought. Manual labor or administrative drudgery is like a wellspring of ideas. Dull meetings (like boring classes) just make me sleepy or irritable.

48 points by JSeymourATL 4y ago

Anecdotal but I daydream a whole lot less now in my late 20s than I did in my teens. I wonder if part of that is because I could only _dream_ about doing certain things but now I have the money and ability to actually fulfill them.

samstave 4y ago

My failure was that I would daydream some of the most amazing things, but without writing them down - they become ephemeral and I forget what I was designing in my head. It is said about Tesla - that he had such an incredible imagination that he could do fully complete design and engineering all in his head. I think that computers have stolen a lot of our ability to imagine complex and large projects. Look at all the great works of engineering and architecture that were done for thousands of years prior to the computer ; I think that the imagination and memory of all past generations were way stronger than ours are today.

LoganDark 4y ago
> It is said about Tesla - that he had such an incredible imagination that he could do fully complete design and engineering all in his head. > I think that computers have stolen a lot of our ability to imagine complex and large projects. Look at all the great works of engineering and architecture that were done for thousands of years prior to the computer ; I think that the imagination and memory of all past generations were way stronger than ours are today. It's possible that a lot of history's best engineers and inventors were neurodivergent. It is theorized that Einstein could have been autistic, for example, but there was no testing for that back in his day, so we will never know for sure. If these traits were actually neurodivergent qualities then it makes sense that you would rarely see them in neurotypicals.

labrador 4y ago

It can be good if I don't take it too far, which I often do and get lost in reverie ‘Daydreaming Is So Important To Me’: How David Lynch Fishes For Ideas https://artreview.com/daydreaming-is-so-important-to-me-how-david-lynch-fishes-for-ideas/ https://artreview.com/daydreaming-is-so-important-to-me-how-... Overactive imagination? You might have a fantasy prone personality type https://metro.co.uk/2020/09/11/overactive-imagination-you-might-have-a-fantasy-prone-personality-type-13247464/ https://metro.co.uk/2020/09/11/overactive-imagination-you-mi...

jmpman 4y ago

I find myself daydreaming as an escape mechanism. Most of my best inventions of suddenly emerged from those sessions. Typically during corporate all hands meetings where you were forced to attend in person. The sound of a self important executive droning on about something (no idea what) was enough to bring out the Walter Mitty in me.

Beaver117 4y ago

I had so many extravagant, creative, sometimes insane daydreams as a kid up until age 13 or so. Then the school system shut all those down. As an adult I have basically no creativity.

justsomehnguy 4y ago
I'm almost don't have memories of middle and high school. I have memories of dullness and dreadfulnes of that time.
- the_only_law 4y ago
  I do remember some of HS, mostly because I actually managed to have some fun my freshman and senior years, but I will say 10th grade in particular was a blur.
musicale 4y ago
1. Stop moving your body. 2. Stop having fun. 3. Stop thinking and learning on your own. Now, you are ready for a life of (and eventual death from) compliant, sedentary drudgery. On your tombstone it will read: he gave his life selflessly creating value for the shareholders.

blurbleblurble 4y ago

Then why don't you pay me?

vba616 4y ago

I'm not sure I agree, at least for me personally. If my mind is wandering while I'm trying to do something creative, I am definitely not being productive. I'm struggling. Even worse that a lack of inspiration is being stuck with conflicting demands. What frees my brain is doing something repetitive, that doesn't require higher thought. Manual labor or administrative drudgery is like a wellspring of ideas. Dull meetings (like boring classes) just make me sleepy or irritable.