During yoga practice yesterday, the yogi suddenly exclaimed, “And it takes a couple of Harvard scientists to say it to make it true!” When asked to explain his outburst (during a particularly grueling Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana or revolved half moon pose which required full concentration and resulted in drips of perspiration falling from the tip of my inverted nose to my yoga mat), the (evidently quite well read) yogi referenced a recently reported study in the journal Science (1) which suggested that “people are thinking about what is not happening almost as often as they are thinking about what is and doing so typically makes them unhappy.” My yogi went on to explain that productivity and happiness stem from total concentration on the ongoing experience, or as he likes to say, “being in the moment”.
Indeed, this study by Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert of Harvard University reported the results from questioning 5000 people from 83 countries, ranging in age from 18 to 88 and representing 86 major occupational categories. They used a iPhone app called ‘trackyourhappiness’ which made 250,000 calls to individuals and asked them “How are you feeling right now” to which they could respond with a numerical answer from very bad (0) to very good (100). They also asked “What are you doing right now?” and “Are you thinking about something other than what you’re currently doing?”
46.9% of the people reported that they were not thinking about what they were doing, and no particular activity affected whether they were concentrating on what they were doing except having sex. Apparently, this activity demands full attention. As the author commented, “I find it kind of weird now to look down a crowded street and realize that half the people aren’t really there.” Mind wanderers were asked whether they were daydreaming about something pleasant, something neutral or something unpleasant. 42.5% of people reported dreaming pleasant thoughts, but their happiness score was not different from people who were not daydreaming. 57.5% of people were daydreaming about neutral or unpleasant topics, and their happiness scores were significantly lower than those whose minds were not wandering. To sort out whether unhappy people let their minds wander to unpleasant thoughts, or allowing one’s mind to wander to unpleasant thoughts made one unhappy, the scientists performed repeat calls to the same individuals and concluded that mind wandering was the cause, and not the consequence, of unhappiness.
Finally, the scientists concluded that what people were thinking was a better predictor of happiness than what people were doing (except those making love, of course). Although the top activities in the happiness scale were having sex, exercising, having conversation, playing, and listening to music, and the activities most correlated to unhappiness scores were resting, working, working on the home computer and commuting or traveling, the differences were much smaller than the differences between those concentrating on their activity and those allowing their minds to wander. Dr Gilbert summarized, “The heart goes where the head takes it, and neither cares much about the whereabouts of the feet.”
Scientists have known for a long time that human beings spend a lot of time thinking about what is not going on around them. This contemplation of past events and future activities or what may never happen at all is called “stimulus-independent thought” in the scientific literature, and this mind wandering is considered an important way that humans learn, plan and reason. But if one looks at traditional and religious teachings (and listens to my yogi) people are taught to “be in the moment” to achieve happiness. The famous yogi Ram Dass titled his book, “Be Here Now” and his website today still supports this mantra explaining, “Being fully present in each moment is the doorway to another consciousness”. William Buckley’s favorite saying “Industry is the enemy of melancholy” also agrees with this newest scientific study which appears to support this contention that a wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Another clear conclusion obtained from reading this study is that one should definitely turn off one’s iPhone before initiating any conjugal activities between the sheets.
1. Killingsworth, M.A., Gilbert, D.T. A Wandering Mind is an Unhappy Mind. Science. 330: 932. 2010.
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