Category Archives: Explorations Outside the Box

Problem-Solving and Emotions

Explorations Outside the Box, Scientific Encounters

Problem-solving when we’re in a good mood tends to be quick, flexible, creative, and intuitive. Problem-solving when we’re in a bad mood tends to be information-based, detail-oriented, systematic, and cautious. Then there’s problem-solving when we’re on the rebound from feeling bad to feeling good – shifting from the negative to the positive: that’s when we’re especially creative and original in our approach and solutions. Each mode of problem-solving has its advantages and disadvantages; each works better in some situations than in others.

We need emotional breadth and dexterity to be effective problem-solvers.

References:

Bledow, R., Rosing, K., & Frese, M. (2012). A dynamic perspective on affect and creativity. Academy of Management Journal. Advance online publication. DOI:10.5465/amj.2010.0894

Spering, M., Wagener, D., & Funke, J. (2005). The role of emotions in complex problem-solving. Cognition and Emotion, 19, 1252_1261.

 

Wandering Thoughts are Exploring Thoughts

Explorations Outside the Box, Observing Mindfulness

The phrase “wandering thoughts” is interesting. Why not call the movement of thoughts “exploring thoughts”?  From the outside, exploration may look like wandering. From the outside, you can’t see direction; you can’t see what is being sought.  It’s all helter-skelter. The difference is that “exploring’ conveys intention or goal. As noted in prior posts, “stimulus-independent” thoughts are largely goal-directed and future oriented (Baird et al, 2011). When an observing part of the brain becomes aware of the activities of another part of the brain, the observing part may not grasp the latter’s business.

Reference:

Baird, B., Smallwood, J. Schooler, and J. W. Back to the future: Autobiographical planning and the functionality of mind-wandering. Consciousness and Cognition 20 (2011) 1604–1611

 

The Origin of Thinking

Explorations Outside the Box, Observing Mindfulness

…the origin of thinking is some perplexity, confusion, or doubt. Thinking is not a case of spontaneous combustion; it does not occur just on “general principles.” There is something specific which occasions and evokes it. (Dewey 2010, p 1)

…the content of mind-wandering is predominantly future-focused … [and] frequently involves autobiographical planning (Baird et al, 2011, p1604).

Dealing with “perplexity, confusion or doubt” may take the form of planning, problem-solving, rehearsing, re-playing prior interactions (to reduce uncertainty on how to interpret the experience; or to reinforce an initial impression) and rumination. Since dealing with unfinished business involves contemplation of something not yet in its ideal state, a certain amount of mild negativity may be part of the process.  For example, competent planning for just about anything requires consideration of what might go wrong. It stands to reason that when the mind is churning over unresolved issues, one’s  hedonic states will be somewhat less enjoyable than, say, a flow experience, where attention is buoyed by a challenging but doable activity. Not a tragedy.

References:

Dewey, John “What is thought?” Chapter 1 in How we think. Lexington, Mass: D.C. Heath, (1910): 1-13. https://www.brocku.ca/MeadProject/Dewey/Dewey_1910a/Dewey_1910_a.html

Baird, B., Smallwood, J. Schooler, and J. W. Back to the future: Autobiographical planning and the functionality of mind-wandering. Consciousness and Cognition 20 (2011) 1604–1611

Wandering Thoughts: Explorations in Problem Space

Explorations Outside the Box, Observing Mindfulness

When attention isn’t focused on the task at hand, cognitive resources are likely to be directed to unfinished business. Much of the time our so-called “wandering minds” are focused on unresolved business. Although “wandering” conveys an impression of thoughts adrift, unanchored and chaotic, it may be more accurate to view such thoughts as triggered by a sense of concern and seeking some resolution.  The Wandering Mind is the  Exploring Mind: exploring the problem space, a few moves at a time.

The Romantic Appeal of a Basic Income Guarantee

Explorations Outside the Box, Politics and Economics

I’ve often suspected that one of the appeals of a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) is the idea that in the ideal society, people would only do what they feel like doing and that people shouldn’t feel compelled to do something they didn’t feel like doing (a teenage boy utopia). For some, this ideal is about to be realized because work is about to go the way of the dinosaurs, thanks to robots.

Leaving aside the issue of whether work is actually facing extinction (which it isn’t – see, e.g., http://www.economist….­), think about what work is: an exchange relationship, in which both sides feel what they get is worth more than what they give. There are lots of things people wouldn’t do unless they got something in return (e.g., praise, respect, sex, the joy of complying with a cultural norm) and there is the myth of self-originating autonomous action, unfolding out of pure ebullience: a traditionalist view of things, steeped in the Old Europe of Rousseau and his fellow Romantics.

Imaginary Conversations and Happiness

Explorations Outside the Box, Observing Mindfulness

Imaginary conversations and scenarios are like the brain running through hypotheticals and counterfactuals, just in case. The imagined events may never happen but something like them may and the process of playing them out in the brain is a kind of problem-solving exercise that can sharpen one’s readiness for whatever may come one’s way. Even though these imaginary events are often fueled by a vague sense of potential threat, that doesn’t mean one’s underlying anxiety or stress level is excessive. Alertness to the possibility of undesirable things happening may cause an uptick in cortisol. Not to mention a downtick on the happy-ometer. So what?

Wallowing in the Muck – Part II

Explorations Outside the Box

We replay moments of accomplishment in our heads to feel something – a sense of pride, confidence, or optimism. That feeling is expansive and diffuse. We also replay bad experiences but even if the motivation if partly to re-experience the emotion, there seems to be something else driving the impulse to go over and over the bad thing that happened. Something is wrong and we’re dwelling on the problem, sometimes just staring at it with a sense of helplessness but not yet willing to move on. Some of us finally get tired of it and shift into problem-solving mode. Others stay stuck.

We may not want to forget because we think remembering the bad stuff prepares us emotionally for the shit that is yet to come. You don’t fall far when you’re already on the ground. Hope can be dangerous, especially when it encourages exploratory approach behavior in a hostile or rejecting world. This may or may not be a valid concern, depending.

Wallowing in the Muck: Pros and Cons

Explorations Outside the Box

“Relishing” triumphs is another way of saying replaying them in our minds. It feels good and we replay these moments over and over to have that feeling again. Our relation to negative experiences is different. Positive emotions are often an end in themselves (the ol’ dopamine high) but negative emotions are rarely sought out for their own sake. Don’t get me wrong – we may want to relive unpleasant experiences and we may obsess about them, but the point isn’t so much to feel bad as to achieve something else. The bad feeling is a means to an end – even when we’re not sure what that end is. Like wallowing in the muck may help us get to the root of some problem. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn’t.