Mind‐wandering: A philosophical guide

Abstract

Philosophers have long been fascinated by the stream of consciousnessthoughts, images, and bits of inner speech that dance across the inner stage. Yet for centuries, such 'mind-wandering' was deemed private and thus resistant to empirical investigation. Recent developments in psychology and neuroscience have reinvigorated scientific interest in the stream of thought. Despite this flurry of progress, scientists have stressed that mind-wandering research requires firmer philosophical foundations. The time is therefore ripe for the philosophy of mind-wandering. Our review begins with a foundational question: What is mind-wandering? We then investigate the significance of mind-wandering for general philosophical topics, namely, mental action, introspection, and the norms of thinking and attention.

What Does “Mind‐Wandering” Mean to the Folk? An Empirical Investigation

“…Finally, our results help to indicate which version of the "family resemblance" theory of mind-wandering is most plausible (Christoff et al, 2018;Irving & Glasser, 2019;Metzinger, 2018;. Seli, Kane, Metzinger, et al (2018) characterize mind-wandering in terms of a cluster of (at least) four features: whether one's thoughts are (a) task unrelated, (b) stimulus independent, (c) unintentional, and (d) dynamically unguided.…”

“…Our studies suggest that the dynamic theory of mind‐wandering has an advantage: It tracks ordinary usage. The dynamic theory also has scientific advantages (Christoff et al, 2016; Irving, 2016; Irving & Glasser, 2019). Recall that standard theories of mind‐wandering bundle together disparate phenomena.…”

“…Rumination is often, indeed generally, task and stimulus independent. But the dynamic view implies that mind‐wandering, which meanders between topics, contrasts with rumination that is “stuck” on a distressing topic (Christoff et al, 2016; Irving, 2016; Irving & Glasser, 2019). Opponents of the dynamic view object that rumination is a type of mind‐wandering (Metzinger, 2018; Seli, Kane, Smallwood, et al, 2018).…”

“…One might instead treat the family resemblance theory as a scientific model of mind‐wandering. Irving and Glasser (2019) explain how to test that model using a modified inference to the best explanation. They also sketch how this study might bear upon that inference.…”

The neural correlates of ongoing conscious thought

“…These rich data can be explored using data-driven methods to provide descriptions of different qualities of experience that provides a contrast to studies that focus on specific features of experience. For example, recent philosophical considerations of research on “mind wandering” suggest that there are epistemological problems with this construct as it is often operationalized ( Irving and Glasser, 2020 ), and it is possible a data-driven taxonomy could be useful when addressing relationships between mental autonomy and conscious experience ( Metzinger, 2018 ). Furthermore, it is essential that future studies must seek to assess the psychological and neural correlates of different types of experiences across a broader range of task contexts.…”