Humans have daydreamed¹ for thousands of years, and yet, these days, spare moments are filled with using our smartphones and other devices—scrolling through social media, listening to podcasts, responding to emails—leaving us little time to let our minds wander.

人类的白日梦已做了数千年，而近来，这样放空自己的时光却被智能手机以及其它设备占据了 — 浏览社交网站、听播客、回邮件......留给思想神游的时间变得寥寥无几。

“Daydreaming² is how we access our big-picture state of mind,” says Amy Fries, author of Daydreams³ at Work. “When you’re in a daydreaming state of mind, you can visualise or simulate your own version of events."

“白日梦是我们假借思绪构建蓝图的途径。”《上班也做白日梦》的作者艾米·弗莱斯如是说。“思绪放空的状态帮助人们预见与模拟具有个人特色的事件。”

“My most creative moments come when my brain is allowed to rest,” says Megan King, a graphic⁴ designer, “But I’m addicted⁵ to my smartphone.”

“放松的大脑是我灵感的温床。”图表设计师梅根·金说道。“但我现在却终日沉迷于智能手机。”

She’s not alone. According to Nielsen, Americans spend 10.5 hours a day consuming media. And UK residents are close behind at almost 10 hours a day, according to eMarketer.

她的情况并非个例。据尼尔森市场研究公司调查，美国人均媒体消费达到10.5小时。而另一家市场调研公司“电子营销人”的调查显示，英国居民的日均媒体消费时长也有将近10小时。

This extended screen time has made some of us uncomfortable sitting alone with our own thoughts.

人们盯着屏幕看的时间越来越久，与思想独处似乎已然令部分人浑身不自在。

This may seem a small change, but its effect, on the way our minds work and on our collective creativity, could be far-reaching. In fact, it could be hindering your ability to come up with fresh, innovative⁶ ideas.

你也许认为这个变化微不足道，但是实际上，它深刻地影响着我们的思维运转方式与集体创造力。

Over years of studies, researchers found that our brain has two separate attention systems — an external one and an internal one. The internal attention system, which is activated⁷ during daydreaming, is called the default network.

多年研究表明，我们的大脑拥有外部和内部两个独立的注意力系统。白日梦便是由俗称“默认网络”的内部注意力系统所激发。

“The default network is particularly active when you are thinking about yourself, thinking about the past, thinking about the future,” says Daniel Willingham, Professor of Psychology⁸ at the University of Virginia. “You can’t really have both [attention systems] active at the same time.”

“人们反思自我、回顾过去、展望未来时，‘默认网络’运转尤为活跃。”弗吉尼亚大学的心理学教授丹尼尔·威林厄姆如是说。“你无法同时激活两个（注意力）系统。”

If both systems can’t be active at the same time and we’re spending 10 hours a day in one attention system, it begs the question: what is that doing to our brains — and our ability to come up with creative ideas?

那么，如果说两个注意力系统不能同时被激活，我们却在其中一个系统上每天花费10小时，问题就来了：这样做对我们的大脑有何影响？它又是否会削弱我们产生创造性观点的能力？