In The Dark’s Nina Garthwaite will be on a panel including Psychiatrist Philip Asherson, literary scholar Shannon McBriar and psychologist Joydeep Bhattacharya to discuss mind-wandering. The event is chaired by BBC presenter Claudia Hammond.
As recently as a decade ago, the phenomenon of ‘mind-wandering’ – which is to say: a kind of mental restlessness; an active disengagement of consciousness from the task at hand – was often considered a minor phenomenon in cognitive psychology. Research on mind-wandering was a niche interest, while its presence in public discussion hardly went beyond a kind of collective anxiety about unfocused, daydreaming adolescents. This position has since radically changed. In recent years, a growing body of research has demonstrated that mind-wandering is key to understanding many aspects of human cognition and psychological well-being, potentially for both good and ill.
This event will explore these diverse perspectives and their implications for mind-wandering research. Speakers will discuss various ways in which mind-wandering may become problematic for people; but they will also consider how individuals might harness the wandering mind, to utilise the effects, to explore its creative potential, to manipulate its occurrence in everyday life.
Nina will be talking about mind wandering in reference to the radio listener – and asking whether the innatentive listener is such a bad thing after all?
Funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.
WHEN: Tuesday 4th October, 7.00pm
WHERE: Mile End Art Pavillion, Clinton Rd, London E3 4QY
TICKETS: Free (but please researve a place on Eventbrite using the “Book Now” button below)
