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Re:The Joy of a Empty Brain by totetsu on Saturday April 22, 2023 @09:04PM (#35672380)
There is a common experience that people have of sleeping on a problem, and having the subconscious brain keep working on it in the background and waking up with some insight. In my experience, when your brain doesn’t have any pressing problems from daily life to solve, when you just have nothing to do and nothing in mind, this is when the subconscious starts working on the really big problems and starts to deliver all kinds of insights.
Re:The Joy of a Empty Brain by jarjoura on Saturday April 22, 2023 @09:18PM (#35672444)
Love that effect!

I do this in small doses when I take my dog for a walk. After I get back I usually have the answer I was searching for without actively thinking about it.

Re:The Joy of a Empty Brain by yencabulator on Sunday April 23, 2023 @11:51AM (#35677276)
Also known as "shower thoughts". I usually solve my hardest programming problems in the shower.
Re:The Joy of a Empty Brain by kater006 on Saturday April 22, 2023 @09:16PM (#35672429)
Learning how to learn by Barbara Oakley describes precisely that
Re:The Joy of a Empty Brain by swexbe on Sunday April 23, 2023 @04:34AM (#35674470)
That's usually when I get really depressed :(
Re:The Joy of a Empty Brain by yencabulator on Sunday April 23, 2023 @11:50AM (#35677258)
I've always found I'm most productive at hard problems when I "try to solve it" for max 3 days in a row, and then let my mind wander before trying again.