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Re:Attention control is critical for changing/increasing/alt... by j_baker on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @09:48AM (#3822128)
Am I the only one who feels attention is overrated? The thing is that lack of attention is correlated with creativity: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/02/why-being-sleepy-a...

This is why most people hate morning classes. Your brain hasn't fully woken up yet, so you're less attentive, but more creative. Of course, most college classes reward paying attention over creativity, so it's usually bad for people to take morning classes.

Re:Attention control is critical for changing/increasing/alt... by jonnathanson on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @09:58AM (#3822159)
Yes, but creativity needs structural boundaries in order to be channeled into practical use. A combination of structured ("focused") and unstructured time is probably ideal.

Structure need not be extrinsically imposed, though; it can be self-directed (otherwise known as discipline).

Re:Attention control is critical for changing/increasing/alt... by j_baker on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @11:49AM (#3822723)
It's interesting that you put it that way, because I also feel discipline is overrated too. :-)

That said, I'm by far not saying that attention is unimportant. I'm just saying that it doesn't deserve the importance we assign it.

Also, I would like to see evidence that scheduling distractions like that still yields the same creativity benefit. Scheduling your distractions would seem to defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? Planning for unstructured time isn't the same as not paying attention. It's paying attention to something random, which isn't the same thing as not paying attention.

Re:Attention control is critical for changing/increasing/alt... by hammock on Tuesday April 10, 2012 @10:29AM (#3822291)
There is a simple way to summarize:

Attention/concentration strengthens neural pathways, and allows you to make further use of them. Lack of attention promotes creativity, i.e. creating NEW pathways and connections in the brain.

At least that's the way I think of it.