Reading this piece in the Boston Globe, I learned some things:
1. All that time I was letting my mind wander when I was in class, starting in kindergarten and running through grad school, was not nearly as wasteful as some of my instructors seemed to think it was. Right now, I'm daydreaming about sticking my tongue out at them.
2. Despite the presence of some great drama, acting and writing in some of its programs, the end result of more than 90 percent of television is the erosion of creativity. This makes sense -- when you're filling your head with someone else's pictures, how can you have room for your own? But it's neat to see some research back it up. No, I'm not an anti-TV nut, but I lean toward Mr. Springsteen's description, updated for satellite TV capabilities: Even though there's definitely a little bit more than "nothin'" on, there's now a whole lot more than 57 channels carrying it.
3. The dude who invented Post-Its thought them up while daydreaming during a sermon! What better reason for everyone to go to church -- who knows what world problems could be solved by the minds that journey far from their pews? In fact, I know some colleagues who take seriously their duty to preach sermons that allow for as much daydreaming and mind-wandering as possible, and I now salute them.
At the same time, it's kind of humbling to realize that in some ways, boring sermons might wind up doing the world more good than great ones do...
(H/T Arts and Letters Daily)
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