Jonah Lehrer on the Surprising Benefits of Daydreaming October 16, 2010

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Author and WIRED contributing editor Jonah Lehrer discusses the surprising benefits of daydreaming, and questions whether ubiquitous access to the Internet negatively affects the ability to let one's mind wander. "Now, every time I get even a little bit bored ... I check my email for the millionth time that day," says Lehrer. "I lose myself in my 3-inch screen, instead of exploring the usual process of daydreaming."

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This excerpt is taken from a program titled, "Your Brain on the Internet: Digital Intelligence," featuring Nicholson Baker, Jaron Lanier, Jonah Lehrer, Elizabeth Phelps, and Daniel Zalewski.

Jonah Lehrer is an author and journalist who writes often about neuroscience and psychology. He has published two books, "Proust Was a Neuroscientist," about the connections between science and the humanities, and "How We Decide," about the brain and decision-making. He has written for The New Yorker about the science of insight and about the psychology of delayed gratification.