According to Michael Graziano, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Princeton University, we did evolve to have attention, a crucially important process in the brain that has taken millions of years to perfect. “Having your attention nailed on external sensory events happening in the moment is of great importance during fight or flight moments,” says Graziano.
But the other side of it is also important. When our mind wanders, that, too, says Graziano, is important to our survival. Most of our time is spent in-between moments of fight or flight, and humans have long used that time to digest information.
“It’s partly about remembering how to survive the saber tooth tiger, but it might also be about social interactions,” says Graziano. “There’s a lot of benefit to rumination so long as you’re not doing it the moment that a tiger is attacking you.”
The most important thing about being human is the ability to switch between these modes, from attention to the present to that of the past and future, combining all that information to better take on the day.
