How on earth could I make such a ridiculous mistake? How could I have missed that? These are questions that almost everyone is forced to ask themselves at some point. Day dreaming or being absent minded is a nuisance that often causes individuals to make minor errors that they otherwise would not. However, an article in the International Business Times reveals a somewhat unexpected twist on absentmindedness. The article concerns a study from Psychological Science which reported that an individual’s working memory space is related to the likelihood that they will “drift off” or become absent minded. Specifically, the study indicates that subjects with a better working memory were actually more prone to absentmindedness. Monami Thakur, …show more content…
In reference to attention and absentmindedness, Bor states, “What I attend to is what I’m conscious of, and whatever falls outside of my attention is processed, if at all, by my unconscious mind alone” (112). This makes intuitive sense. For instance, if you’re driving home from work and are playing around with the radio, you may accidentally pass your street. Your attention is directed toward the radio and you are conscious of the song that’s playing; however, you are not conscious of your street as you pass it (or it is processed by your unconscious) because your attention is directed elsewhere. Later in the book, Bor addresses working memory by writing, “…I firmly agree with [Bernard] Baars that consciousness and working memory are largely synonymous processes, and that attention is the critical means by which items enter into consciousness” (136). Here, it is easy to see the connection between working memory, attention, and consciousness as defined by Bor. However, taken in conjunction with the aforementioned article, the picture becomes much