New research from America’s Harvard University shows people spend nearly half of their waking hours daydreaming, and not thinking about what they are actually doing. Moreover, they say this mind wandering is a sign of unhappiness. The study, to be published in the journal ‘Science,’ surveyed the thoughts and moods of over 2,200 volunteers. The participants downloaded an iPhone app and sent more than 250,000 messages during the day and night. Researchers Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert conclude that most of us are in another world for more than 46 per cent of our waking hours, and that means we are unhappy: "A human mind is a wandering mind, and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind,” they said.

来自美国哈佛大学一项最新研究显示，人们醒着的时候近一半的时间在做白日梦，而不是在想他们实际上在做什么。此外，他们说，这种出神的行为是不快乐的标志。这项研究即将发表在《科学》杂志上，调查了超过2200名志愿者的想法和情绪。参加者下载了一款iPhone程序，白天和晚上共发送了超过25万条信息。研究人员Matthew Killingsworth和Daniel Gilbert得出结论，在46%的清醒时间，我们大部分人的思想都在另外一个世界，这意味着我们不快乐：“人类的思绪是飘渺的思绪，飘渺的思绪是不快乐的思绪。”他们这样说。

Dr Killingsworth said “mind-wandering” was “ubiquitous across all activities” in our daily lives. His study found that we are happiest when exercising, chatting with friends or making love and least happy when working or using our computer at home. He added: "Mind-wandering is an excellent predictor of people's happiness,” and that “our mental lives are filled, to a remarkable degree, by the non-present”. Professor Gilbert believes daydreaming is one of the things that make us human. He said: “Unlike other animals, human beings spend a lot of time thinking about what is not going on around them, contemplating events that happened in the past, might happen in the future or will never happen at all.”

Killingsworth博士表示“走神”是我们日常行为中非常普遍的行为。他的研究发现，当我们运动，跟朋友聊天，或者做爱的时候是最开心的，工作或在家中玩电脑的时候是最不开心的。他补充说：“走神是人快乐程度的优秀指标”，“我们的精神生活被心不在焉充满到一个非常显著的程度。”Gilbert教授相信，白日梦是我们作为人的一个特征。他说：“与其他动物不同，人们会花很长时间思考并没有发生在身边的事情，考虑过去发生的事情，未来可能发生的事情，或者根本就不会发生的事情。”