[ExI] The Brain: zoning out is a crucial mental state

[Mike Dougherty]

2009/6/26 John Grigg <possiblepaths2050 at gmail.com>:
> And here I thought all of my zoning out was a big waste of time...
>
> http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jul-aug/15-brain-stop-paying-attention-zoning-out-crucial-mental-state

I think this is interesting from the perspective of using the brain as
the working model of intelligence for building an artificial general
intelligence.  According to this article, there are at least two
different goals at work in an average brain; the "here and now"
management of moment to moment experience and predictions (models)
about possible futures.  From an evolutionary standpoint, the ability
to predict the immediate future gives an animal the advantage of being
able to get out of the way of a predator.  From an intelligence
perspective, the ability to model future scenarios and rank those
models according to "fitness" gives us the ability to solve problems
by creating and testing hypotheses.