The Inscrutable Muse - Feb 13 2026

 

The Inscrutable Muse

Feb 13 2026



The human brain’s default state

is not idling

like a parked car

choking on its own exhaust. 

Nor is it mindfulness;

observing the passage of thoughts

the way a good anthropologist

keeps his distance,

an impartial watcher

crouched behind a hedge

taking notes.

It’s cross-talk,

parts of the brain

that for who knows how long

haven't had a decent conversation

or even a rote exchange

of formal niceties.

This is where creativity happens

the muse resides;

in stale synapses

and under-used pathways,

the lively friction

of different points of view.

Like a long divorced couple 

running into each other

in a supermarket aisle,

who recall how love once felt

even if they don’t rekindle the spark.

Or a college roommate

from some foreign country

you can’t pronounce,

who learned English

by watching sitcoms

and believes in different gods.

Perhaps it’s a taciturn sulcus

in some quiet cortical fold

in a sleepy part of one hemisphere,

shocking the usual talkers

with some transgressive thought

or grating oddity.

When the teacher’s droning on,

you’re walking alone,

or ironing clothes,

lulled

by the hiss of steam

and steady to-and-fro.

My mind often wanders

and I’m surprised by where it goes.

But wherever

in that bracing state of drift

words come to me

and I diligently take them down.

So I’m less writer than typist,

less author than stenographer;

taking dictation

and signing my name,

but unworthy of praise

and not really to blame

if I cause offence

or happen to get it wrong.

I don’t like writing about writing. Too much “inside baseball”, and I imagine not of interest to most readers. But since most of this poem has nothing to do with me or my process, I can only hope it’s engaging and rewarding enough to keep a reader’s attention. Maybe the challenge of writing a good poem about neuroscience — of all things! — is a good enough reason not to turn the page.

Recently, wellness experts have been celebrating the idea of cultivating boredom and walling off unstructured time. The wandering mind, scattered brain, and daydreaming have been rehabilitated! This state is called the “default mode”, and appears to be fertile ground for creativity. If you recall ever being in the so-called “flow state”, you’ll get the idea:  time disappears, the mind feels agile and fluid. 

But it can also time travel to less fruitful places, ruminating on the past (which is more likely in older people) or anxious about the future (more common in the young).

Here’s one definition, brought to you by A.I.:

The brain’s default mode network (DMN) is a large-scale network of interconnected regions that is most active when you are awake but not focused on the outside world, such as during daydreaming, mind wandering, or quiet self reflection.

  … The DMN is defined functionally as regions that decrease their activity during demanding, externally focused tasks and increase activity during rest or internally focused thought.

And another, from Psychology Today:

The default mode network (DMN) is a system of connected brain areas that show increased activity when a person is not focused on what is happening around them. The DMN is especially active, research shows, when one engages in introspective activities such as daydreaming, contemplating the past or the future, or thinking about the perspective of another person. Unfettered daydreaming can often lead to creativity. The default mode network is also active when a person is awake. However, in a resting state, when a person is not engaged in any demanding, externally oriented mental task, the mind shifts into “default.”

You know the feeling of walking to the train station for your morning commute, but your mind checks out and your body operates on autopilot. Your body goes through the motions of getting you to work without taxing the brain, all of which sounds beneficial. It is indeed useful, but only up to a point. The problem: You do not remember much about that commute because your default mode network kicked in, you may start with daydreaming, but you start to ruminate over what happened the day before and what will happen in the days to come. You are anxious about past performance, and you are anxious about upcoming performance. The default mode network can hijack the mind to mull over worries.