On this UVA Speaks podcast, Zachary Irving, Assistant Professor in the Corcoran Department of Philosophy in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia, talks about the philosophy of mind-wandering, which is unguided attention that occupies up to half of our waking hours. Listen in to learn about Irving’s interdisciplinary research that points to how mind-wandering can be a tool that leads to creativity and exploration. By combining philosophy with other disciplines, Irving and his colleague are developing ways to measure the dynamic phenomena of mind-wandering and how it can influence the mind and outcomes in our personal and professional lives.

Transcripts of the audio broadcast can be found here. www.rev.com/transcript-editor/s…loadFrom=SharedLink

Irving’s research focuses on the philosophy of cognitive science. He has proposed a new theory of mind-wandering as unguided attention. He also examines more general philosophical topics, such as mental action, conscious attention, and introspection, through the lens of mind-wandering.