When you're immersed in an experience, fully absorbed in a stimulating conversation, or in the middle of a game of squash, or waiting at the lights for a green signal, or nearing the denouement of a rivetting thriller or a thrilling rivet, your consciousness is completely occupied with the current situation and time passes quickly. But what if most of your time is so undemanding of your intellect that your brain is merely ticking over? I mention this after visiting the WA Art Gallery today, wondering how the guards looking after deserted galleries stayed alert after countless dreary hours of pacing up and down the brightly lit white rooms. So undemanding was their work that their mental requirement was virtually zero - the autonomicnervous system was needed to regulate breathing and to maintain balance while walking but higher functions could be suspended. Do guards enter a trancelike state, or do they use their spare mental capacity to daydream? Either way, the tedium seems excruciating to me. I'm thankful that I have diverse methods to occupy myself, whether at home or at work, so I'm rarely left alone with only my brain for amusement.
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