Dream, dream, dream

The New York Times ran an interesting story on happiness the other day by John Tierney. Apparently there's a study now that suggests that if you let your mind wander while you're doing a task, you're more apt to be unhappy later.
The study, conducted by Harvard psychologists, used an iPhone app called "trackyourhappiness" to randomly call people around the globe and ask them how they were feeling. The results: People who reported stray thoughts and daydreams were less likely to be happy a few minutes later and the stray thoughts caused the unhappiness, rather than the other way around. (Read Tierney's account here, and also in Science.)
And okay, I guess it makes sense that if you start fantasizing about finally having that loan paid off that you took out against your 401K so your kid could get through the last semester of college, that the thought might lead you to unpleasant other thoughts such as: Why did tuition go up by double digits at the state university for each year beginning when my kid enrolled and why didn't student loans cover everything and why won't time go faster so we can stop paying $50 a paycheck?
Wait. Hold on....Trackyourhappiness? Really? A stranger will call you up, ask you what you've just been doing and then how you felt about it. And people willingly signed up for this?
Maybe it's just me, but doesn't that kind of put the science in question? First of all, these are people who have iPhones. Secondly, they are paying a monthly charge for the connectivity, so they are likely fully employed. And third, they are extroverts who would willingly discuss deeply personal matters with an anonymous someone taking notes.
I've seen iPhones. If I could afford one, I'd buy it and then spend the rest of the time skipping around and laughing with glee. Rrrring..."This is a Harvard scientist. What are you doing right now and how do you feel?"
"I'm just bagging up a pile of warm dog poop. And I feel FANTASTIC! I have a job and an iPhone."
So probably, the results are skewed because of the sample.
But it might be interesting to see what the survey would look like if a different population was sampled.
Rrring..."Hello. This is Harvard calling. What are you doing right now and have you had any daydreams lately?"
"I've just robbed a convenience store. Daydreams? No, can't say my mind wandered. Gotta go..."
Rrring..."Hello, Harvard University here. We're doing a study on daydreams and happiness. What have you got for us?"
"Sorry, I've got six craft in my sector and five waiting in a holding pattern. Can't talk now, man."
"Ok, only just tell us, have you had any daydreams in the past half hour?"
"Look--no--I--well, no. But...'
"And do you feel happier than a half hour ago or no--"
"Oh yeah, yeah. Sure, great. I--oh s**t!/ (connection lost).
If the results hold, then these non-daydreamers would also be the happiest.
Me, I'm a die-hard daydreamer, and that's never going to change. I'll never be Zen enough to focus only on brushing my teeth. In fact I've had at least six daydreams just while writing this post. They're like little vacations you take inside your head. Vacations I desperately, desperately need. I will never give them up on the elusive promise of a slight increase in happiness.
So sorry, Harvard. Tell the positive thinking industry they can take my property and my dignity. But they'll take my daydreams only when they pry them from my cold, dead brain pan.