On Tue, 11 Jan 2005 21:24:11 GMT, "Peter Aitken"
> wrote:

>"Goomba38" > wrote in message
...
>> Hahabogus wrote:
>>> "Leila" > wrote in
>>> oups.com:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Moderation in all things. I like this surgeon. (She dresses great, too,
>>>>and sings Puccini to her patients while the anesthesiologist puts us
>>>>under)
>>>>
>>>>Leila
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> That would scare the Hell outa me. Seems unprofessional and too laid
>>> back. I would prefer her to be concentrating on the operation with her
>>> whole mind.
>>
>> You might not want to hear that just about all surgeons have their CD
>> collections in the OR. They LOVE to listen to hard rock to classic music.
>> Some quite LOUD! lol
>> On the other side of this- I can concentrate better on a lecture or church
>> sermon if my hands are occupied (such as with hand sewing or embroidery).
>> I don't know why but just sitting there staring at the lecturer allows my
>> mind to wander whereas concentrating on the sewing allows me to "hear"
>> better.
>> Goomba
>>
>
>When you are really good at something - as you hope your surgeon is - you do
>not need your whole mind to do the best job. In fact you will likely do a
>worse job if you pay strict and complete attention. "Relaxed attentiveness"
>is a phrase often used to describe the best state to perform a difficult
>task that you know well.

What's more, letting a familiar tune run through your head, or
something like that, is likely to aid concentration in the part of
your mind that needs to be focused on a complex task.

See the title story in Oliver Sacks, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For
a Hat", for a particularly striking example of this.

--
Chris Green