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Wow! This is so interesting-I never thought about it before, but I also daydream with my eyes open, and I definitely zone out and “see” things other than my actual surroundings.  I am inclined to say that the I-function is at least participating in the daydream, although maybe not creating it.  I say this because the brain is also capable of generating regular dreams, many of which we do not consciously remember.  I agree that daydreams are particularly interesting in that, while we are daydreaming, we seem to be ignoring actual visual input (whereas during regular dreaming our eyes are closed and the level of input from our surroundings is minimal). 

This topic reminds me of the discussion we had in class about people being able to perform habitual activities such as driving, seemingly without paying attention to what they are doing; they arrive at their destination with no memory of the actual process of getting there.  I often have similar experiences when I get takeout from Haffner, and then walk back to my room in Brecon.  The walk is fairly long (at least 10 minutes for me), and frequently, I will start thinking about work that I need to do for my classes, my summer plans, etc…and before I know it, I am standing in front of Brecon.  Would this be considered daydreaming as well?  If so, then I think there must be some part of the brain that is processing the “real” visual input from our eyes (the rest of the nervous system depends on the visual input in order to perform activities like walking or driving), as well as another portion that is generating and participating in the daydream.  Before, when I thought of daydreaming, I always pictured someone sitting still, staring off into space.  Now, however, I think that it is possible to daydream while performing complex activities! I wonder how the brain decides when it is ok to just go on autopilot and when the I-function needs to be engaged in the surroundings.