The Benefits of Solitude
thewalrus.ca
The Benefits of Solitude
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Re: The Benefits of Solitude
#2I haven't spent 5 months in Antarctic solitude like Byrd, but I did live on a bicycle for a year while circling North America. I'd go multiple days without seeing anyone else, sometimes in the desert and sometimes in the forest. It changed my life, in ways that's hard to communicate to people who haven't spent time in actual solitude.
These days I live in a fairly remote part of Alaska, but we have good cell coverage here now. It's different being in wilderness while still having the possibility of being connected. I feel different when I get into a valley where there's no coverage. I'm tempted to get a satellite device for emergencies, but part of me relishes the impossibility of contact with the outside world for a time. That's a good issue to wrestle with.
If you haven't experienced true solitude yet, go find some. It's pretty grounding.
Re: The Benefits of Solitude
#3This article is really more about the need to experience nature, and wild environments (non-urban), than it is about the "benefits" of solitude. In fact, it does more to point out the negatives of solitude (potential death from frostbite) than it does to highlight positives.
Based on my own experience some solitude is healthy and positive, even necessary for deep work. But too much is quite dangerous for one's mental health. So while I whole heartedly agree that we could all benefit from experiencing more natural environments, I don't think solitude is the answer. We are social animals, even those of us who don't identify with being so.
Re: The Benefits of Solitude
#4I haven't spent 5 months in Antarctic solitude like Byrd, but I did live on a bicycle for a year while circling North America. I'd go multiple days without seeing anyone else, sometimes in the desert and sometimes in the forest. It changed my life, in ways that's hard to communicate to people who haven't spent time in actual solitude. These days I live in a fairly remote part of Alaska, but we have good cell coverage…
I live alone in the suburbs, and I regularly don't see people for days after I stock up on food and hole up by myself in my apartment.
I know what you mean about solitude in the outdoors, though. I'm not sure if the difference for me is so much about the inability for potential contact with others, but more of a feeling of the appreciation and awe of nature, and the feeling of insignificance and almost intrusion in an environment that is not tailor-made for supporting human life (as civilization is), as well as being alone with one's thoughts instead of reading other people's thoughts in books or online or distracting oneself with other media. There's a lot more time for introspection and reflection when one is alone and away from humanity and its cultural products.
Re: The Benefits of Solitude
#5A study from the University of London, for example, found that members of the remote cattle-herding Himba tribe in Namibia, who spend their lives in the open bush, had greater attention spans and a greater sense of contentment than urbanized Britons and, when those same tribe members moved into urban centres, their attention spans and levels of contentment dropped to match their British counterparts.
This should be the study:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235002874_Urbanizat...
Re: The Benefits of Solitude
#6I haven't spent 5 months in Antarctic solitude like Byrd, but I did live on a bicycle for a year while circling North America. I'd go multiple days without seeing anyone else, sometimes in the desert and sometimes in the forest. It changed my life, in ways that's hard to communicate to people who haven't spent time in actual solitude. These days I live in a fairly remote part of Alaska, but we have good cell coverage…
Yeah, this is something I miss as a kid.
I wish I was back home with my granddad and just farming sometimes. He is an awesome man but I cannot buy land in India anymore.
Edit: He used to manage an "Ashram" which was basically just a private little river facing house in a village. He maintained the bushes/trees/plants and all that jazz and just chilled. It was good. It was simple.
Re: The Benefits of Solitude
#7I haven't spent 5 months in Antarctic solitude like Byrd, but I did live on a bicycle for a year while circling North America. I'd go multiple days without seeing anyone else, sometimes in the desert and sometimes in the forest. It changed my life, in ways that's hard to communicate to people who haven't spent time in actual solitude. These days I live in a fairly remote part of Alaska, but we have good cell coverage…
I often think about this. Having so much space around you and nobody, you must feel half part of nature, half king of the area. Freedom somehow.
Re: The Benefits of Solitude
#8Translation for metric units users:
−57 °F ≈ −49 °C
Re: The Benefits of Solitude
#9I haven't spent 5 months in Antarctic solitude like Byrd, but I did live on a bicycle for a year while circling North America. I'd go multiple days without seeing anyone else, sometimes in the desert and sometimes in the forest. It changed my life, in ways that's hard to communicate to people who haven't spent time in actual solitude. These days I live in a fairly remote part of Alaska, but we have good cell coverage…
I think you would probably enjoy this: https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2017/apr/10/into-the-...
Re: The Benefits of Solitude
#10Firewatch is an excellent indie game that deals with themes of solitude and escape.