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The Benefits of Solitude

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Re: The Benefits of Solitude

#21

Post by AndrewOMartin »

literallycancer wrote: post #5

A 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 t…

That same team did the most remarkable (in my eyes) experiment with the same tribe too.

They basically controlled for everything, if you read the paper, except for the language used for colours, and showed how a colour that's incredibly distinct for us, is incredibly hard to distinguish for them and vice-versa.

Go here: https://vimeo.com/120808489 You need to find the odd colour out in the rings at: 5:40 (easy for them, hard for us) 6:30 (so easy for us that it's hard to imagine it being hard for anybody)

Re: The Benefits of Solitude

#22

Post by [deleted] »

avenoir wrote: post #18
japhyr wrote: post #2

I 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…

A few years ago, I did a solo hike around midnight to a spot in Bryce Canyon hoping to get a glimpse of the night skies. I had my camera situated on an outcropping taking pictures at set intervals while i was laying down staring at the night sky and the canyon below. I felt a strange and comforting sensation... Goosebumps and everything. I was in this vast wilderness in the middle of the night and yet i felt "cozy" l…

[deleted]

Re: The Benefits of Solitude

#23

Post by projectileboy »

pklausler wrote: post #17
asdfasdf32r3 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cray Research was similar. Business org in the city, R&D on a purpose built farm in Chippewa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Cray#Cray_Research

It's true that hardware engineering and manufacturing were in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, while the corporate HQ and software people were various suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota (first Bloomington, then Mendota Heights and downtown Minneapolis, then Eagan, then back to Mendota Heights, &c...). But that's mostly because Control Data had set Seymour up with a lab in Chippewa Falls, and he just stayed in place in '72 w…

True, but that wasn't accidental. Cray helped start Control Data, and he placed the lab in Chippewa Falls in order to do R&D away from nuisances.

Re: The Benefits of Solitude

#24

Post by monster_group »

andrem wrote: post #16

Are there jobs like this out there that you can do for months at a time without being too skilled? He was manning the Antarctic station - that sounds like it involves routine work that anyone can do (absolutely no offense), are there jobmarkets out there for these sort of gigs? Just curious really.

He was doing that job in 1934. The world has changed a lot since then. Of course there is still need for routine jobs in Antarctica too (janitors, cooks etc.). However, there is a long list of applicants who want to go to Antarctica. You might enjoy [1].

[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2361700/

Re: The Benefits of Solitude

#25

Post by joepvd »

AndrewOMartin wrote: post #21
literallycancer wrote: post #5

A 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 t…

That same team did the most remarkable (in my eyes) experiment with the same tribe too. They basically controlled for everything, if you read the paper, except for the language used for colours, and showed how a colour that's incredibly distinct for us, is incredibly hard to distinguish for them and vice-versa. Go here: https://vimeo.com/120808489 You need to find the odd colour out in the rings at: 5:40 (easy for th…

That is an awesome video. Thanks for sharing!

Re: The Benefits of Solitude

#26

Post by mxvzr »

andrem wrote: post #16

Are there jobs like this out there that you can do for months at a time without being too skilled? He was manning the Antarctic station - that sounds like it involves routine work that anyone can do (absolutely no offense), are there jobmarkets out there for these sort of gigs? Just curious really.

I enjoyed reading some of the blog posts on here awhile back: http://www.gdargaud.net/Antarctica/index.html.

The author spent a number of seasons, including winter, in Antartica. From what I remember he was a "techie" who would run/maintain experiments for European universities; outdoor experience & knowledge on how to operate a LIDAR were his qualifications for the job. The tasks may sound mundane however even running an ethernet cable by -70c is more challenging than it sounds.

There is also an American station but it's rather crowded so I doubt you'd get to enjoy solitude there. The British station is less crowded but I heard it smells terrible.

Re: The Benefits of Solitude

#27

Post by mtberatwork »

avenoir wrote: post #18
japhyr wrote: post #2

I 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…

A few years ago, I did a solo hike around midnight to a spot in Bryce Canyon hoping to get a glimpse of the night skies. I had my camera situated on an outcropping taking pictures at set intervals while i was laying down staring at the night sky and the canyon below. I felt a strange and comforting sensation... Goosebumps and everything. I was in this vast wilderness in the middle of the night and yet i felt "cozy" l…

Thanks for sharing...you've also reminded me that's it's been a while since I've read Ed Abbey's Desert Solitaire [1]. I think I may have to pull it off the shelf this weekend and dive in for another read.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Desert-Solitaire-Edward-Abbey/dp/0671...

Re: The Benefits of Solitude

#29

Post by codingdave »

There are moderate ways to experience nature and escape the cities. I try to get outside for walks every day, and out to the desert or the mountains once or twice a month. And I set my home office up with a window looking out at a large mountain. Small efforts like this do add up.

Re: The Benefits of Solitude

#30

Post by scotch_drinker »

mtberatwork wrote: post #27
avenoir wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A few years ago, I did a solo hike around midnight to a spot in Bryce Canyon hoping to get a glimpse of the night skies. I had my camera situated on an outcropping taking pictures at set intervals while i was laying down staring at the night sky and the canyon below. I felt a strange and comforting sensation... Goosebumps and everything. I was in this vast wilderness in the middle of the night and yet i felt "cozy" l…

Thanks for sharing...you've also reminded me that's it's been a while since I've read Ed Abbey's Desert Solitaire [1]. I think I may have to pull it off the shelf this weekend and dive in for another read. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Desert-Solitaire-Edward-Abbey/dp/0671...

+1 for this book. Abbey argued strongly and persuasively for the wilderness and raged against it disappearing, not just from existence with paved roads and air conditioned cabins but from our imaginations.
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