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Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

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Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#61

Post by unprepare »

walterbell wrote: post #54
dexterdog wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do all of my podcast from 2-2.4x depending on the speaker. Silence skipping gets it to an effective 3x speed. Most people hear me listening for brief periods and wonder how I understand any of it. It's a progression to get there, but it is totally doable. I'm sure some people can go faster, but I just tell them to go up .1x at a time until it sounds right.

Which podcast app do you recommend?

pocketcasts on android is what i use, and i know it has silence trimming and playback speed from .5 to 3.0 in .1 increments.

I have the paid version so im unaware if some/all of these feature require the paid version

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#62

Post by dexterdog »

walterbell wrote: post #54
dexterdog wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do all of my podcast from 2-2.4x depending on the speaker. Silence skipping gets it to an effective 3x speed. Most people hear me listening for brief periods and wonder how I understand any of it. It's a progression to get there, but it is totally doable. I'm sure some people can go faster, but I just tell them to go up .1x at a time until it sounds right.

Which podcast app do you recommend?

I use podcast addict on Android and have for years. It's a little on the techie side with all of its options, but I have it mostly set and forget I really just adjust the speed per podcast which it remembers for you once you set it. I have the paid version which I recommend.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#63

Post by visakanv »

This is part of why I'm very excited for VR. Our system of navigating the web as pages on screens is incredibly limited. Once we can navigate content in space (think video games – you could still drop me anywhere in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and I'd be able to navigate to any other point on the map from memory), we'll open up all sorts of interesting new possibilities.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#64

Post by Fricken »

jtraffic wrote: post #53

"our brain must survey the surrounding environment, construct a mental map of the world, settle on a way forward" A colleague in my phd program went on the job market this year with research that is related to this, especially to the connection between writing and walking discussed in the final paragraph. In a nutshell, his theory and experimental evidence suggest that we use the same cognitive mechanisms to process…

There's the loci method for memorization:

The method of loci (loci being Latin for "places") is a method of memory enhancement which uses visualizations with the use of spatial memory, familiar information about one's environment, to quickly and efficiently recall information. The method of loci is also known as the memory journey, memory palace, or mind palace technique. Many memory contest champions claim to use this technique to recall faces, digits, and lists of words. These champions' successes have little to do with brain structure or intelligence, but more to do with using spatial memory and the use of the method of loci.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci

Correlations have been found between memory and the playing of 3D video games, which also utilize our spatial memory. (Though wandering around in a video game is probably a subpar surrogate for doing the same thing in meatspace.)

https://news.uci.edu/faculty/playing-3-d-video-games-can-boo...

I also recommend this BBC video of a persistence hunter tracking and running down a Kudu, just as an illustration of how walking/running, language/tracking, spatial memory, and planning/creativity are all tied together as a system that was once necessary for our survival:

https://youtu.be/826HMLoiE_o

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#66

Post by dyukqu »

seanalltogether wrote: post #27

So why does taking a shower help us think? Or driving a car on the highway to work? It has to be more then just getting blood moving?

I was going to mention taking a shower too.

In my opinion, it's not necessarily about getting blood moving. It's rather about relaxed (a.k.a. diffused[0]) thinking. Let it be driving a car on the highway, taking a shower or spending time in green spaces - both make our thoughts roam freely, thus, more creatively.

For me, the more important question is: why & how our thoughts start to wander around when we are doing such activities mentioned above. Is this default mode of human nature? How does our brain extracts "creative things" that we are never aware of in diffuse mode & where they come from?

[0] https://abraininitiative.wordpress.com/2014/10/29/focused-vs...

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#67

Post by aws_ls »

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #51
eagletusk wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've managed to finish a few 1 hour runs on pavement only during races, but an hour long trail run in in the woods? I'll plan a weekend around it. In Japanese there is the concept, Forest bathing, shinrin-yoku (森林浴).

I love running just about anywhere (except on a treadmill, which is just intolerably drab), but my absolute favourite places to run are on forest trails. There is something indescribably beautiful, spiritual and serene/exhilarating about running through the forest. I feel a profound sense of connection with my human and hominid ancestors going back millions of years. I feel the most human when running through the woo…

Don't you worry about pace, when you run?

I also run a lot. And I do realize, my runs will be happier, if I don't constantly worry about pace. But can't help myself, not thinking about it. And all this despite being only a recreational runner.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#68

Post by jarmitage »

jtraffic wrote: post #53

"our brain must survey the surrounding environment, construct a mental map of the world, settle on a way forward" A colleague in my phd program went on the job market this year with research that is related to this, especially to the connection between writing and walking discussed in the final paragraph. In a nutshell, his theory and experimental evidence suggest that we use the same cognitive mechanisms to process…

Please link!

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#69

Post by z3t4 »

Fricken wrote: post #64
jtraffic wrote: post #53

"our brain must survey the surrounding environment, construct a mental map of the world, settle on a way forward" A colleague in my phd program went on the job market this year with research that is related to this, especially to the connection between writing and walking discussed in the final paragraph. In a nutshell, his theory and experimental evidence suggest that we use the same cognitive mechanisms to process…

There's the loci method for memorization: The method of loci (loci being Latin for "places") is a method of memory enhancement which uses visualizations with the use of spatial memory, familiar information about one's environment, to quickly and efficiently recall information. The method of loci is also known as the memory journey, memory palace, or mind palace technique. Many memory contest champions claim to use th…

am i the only one that can remember where in the code something is located ? By remembering the shape of the code.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#70

Post by alanfalcon »

jtraffic wrote: post #53

"our brain must survey the surrounding environment, construct a mental map of the world, settle on a way forward" A colleague in my phd program went on the job market this year with research that is related to this, especially to the connection between writing and walking discussed in the final paragraph. In a nutshell, his theory and experimental evidence suggest that we use the same cognitive mechanisms to process…

I'd really love to have him study Aphantasia (non-functioning mind's eye) and understand what people with the condition do to compensate.
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