Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

newyorker.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 120 posts

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#91

Post by Tenhundfeld »

soreasan wrote: post #87
Tenhundfeld wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Random question here. How long does it take you to walk 10k steps? I've fallen out of the habit lately, but I was hitting the 10k target for a while. I have a sedentary desk job. So chores and playing with my kid got me up to about 3k. Then I'd walk for an hour during lunch to get another ~7k steps. Walking for an hour every day is fairly substantial commitment. I mean, it felt worth it. As you said, it's a huge prod…

Every mile is roughly 2000 steps depending on how long your stride is. 10K steps is roughly 5 miles. Depending on how fast you walk you're probably looking at around 90 minutes to 120 minutes per day of walking. Of course you could dramatically reduce that time if you ran or jogged rather than walked.

Cool, yeah, when I hit 7k in an hour, I'm not exactly speed-walking, but I'm not just ambling along either. I'd describe as walking with a purpose. Jogging or running for very long hurts my knees, likely because I'm overweight. Maybe one day.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#92

Post by petra »

AriaMinaei wrote: post #82
petra wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The key to flow/meditativr-state is sussposed to be fitting the processing capability someone's brain has , to the task. That way all of your attention is given to a network called "task mode network" and no attention is left to the "default mode network " (which is resonsible for mental chatter and self in past/present) so the brain becomes quiet. So maybe there's a way to make chores more demanding of attention[1]…

That's quite interesting. Any reading material about that?

Some of it from internet research about flow, so hard to pinpoint specific material. Some of it from this very good youtube lecture: "the end of suffering and the default mode network" .

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#93

Post by emilga »

vram22 wrote: post #77
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.

Interesting. How do you change the speed, via software? I use VLC Player and it only seems to have a few speed settings.

I use Smart AudioBook Player for Android. It has adjustable playback speed from 0.5x to 2.5x in 0.1x increments.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#94

Post by bdamm »

"A small but growing collection of studies suggests that spending time in green spaces—gardens, parks, forests—can rejuvenate the mental resources that man-made environments deplete."

Does this explain why it seems all great cities have large walkable parks near their core downtown areas and near any areas considered to be more livable? It isn't the park, per se, but perhaps the ability to find walkable conduits that can be ambled without concern for bodily harm.

When I move to a new place one of the first things I do is locate the longest walkable circuit that does not involve busy intersections where waiting is required.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#95

Post by hinkley »

bootload wrote: post #4

". When we go for a walk, the heart pumps faster, circulating more blood and oxygen not just to the muscles but to all the organs—including the brain. Many experiments have shown that after or during exercise, even very mild exertion, people perform better on tests of memory and attention. Walking on a regular basis also promotes new connections between brain cells, staves off the usual withering of brain tissue that…

For a long time my epiphanies always came while crossing the street. There are obstacles even in flatland.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#96

Post by hinkley »

jwdunne wrote: post #3
matthewwiese wrote: post #2

Great read. Thanks for the link. I often get the same energized writing vibe after a run. Though unlike the article emphasizes near the end, my 5 mile daily run is preplanned (obviously) and so leaves my brain able to effectively "dissociate" and enter that realm of creative thinking that often precedes our falling asleep. After the first couple miles, my body gets into the groove and I'm able to either serenely abso…

Not at all particular to writing. I believe Einstein went on frequent walks too. A walk through a park or a country path would be even better: greenery and nature has shown to boost creativity in some studies.

Greenery boosts mood. Elevated mood makes you more optimistic about your crazy ideas. Some of your crazy ideas aren't so crazy.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#97

Post by stuart78 »

neom wrote: post #58
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…

this is super interesting to me, in my "research" into dyslexia, I find that folks with very high dyslexic traits also happened to be incredibly spatially aware. Coincidently, they also happened to be excellent artists, often in sculpting.

I had not heard of this, but it is a good description of my brother who is dyslexic and a talented sculptor.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#98

Post by goodjam »

I love this friendly jab at Flaubert from Nietzsche “On ne peut penser et écrire qu’assis - One cannot think and write except when seated (G. Flaubert). There I have caught you, nihilist! The sedentary life is the very sin against the Holy Spirit. Only thoughts reached by walking have value.”

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#99

Post by vram22 »

emilga wrote: post #93
vram22 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. How do you change the speed, via software? I use VLC Player and it only seems to have a few speed settings.

I use Smart AudioBook Player for Android. It has adjustable playback speed from 0.5x to 2.5x in 0.1x increments.

Will check it out, thanks.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#100

Post by vram22 »

dexterdog wrote: post #86
vram22 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. How do you change the speed, via software? I use VLC Player and it only seems to have a few speed settings.

VLC player actually has speed adjustments at .1x granularity. I only use VLC for video, but I watch most stuff on it with the speed up.

Thanks, maybe I missed it, or have an older version. Will check.
Post reply on HN