On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking • Hacker News Board

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#61

Post by AlexCoventry » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 12:02 AM UTC

This appeals to Marilyn Oppezzo's and Daniel Schwartz's 2014 study on walking and creativity [1], based on an experiment with 48 subjects, a lot of subjective assessment, and a weird constraint which sounds like p-hacking ("The CRA task always followed the GAU task, because pilot work indicated that the CRA could be demoralizing, which interfered with performance on an immediately following GAU task.") Does anyone know whether it has been replicated? My money would be on replication failing.

[1] https://aaalab.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Oppez...

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#62

Post by onlyrealcuzzo » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 12:10 AM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #51

jcq3 wrote: post #46

"Historically, however, walking has been the privilege of white men." Come on... Anyway, Nietzsche used to walk before writing like Darwin Long time ago I read that walking or taking a shower make your thinking more effective because it somehow enables automation mode and allow to be more focused

For millennia, the wealthy 1% rode and everyone else walked.

For many more millennia everyone walked everywhere...

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#63

Post by georgewsinger » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 12:20 AM UTC

lordnacho wrote: post #35

This is why I am looking for a simple AR headset: so I can look at code while walking through the woods in my area. Just a simple translucent IDE is all I need. I definitely feel that I am better at thinking when walking, but I also need to be looking at source code to get the details, otherwise I can only think about larger architecture. When is this coming?

The application of VR/AR technology to creative office work is generally underrated (with too much emphasis on games/entertainment). SimulaVR is making a portable Linux VR headset which will have an "AR mode" (using cameras), scheduled for Kickstarter release early next year: www.simulavr.com

We have plans to eventually release a proper AR headset also, though not on first iteration.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#64

Post by wly_cdgr » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 12:37 AM UTC

Graffur wrote: post #41

wly_cdgr wrote: post #15

Everything in my life I've ever won an award for I thought of/through while walking

What are some of the things you have won awards for?

Nothing major, especially not by HN standards. Won best game design at one of the Global Game Jam sites a couple times & won a Ford smart mobility app design competition thing. Got a couple minor IndieCade type noms back in the day but didn't win

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#65

Post by imposter » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 1:02 AM UTC

This is why I built a walking desk. And funny thing is that, I have tested this that my dual n-back scores are marginally better when I do them while walking at the speeds of 1-1.5 km/h.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#66

Post by WalterBright » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 1:02 AM UTC

klipt wrote: post #47

jcq3 wrote: post #46

"Historically, however, walking has been the privilege of white men." Come on... Anyway, Nietzsche used to walk before writing like Darwin Long time ago I read that walking or taking a shower make your thinking more effective because it somehow enables automation mode and allow to be more focused

Hunter gatherers (who mostly aren't white) probably do way more walking than most modern people.

The Australian indigenous peoples walked 9 miles a day (men) and 5 miles a day (women).

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#67

Post by WalterBright » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 1:04 AM UTC

imposter wrote: post #65

This is why I built a walking desk. And funny thing is that, I have tested this that my dual n-back scores are marginally better when I do them while walking at the speeds of 1-1.5 km/h.

I built one, too. The only problem is it never remains where I left it. One time the police brought it back, as it had wandered into somebody else's home. Another time, I found it lying in an alley in a pool of machine oil and stinking of WD-40. I'm going to have to stick one of those Apple tracker thingies on it.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#68

Post by IncRnd » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 1:06 AM UTC

yodsanklai wrote: post #56

jcq3 wrote: post #46

"Historically, however, walking has been the privilege of white men." Come on... Anyway, Nietzsche used to walk before writing like Darwin Long time ago I read that walking or taking a shower make your thinking more effective because it somehow enables automation mode and allow to be more focused

What an extremely dumb statement. When you think this guy is an anthropologist... > Jeremy DeSilva is an anthropologist at Dartmouth College. He is part of the research team that discovered and described two ancient members of the human family tree—Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi.

It shows that he doesn't practice science, despite his profession.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#69

Post by mncharity » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 1:11 AM UTC

lordnacho wrote: post #35

This is why I am looking for a simple AR headset: so I can look at code while walking through the woods in my area. Just a simple translucent IDE is all I need. I definitely feel that I am better at thinking when walking, but I also need to be looking at source code to get the details, otherwise I can only think about larger architecture. When is this coming?

> When is this coming?

Well, there's Nreal Light, with nice 1080p.

But it may not fit your face well. I use it without the nose piece, and with the temples down around the middle of my ears. The recurring "we didn't design it for you" China HMD fit problem. I've no idea if the EU release was identical. And some complain of its weight.

It's been variously available in Asia for years, more recently in the EU, but not yet in the US I believe (there was talk of maybe this year). In the US one has been able to ebay it from elsewhere, but US Customs duties have been highly varied and sometimes quite large.

[1] sunset silliness: https://twitter.com/mncharity/status/1397553615372529668

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#70

Post by flippinburgers » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 1:33 AM UTC

jcq3 wrote: post #46

"Historically, however, walking has been the privilege of white men." Come on... Anyway, Nietzsche used to walk before writing like Darwin Long time ago I read that walking or taking a shower make your thinking more effective because it somehow enables automation mode and allow to be more focused

Often new angles of thought come to me when walking.

Also, as others have aptly pointed out, people who are not wealthy are in fact the ones who will end up doing the most walking.

People who gravitate towards using the word privilege ... just yikes.