Earlier quoted context omitted.
AFAIK sleep deprivation is discussed as a short term treatment of depression. I don't have any exclusive papers on hand (I'm not an expert), but if you are interested, please do your own research.
Where is this discussed? I'm curious.
On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking
71–80 of 237 posts
Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking
#72In the before time, I'd optimize productivity with a mix of modalities. Some things were best done with technical pen on paper. Others as outline or text files. Others with assorted styles of coding. Whiteboards and discussion. And others with assorted styles of walking. The long slow ponder. The quick brief pace for a minor decision. The "what am I'm missing here?" distracted walking into walls.:) Matching modality to the moment seemed an art form.
I've fond memories of one site, a few cubicles and tables in one corner of a big otherwise-empty floor of a office park building. A floor wrapped with full-height windows looking out on trees. One could variously loop, without bothering anyone, alternating walking and desk work.
Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking
#73"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.
But it wasn't "thinking" that obtained that wealth.
Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking
#74Now I’m feeling guilty for listening to audio books while walking instead of engaging in great thinking.
Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking
#75Now I’m feeling guilty for listening to audio books while walking instead of engaging in great thinking.
Guilt isn't necessary. After all, there's no better time to give it a try than the present!
I find it productive even if I don't have a specific problem in mind. I find something almost indulgent about letting my mind wander over whatever work/personal/curiosity topics pop up.
Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking
#76Can we, for a second, remember that walking-makes-thinking-easier is a classic ADHD/ASD symptom? And that both ADHD and ASD have been linked to creative, deep thinking? Charles Darwin, the #1 example in this article, has been long suspected to have had Asperger's (which we classify as ASD today)[1]; and had exhibited symptoms of ADHD (one makes the other more likely)[2]. That link is only a surprise to neurotypicals.…
My first job out of college was in an office with a cubicle space floor. After a few weeks, I'd often pace around in a small space outside the main entrance when I'm thinking about a problem at work. People would ask if I'm ok. After ~3 months, I couldn't do any work in that office, so I quit.
I don't know if I have ADHD or not, but whenever I'm stuck at a coding problem or any sort of a creative problem (I do product design work as well), I have to walk. Otherwise I feel claustrophobic or about to have a panic attack. At the very least, I feel very agitated and have shortness of breath.
I'm coming to accept this about myself and after reading this article, I'll embrace walking as a mode for thinking and clearing my head more.
Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking
#77In addition to walking, I've noticed that walking in a fasted state (usually early in the morning) really gets the mind turning.
It does take a little while to get that perfect pace sometimes.
Also: hounds (in my case, a beagle) are excellent long walk buddies.
One more, going off the deep end: long thinking walks along trails in the woods (ideally a path that you know well so you don't have to think about it) can be a low-key spiritual experience.
Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking
#78"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
It is true, in the sense that white men were the class that was privileged enough to have the free time to walk and think. Not all, but those who did were predominantly white.
Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking
#79Yet another great mind (also an infamous introvert) who used to take long walks to refresh his mind was Paul Dirac. From his 1963 interview [1] with Thomas Kuhn, he describes how a decisive Sunday walk made him see the analogy between commutators in quantum mechanics and Poisson brackets in classical mechanics:
> "I used to take long walks on Sundays and get away from the work altogether, and at the end of those walks I would perhaps go on with my work a bit in a refreshed state of mind. And after one of these Sunday walks it occurred to me that the commutator might be the analogue of the Poisson bracket, but I didn’t know very well what a Poisson bracket was then. I had just read a bit about it and forgotten most of what I had read, and I wanted to check up on this idea, but I couldn’t do it because I didn’t have any book at home which gave Poisson brackets and all the libraries were closed. So I just had to wait impatiently until Monday morning when the libraries were open to go and check up on what Poisson brackets really were. Then I found that they did fit, but I had one impatient night of waiting."
[1] https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral...
Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking
#80I believe this is the paper referenced[0].
[0]: https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xlm-a0036577.pdf