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

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#111

Post by romwell » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 6:21 AM UTC

chasd00 wrote: post #43

I have ADHD and without my medicine begin walking obsessively. In college, i would walk from one end of campus to the other over and over. When i lived in downtown Dallas i would walk from the West End to Deep Ellum (that's petty far on foot) and back over and over as well. It was good exercise i guess but took a lot of time/energy. Plus, on weekdays i would do it at night which is not the safest thing. Now on medica…

I've said in my other comment here that "walking-helps-thinking" is a well-known symptom of ADHD and ASD.

Was surprised to see my comment initially downvoted a lot.

For all who feel like they need walk to think about things, looking into ADHD/ASD could improve y'all's lives.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#112

Post by justwalt » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 6:21 AM UTC

robertwt7 wrote: post #97

Coming from Asia, especially tropical countries, walking is not very common during lunch time as you can get sweaty and disgusting coming back to work. After living in AU I'm surprised by how many of my co-workers do walking as part of their lunch break. Me on the other hand just stay at my computer, code, when I'm stuck I stop and think.. Maybe I should start walking rather than being a lazy ass

Walking does a surprising amount of good for fitness too, if you can do enough of it. When I worked in a grocery store I was in great shape.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#113

Post by stepbeek » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 6:22 AM UTC

emadabdulrahim wrote: post #76

romwell wrote: post #33

Can 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 produc…

Hope you've found a company that values output rather than presence. I run a small company but given the last 18 months have had to come to grips with the idea that I might have to return to normal employment. Losing my freedom to go for a walk - or go to the gym to work through a problem - is a huge fear of mine.

I'm utterly convinced that long walks in the woods is my secret sauce and that without it I'll degrade as an engineer massively.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#114

Post by meristohm » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 6:22 AM UTC

bordakt wrote: post #44

eurasiantiger wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try digging a tunnel. Sensory deprivation combined with meticulous hard labor can be enlightening.

Very interesting you said that here. I regurarly walk aimlessly, I regurarly have this impression that i have to skip a day of sleep to be exceptionally productive, and i also used to be obseessed with digging large holes especially when i was younger and able to dig like that in my parents garden.

I also enjoy digging holes since I was a child. The sense of space and control over that space might be part of why?

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#115

Post by stepbeek » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 6:23 AM UTC

romwell wrote: post #108

emadabdulrahim wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 produc…

When I worked in an open floor layout, I used to set my working hours to 2PM-10PM, while most of my coworkers were on 9AM-5PM or so. This gave me an overlap of 3 hours to exchange information with my colleagues, and 5 hours to actually work when the office emptied out. If you are wondering whether you have ADHD or not, I made a website where symptoms are described from a first-person POV[1]. It's 200+ memes/comics I…

> No need to play it on hard mode.

I love this sentiment. Thanks for this - I'm definitely going to use it going forward.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#116

Post by meristohm » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 6:24 AM UTC

To what degree is this benefit due to increased oxygen from breathing?

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#117

Post by DoingIsLearning » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 6:28 AM UTC

Sevii wrote: post #36

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 wolfram alpha founder does this with a laptop and custom harness.

You made me feel old, Stephen Wolfram is now known for launching WolframAlpha rather than for creating Wolfram Mathematica.

Truly a sign of the passing of time.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#118

Post by ilovefood » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 6:28 AM UTC

I love walking and there are many parks next to where I live. However I am never able to fully enjoy it or indulge in any longer thinking activities as most of the time I'll be interrupted by either elderly people asking me "to go back where I came from" or random ID checks by undercover police. This happened a lot (5x times) over the last year when I decide to go and walk in a park, once even during an online call with my team. I live in a medium sized city in Germany and come from North Africa / France and it might show a bit too much. As a mitigation I once seriously considered changing how I look by for example dressing more like a dad or walking the neighbors dog as an alibi for being "normal". Maybe it would have interested the old ladies too, who knows. For the time being I'll keep at walking on streets or inside the city as it's less strange to see foreigners there. Can't wait to have my private forest :')

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#119

Post by marcusestes » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 6:33 AM UTC

ilovefood wrote: post #118

I love walking and there are many parks next to where I live. However I am never able to fully enjoy it or indulge in any longer thinking activities as most of the time I'll be interrupted by either elderly people asking me "to go back where I came from" or random ID checks by undercover police. This happened a lot (5x times) over the last year when I decide to go and walk in a park, once even during an online call w…

That must absolutely suck. I’m sorry you have to deal with that.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#120

Post by tomcooks » Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 6:36 AM UTC

As a person who walked 8/15 hours for two months straight I can relate to most of the statements written by the author. I believe that listening to music or other recordings takes away from the experience and the mental gains that walking provides, and this is why I skip the headphones during my adventures.

I can attest that after 10 days of continuous autonomous movement the mind switches to a "primordial" state that, as a non academic, I believe can be very easily attributable to our nomadic, hunter-gatherer past.

Attention gets sharper, acumen rings free, the range of senses expands, creative impulses flourish and it's easier to perform tasks in unexpectedly smart ways.

I suggest those who would like to give it a try embark on a walking adventure that is at least two weeks long, either on pilgrimage routes (which offer great views and allow one to save money thanks to the hospitality options available) like the Camino de Santiago de Compostela / Fatima or long trails such as the Appalachian Trail.