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On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

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Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#221

Post by mns »

notanzaiiswear wrote: post #158
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…

A friend of mine who is white also was checked by the police a lot (in Germany), simply because he had a certain jacket that was apparently associated with drug dealers or trouble makers (checks can include anal probes for hidden drugs, apparently). So maybe dressing for the occasion could work. Sorry for your ordeal. You'd think police would know you after the umpteenth check.

I know what you mean, but I would think it's also racist a lot of times. I know of a case where a friend who is german, born in Germany, just that one of the parents is an immigrant. He has a C-level job at a medium sized company and he was stopped together with a colleague while going to have lunch, while dressed as someone at that level would dress, because some old lady said that some foreign looking people were acting suspiciously (it wasn't them). They put them through some humiliating experiences, not believing they work where they work and harassing them.

In the same time I also have some "hacker" type friends that were constantly being stopped by the police, even though they were white, but they just have a questionable fashion taste compared to the general population.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#222

Post by vivferrari »

the-dude wrote: post #148
vivferrari wrote: post #128

I was recently reading a book called Why we Swim where the author traces how the ape got back into the water. I think she rightly points out that Swimming is the best place to think because there is no way to be distracted by your phone or anything else for that matter. While I am also in a landlocked city with little access to pools but it would be interesting to get the point of view of swimmers.

Although I never carry a phone to begin with, as a previous non-swimmer I have started swimming in open water this year ( obviously I learnt to swim as a child ). The 'just you and the elements' part is real, in the open water you can't just stop and get out, you have got to complete what you started. The 'completeness' of the exercise is different than biking or walking : every joint and muscle seems to be involved.…

You should read or watch Wim Hof. He advices cold weather exercise. His method involves swimming in freezing waters.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#223

Post by tomcooks »

marttt wrote: post #220
tomcooks wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None whatsoever aside from the usual post-adventure depression. I've met several persons lost on pilgrimage routes due to mental breakdowns. It's a know problem, people find happiness and an alternative life during a pilgrimage and keep on walking the routes back and forth through Europe until they run out of money and then become homeless. At the beginning of the French route towards Santiago de Compostela you might…

> It's a know problem, people find happiness and an alternative life during a pilgrimage and keep on walking the routes back and forth through Europe until they run out of money and then become homeless. Really interesting, thanks for sharing this. I've never been on a pilgrimage, but the mental side does seem to have similarities with a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat then. Occasionally, (beginning) meditators m…

I'm doing some research and publishing related to how to try and tackle the problem, if you're interested sign up at my site

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#224

Post by notanzaiiswear »

mns wrote: post #221
notanzaiiswear wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend of mine who is white also was checked by the police a lot (in Germany), simply because he had a certain jacket that was apparently associated with drug dealers or trouble makers (checks can include anal probes for hidden drugs, apparently). So maybe dressing for the occasion could work. Sorry for your ordeal. You'd think police would know you after the umpteenth check.

I know what you mean, but I would think it's also racist a lot of times. I know of a case where a friend who is german, born in Germany, just that one of the parents is an immigrant. He has a C-level job at a medium sized company and he was stopped together with a colleague while going to have lunch, while dressed as someone at that level would dress, because some old lady said that some foreign looking people were a…

Sure there definitely can be racist elements, just wondering if perhaps at least they could be mitigated by dressing in a certain way.

That's not meant to justify the behaviour of the police, just to find a short term solution for being able to take walks.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#225

Post by DynamicStatic »

tomcooks wrote: post #120

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 tha…

I mostly agree but I don't think avoiding to listen to stuff all the time is great either. I walked the pct for 5 months and listened to plenty of books and podcasts and they gave me many good ideas. I would often lose myself in the ideas and the podcasts would just ramble on in the background like white noise. My only regret is not noting not thoughts down.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#226

Post by em-bee »

dasil003 wrote: post #25
damontal wrote: post #16

Would listening to music or a podcast or an audiobook interfere with the generation of ideas while walking? I love running and walking but I always feel like I have to have something playing in my ear during.

I believe it does interfere. I started walking pretty obsessively during the pandemic as a way to get exercise that I used to get by bicycle commuting. Normally I would listen to podcasts during this time. However a few times when I went without anything in my ears I noticed that I was starting to do real work while walking, and coming up with great solutions to difficult problems. Now I limit podcasts just as I woul…

i have the reverse experience. thinking interferes with my ability to listen. sometimes i am distracted by some important topic, work or personal or other, sometimes the story i am listening to is not engaging enough.

but then i spend most of the day working alone, so i have plenty of time to think. and for me the point of going for a walk and listen to a story is to stop thinking for some time and immerse myself into a different world.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#227

Post by em-bee »

irrational wrote: post #74

Now I’m feeling guilty for listening to audio books while walking instead of engaging in great thinking.

if i don't listen to something i'll just continue thinking about work or whatever other issues occupy my mind. i listen to fiction in particular to allow me to disengage from the worries of the day.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#228

Post by jiocrag »

silisili wrote: post #92
jiocrag wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Come on…” said every person uncomfortable with the brutal history of race relations and living in denial about its long term effects.

I'm not uncomfortable with it, just past it. My family's always been poor, and didn't oppress anyone. But, I do recognize that some did. I don't see it today. In fact, in my home city, I'd argue there's more areas where a black could walk freely than a white. But that's just city life and demographics in a shitty US city. In the world, walking is not a racebound privilege.

Ridiculous. Walkability is a key trait of affluent, nice neighborhoods.

There's plenty of research on this: https://www.brookings.edu/research/walk-this-waythe-economic...

Seems like the posters in this thread are more concerned with being hypersensitive about "wokeness" than reality.

"Poor people walk more, ergo this article gets it wrong" is the ultimate confluence of idiocy and privilege.

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#229

Post by jiocrag »

Gustomaximus wrote: post #105
jiocrag wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re empirically wrong. Leisurely walking is a privilege of affluence. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6095595/

Did you post the correct study? This paper seems more about mental state than any race/gender type research. e.g. "In particular, this study aimed to explore how the participants’ pre-existing levels of non-clinical depression, anxiety, persecutory feelings and personal resilience influence the in situ judgments they make about the contrasting urban environments."

Did you read any of the study? It's about the respective mental states of walking through good and bad neighborhoods.

Very poor reading comprehension from the posters in this thread.

"Forty-six student participants walked in groups through 2 urban neighbourhoods, separated by a park, in the North West of England, noting responses at pre-determined stops. Significant differences existed in participants’ sense of trust and threat between the 2 neighbourhoods along with differences in perceived resident wealth and sentiments expressed"

Re: On the link between great thinking and obsessive walking

#230

Post by jiocrag »

betwixthewires wrote: post #205
jiocrag wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tendrils of an insidious beast? A bit dramatic? What are you including in said “insidious beast?” Any mention of a racial past is representative on an evil monster seeking to pervade all culture? I think you’ve been watching too much hentai.

Dramatic? Maybe. But definitely not an overstatement, and nowhere near as dramatic as ideas like all social dynamics are oppressor/oppressed social dynamics, or that for example black people cannot walk around and therefore white people have privilege to walk around and therefore think and reason. I don't mind mention of a racial past, as long as it is actually applicable. Want to talk about slavery in the Americas?…

"or that for example black people cannot walk around and therefore white people have privilege to walk around and therefore think and reason."

Dude... go walk around in Compton or Fuller Park and tell me you're able to ruminate like Darwin LOL.

You're trying to ELIMINATE race from every conversation because of your sensitivity. No one is "cramming" race anywhere.

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