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The positive effect of walking on creative thinking (2014) [pdf]

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Re: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking (2014) [pdf]

#81

Post by comfypotato »

KVFinn wrote: post #58

I listen to audiobooks while walking and it makes it easier to focus and overall more enjoyable. I also discovered that human memory is weird as heck. When I walk my mind is somehow mapping my physical location in the world to the content, down to the sentence. If I rewind an audio book I can fairly often remember where exactly I heard a particular sentence. The precise street corner or park trail I was on, to like a…

I think other similar research has mostly determined that it’s about alertness more than geography. You happen to be particularly alert when walking.

That being said, teachers used to tell me it was important to take tests in the same seat you sat in to learn the material. Even switching something as simple as your vantage point would change access to the memories. It’s all pretty complicated stuff!

Re: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking (2014) [pdf]

#82

Post by ajuc »

KVFinn wrote: post #58

I listen to audiobooks while walking and it makes it easier to focus and overall more enjoyable. I also discovered that human memory is weird as heck. When I walk my mind is somehow mapping my physical location in the world to the content, down to the sentence. If I rewind an audio book I can fairly often remember where exactly I heard a particular sentence. The precise street corner or park trail I was on, to like a…

> I also discovered that human memory is weird as heck. When I walk my mind is somehow mapping my physical location in the world to the content, down to the sentence. If I rewind an audio book I can fairly often remember where exactly I heard a particular sentence. The precise street corner or park trail I was on, to like a 10 feet precision. I do not otherwise have strong memory. WTF brain.

Same experience here. I bike to a big street crossing and I remember suddenly what the hero was doing 1 year ago when I was there the last time :)

And it's split depending on weather and whether I'm walking or biking :) It's especially weird when I'm listening to some book or podcast where travel happens - like Critical Role for example. I now have nearest 50 km around my city mapped onto a D&D world by accident :)

Re: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking (2014) [pdf]

#83

Post by taylorius »

bmitc wrote: post #37

I have personally never enjoyed walking as a time to think or mentally relax. If anything, it stresses me out as my mind wonders around, obsesses, etc. I find that doing more strenuous activities or activities that require more attention, such as various yard and gardening work, do more to clear my mind. It’s the same thing with lifting weights or running. They are so monotonous and boring that I would much rather do…

I found martial arts (Muay Thai and Capoeira in my case) to be a good way to stay healthy. I always found exercise boring and unfulfilling, but with martial arts I was "Learning a Skill", and needed to get fitter and stronger in order to improve. Just a bit of a psychological trick I used on myself to keep at it.

Re: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking (2014) [pdf]

#84

Post by DharmaPolice »

KVFinn wrote: post #58

I listen to audiobooks while walking and it makes it easier to focus and overall more enjoyable. I also discovered that human memory is weird as heck. When I walk my mind is somehow mapping my physical location in the world to the content, down to the sentence. If I rewind an audio book I can fairly often remember where exactly I heard a particular sentence. The precise street corner or park trail I was on, to like a…

I also have the same experience with memory. Often I'll revisit an area and have a very strong recollection of a particular part of a story/book and be momentarily confused. Until I realise that yes, the first time I listened to a particular story was on a particular road or by a park somewhere. Naturally this effect is reduced if it's a place I go to all the time, presumably because I've overwritten that memory dozens of times.

Re: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking (2014) [pdf]

#85

Post by kashyapc »

I don't know about creative thinking ... but consistent walking sure as hell helped jump-start my running life. Here's my little story. I'm 37 and was never a runner, but last October a friend dragged me out for a run. We ran a 5K straight-up (at ~6m:30s/KM). It's not a "couch to 5K", as I'm lean and bicycle a lot ("zone 2" cardio) as part of my daily life, eat healthy, and put in many walks and some hikes over the past 3 years. So the "infrastructure" is in place.

This year I ran two half marathons (one in Bruges last month), and went for another "half-marathon forest hike" last weekend:

I had no idea I could run these longer distances, and was not even planning to run. I activated this "latent" potential by a happy accident. Earlier this February, when talking about running with a friend of a friend, she casually said "why don't you register for the half-marathon at this gorgeous nature trail[1]?" I said, "hmm, I never ran more than 7K, and the half-marathon is only 50 days away." "Just register, you'll do fine!", she said. I did register, and diligently trained for exactly about 45 days.

Lo and behold! I completed the first half marathon in April in 2h:12m; and the second one last month in 2h:9m. Both of them without stopping. I'm still surprised by myself. If that acquaintance hadn't pushed me a little bit, I wouldn't have bothered with half-marathons. Now I'm hooked. I'm calling my next half-marathon "cracking 2" (running it under 2 hours). Some runners here might recognize the term "breaking 2" ;-)

Edit: added the missing crucial word "half" (!) at the beginning of the fourth paragraph - thanks, vanilla_nut

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonian_Forest

Re: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking (2014) [pdf]

#86

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

Every morning, the first thing I do, is take a 5K walk (just got up, and will do it in a few minutes). Takes most of an hour.

I use it to “triage” the day’s tasks, I often “fix” bugs, on these walks, and apply the fixes, immediately upon getting back.

I also find it's a good time to develop architectures for my projects.

WFM, YMMV

Re: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking (2014) [pdf]

#88

Post by [deleted] »

comfypotato wrote: post #81
KVFinn wrote: post #58

I listen to audiobooks while walking and it makes it easier to focus and overall more enjoyable. I also discovered that human memory is weird as heck. When I walk my mind is somehow mapping my physical location in the world to the content, down to the sentence. If I rewind an audio book I can fairly often remember where exactly I heard a particular sentence. The precise street corner or park trail I was on, to like a…

I think other similar research has mostly determined that it’s about alertness more than geography. You happen to be particularly alert when walking. That being said, teachers used to tell me it was important to take tests in the same seat you sat in to learn the material. Even switching something as simple as your vantage point would change access to the memories. It’s all pretty complicated stuff!

[deleted]

Re: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking (2014) [pdf]

#89

Post by KVFinn »

ajuc wrote: post #82
KVFinn wrote: post #58

I listen to audiobooks while walking and it makes it easier to focus and overall more enjoyable. I also discovered that human memory is weird as heck. When I walk my mind is somehow mapping my physical location in the world to the content, down to the sentence. If I rewind an audio book I can fairly often remember where exactly I heard a particular sentence. The precise street corner or park trail I was on, to like a…

> I also discovered that human memory is weird as heck. When I walk my mind is somehow mapping my physical location in the world to the content, down to the sentence. If I rewind an audio book I can fairly often remember where exactly I heard a particular sentence. The precise street corner or park trail I was on, to like a 10 feet precision. I do not otherwise have strong memory. WTF brain. Same experience here. I b…

>It's especially weird when I'm listening to some book or podcast where travel happens - like Critical Role for example. I now have nearest 50 km around my city mapped onto a D&D world by accident

Amazing. I'm dying.

Re: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking (2014) [pdf]

#90

Post by sedeki »

kashyapc wrote: post #85

I don't know about creative thinking ... but consistent walking sure as hell helped jump-start my running life. Here's my little story. I'm 37 and was never a runner, but last October a friend dragged me out for a run. We ran a 5K straight-up (at ~6m:30s/KM). It's not a "couch to 5K", as I'm lean and bicycle a lot ("zone 2" cardio) as part of my daily life, eat healthy, and put in many walks and some hikes over the p…

Inspiring! I am on a similar journey as well.

I haven't heard the term "zone 2" cardio -- can you expand on that?

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