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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]

#111

Post by uwagar »

emptyfile wrote: post #87
uwagar wrote: post #24

does cycling count? walking hurts my back.

Walking shouldn't hurt your back and its very worrying that it does, you should look into some resistance exercise.

i've started doing some yoga recently and in just a week i'm feeling a new flexibility in my back muscles.

so i started yoga cos another friend of mine recommended it after i 'seized up' my back suddenly..it happened like innocuously me trying to pickup something from the floor..i can feel a pull and im like oh shit this is gonna get worse and i cant move properly for a week kind of thing. and it does. i blame it on potatoes and cauliflower cos i seem to get it a few days after i eat them dishes and lot of sitting and reading and programming. luckily it does go away in a week or so and im like as if nothing happened. but going thru it feels like im bugg3red.

cycling alone doesnt cut it i guess.

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

#112

Post by arethuza »

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 have a similar association between mountains in Scotland (specifically Munros) and subjects of books - a day out for me where I am walking by myself is probably about 1 audiobook long - (say 2.5 hour drive, 6 or 7 hours walking or more, 2.5 hour drive back).

So I can look at a mountain in the distance and the first thing that might come to mind is "History of Royal Navy", "Human body", "Agents fighting for the Polity/Culture" etc. for maybe 70 or Munros I've done by myself.

I do have specific associations though - such as a spot on Ben Lawers that will forever be associated in my mind with the repo market as I was listening to a book on the GFC. Why? Absolutely no idea, but I can almost hear that part of the book and remember that damp steep mountainside :-)

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

#113

Post by jononomo »

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…

Navigation is the only reason you have a brain at all, if you think about it.

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

#114

Post by iinnPP »

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…

Just yesterday I heard the shop music from Ocarina of Time on a YouTube video. I immediately recalled the shop, the surrounding buildings and a few of the platforming paths. I also recalled a memory of playing the game with a friend at the time.

For me, all music functions in this way. Certain songs, even extremely upbeat songs, can cause me to tear up if I listen for too long. I can also listen to songs I associate with successful projects to increase my desire to start a project.

Truly fascinating.

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

#116

Post by jononomo »

uwagar wrote: post #24

does cycling count? walking hurts my back.

if walking hurts your back then you probably need to lose belly fat. Even though I am thin (6'4", 190 pounds) I have found that with an ideal diet (mostly red meat) and some moderate exercise I can lose 10 pounds of belly fat and my back pain drops off a cliff. If I get down to 170 pounds then I have almost no back pain. At 160 pounds I feel like an elevated being.

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

#117

Post by sails »

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 drive with podcasts, and find it frustrating (/peculiar) to try to find my way back to the snippet I found interesting because I keep getting location memories tied to each section.

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

#118

Post by jameal »

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…

Jim Collins talked about this once:

> You were talking about the values. And one of the things that is interesting, because I’m a very audio person, as we mentioned earlier as you and I were chatting, I was listening to Dare to Lead while I was driving and looking at Haystack Mountain here in North Boulder. One of the reasons I like audio books is because I like to be able to connect ideas to physically where I was when I heard that idea, which is how I remember them. So I will always associate these select two values with looking at Haystack Mountain on a beautiful December afternoon.

https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-jim-collins-on-cur...

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

#119

Post by busyant »

bbig wrote: post #12

Lately I've been walking 20 km per day (~12.5 mi). Takes at least 3.5 hours. I try not to listen to any audio -- I just let my mind wander. To step it up a notch, I put on a weighted backpack (i.e. ruck). I'm typically carrying 30 lbs, sometimes 50. This raises the heart rate and roughly doubles the caloric burn. Low injury risk, too. Michael Easter's book "Comfort Crisis" has a nice chapter on rucking. I just wish i…

> 20 km per day

I'm not sure my body could handle that (my hips would need a day to recover from a 20 km walk).

I'm in my mid 50s, so I'd like to believe my age is part of that.

I do about 7 km / day, which still takes time.

I've probably done everything mentioned here (thinking, audiobooks, music, walking with my kids, etc.).

Lately, I've been simply listening for birds. I've gotten pretty good at identifying several species by vocalization and it has the added benefit of putting me "in tune" with my environment.

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

#120

Post by lemursage »

I'm a certified member of the Peripatetic school [1]. The ancients knew it and I know it -- I walk therefore I am. It's by the walking alone I set my mind to motion.

Needless to say that my downstair neighbours hate me for it. I guess philosophers were always ostracised ;)

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

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