Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The slow death of purposeless walking

bbc.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 188 posts

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking

#171

Post by netrus »

dirtyaura wrote: post #95
mister_m wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Additionally, walking around aimlessly in the city where I live, a lot of the time, is simply not a safe thing to be doing. While the article mentions some differences between our world, and the world of the creative thinkers, it leaves out to a certain extent that a lot of people live in densely populated cities with minimal access to green space. If I wanted to go for an aimless walk in the woods, I'd have to drive…

May I ask where do you live? Most places in the world are pretty safe actually, and dangers live mostly inside our heads.

I got a lot of strange looks from white people in cars while walking through Capetown, SA. I could not imagine to live in a place where I were afraid to just walk where and whenever I want!

Until now, I never had any negative experiences, anywhere in the world because of walking. I'm male, though, I guess that's quite significant in many places.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking

#172

Post by charlesthomas »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #168
charlesthomas wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of it is motivation. Why bother leaving, if I don't have a particular destination in mind? There are other things I could be doing that seem more important. The other part is that I fall into patterns really easily. If I don't have a set destination in mind when I leave my apartment, I often just end up at the subway stop I take to get to work.

Why not set yourself generic goals rather than a destination? For instance to find a nice cafe you've never been to before, or a nice bookshop.

That's a great idea.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking

#173

Post by bunderbunder »

mattjaynes wrote: post #135

Was living in NYC and absolutely loved being able to walk everywhere and not own a car. The last few months I've been in US suburbia though (Texas/Utah) and it seems actively hostile towards walkers in many places. Sometimes there's sidewalks, but often they're not continuous and just end for no apparent reason. You then have to walk in the road next to the cars for a ways and hope the sidewalk starts up again. Even…

At some point I finally realized that most cities in the US are designed for cars, not humans.

I still haven't figured out why humans who live in the USA aren't bothered by this. They really seem to enjoy living in the thrall of their 4-wheeled overlords. They'll even arrange their lives to ensure that the car gets upwards of an hour of exercise per day, at great great financial cost to themselves. Oftentimes to the detriment of their own health, too, since they usually forego their own exercise for the sake of the car's. It's absolutely bizarre.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking

#174

Post by lportion »

smorrow wrote: post #128
edw519 wrote: post #14

Reminds me of a friend's response when her doctor asked if she exercised. She said, "On purpose?" I understand her. As a busy person, nothing is more boring and time consuming than exercising "on purpose". I ride my bike everywhere, always use the stairs, do my own cleaning, laundry, groceries, and cooking, and constantly jump to conclusions. That oughta be enough.

And shagging.

I suspect not everyone is so lucky.

Some of us are married.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking

#175

Post by akdetrick »

mattjaynes wrote: post #135

Was living in NYC and absolutely loved being able to walk everywhere and not own a car. The last few months I've been in US suburbia though (Texas/Utah) and it seems actively hostile towards walkers in many places. Sometimes there's sidewalks, but often they're not continuous and just end for no apparent reason. You then have to walk in the road next to the cars for a ways and hope the sidewalk starts up again. Even…

I've also had the experience of getting "suspicious looks" while walking in suburbia.

I was once stopped and questioned by a police cruiser because I was walking on a well lit street at night in my Ohio hometown. The officer was reluctant to accept that anyone would walk for the sake of walking - and yes, I've read "The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury [1]. Truth can be as strange as fiction.

After living in NYC for 10 years, walking has become such a natural part of life that I completely forgot how unusual it was in suburban Ohio.

I can't help but think that the lack of walking goes beyond negative health effects; I feel like it erodes civil society to a certain degree. When you drive door to door, you rarely interact with strangers. Given my experience, I don't think "paranoia" is too harsh of a word to describe what car-focused settlement patterns can do to people.

[1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pedestrian

EDIT: not sure if "The Pedestrian" is in the public domain, so linking to wikipedia instead of directly to a PDF

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking

#176

Post by zo1 »

prestadige wrote: post #60
themoonbus wrote: post #39

As some one who currently works from home, a "purposeless" walk is how I start and end my work day – I think of it as my "commute". Walking clears my head, gets me outside for a bit, and helps me separate my home life from my work life. For me, those walks might not be a necessity, but they are definitely not without purpose.

Yes, the paradox is that daydreaming and apparent purposelessness are, in the long run, about the most important things that get done. Or at least the beginning of the most important things: things which eventually become more active and purposeful. e.g. Peter Higgs was walking in Scotland when he thought of first thought of his boson. I do feel that the article is somewhat strident (ho ho). The only rule about wande…

"Yes, the paradox is that daydreaming and apparent purposelessness are, in the long run, about the most important things that get done. Or at least the beginning of the most important things: things which eventually become more active and purposeful."

Assuming you actually do something with those thoughts/ideas/daydreams. I have a habit of thinking of wonderful ideas, and never quite getting around to them. At some point, too many ideas are quite debilitating.

But perhaps that's just me. Every since I started on some fun personal projects, I find my alone/me time is spent not thinking up new ideas, but thinking of ideas on how to improve/do the parts of the project I'm currently working on.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking

#177

Post by dionidium »

auvrw wrote: post #156
jrockway wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly how I feel when I visit Mountain View for work. Why are the parking lots in front of the store and not in the back? Why do I have to walk through a sea of parked cars to get to my building? It's all very strange to me. I also noticed the suspicious looks for my terrible crime of not owning a car after dark. My conclusion: not the place for me.

> I also noticed the suspicious looks for my terrible crime of not owning a car after dark. i lived near mountain view and did not notice this when visiting on my bicycle or the caltrain. sure, it's not the city proper, but mountain view seems rather quaint and really quite pedestrian friendly, at least in the area by the train station.

...but mountain view seems rather quaint and really quite pedestrian friendly, at least in the area by the train station.

Well, sure, Castro is walkable, but most of Mountain View isn't like Castro.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking

#178

Post by peterjmag »

mattjaynes wrote: post #135

Was living in NYC and absolutely loved being able to walk everywhere and not own a car. The last few months I've been in US suburbia though (Texas/Utah) and it seems actively hostile towards walkers in many places. Sometimes there's sidewalks, but often they're not continuous and just end for no apparent reason. You then have to walk in the road next to the cars for a ways and hope the sidewalk starts up again. Even…

Good luck with the move! I moved to Berlin from the US just over a year ago, and I've absolutely loved it here so far. Such a great place to explore on foot too. Especially when I first arrived, one of my favorite things to do was just pick a district and wander for a while. I discovered many of my now-favorite places that way.

It is indeed rather spread out though, so I definitely recommend supplementing your transport possibilities with a bike. =)

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking

#179

Post by rwhitman »

bunderbunder wrote: post #173
mattjaynes wrote: post #135

Was living in NYC and absolutely loved being able to walk everywhere and not own a car. The last few months I've been in US suburbia though (Texas/Utah) and it seems actively hostile towards walkers in many places. Sometimes there's sidewalks, but often they're not continuous and just end for no apparent reason. You then have to walk in the road next to the cars for a ways and hope the sidewalk starts up again. Even…

At some point I finally realized that most cities in the US are designed for cars, not humans. I still haven't figured out why humans who live in the USA aren't bothered by this. They really seem to enjoy living in the thrall of their 4-wheeled overlords. They'll even arrange their lives to ensure that the car gets upwards of an hour of exercise per day, at great great financial cost to themselves. Oftentimes to the…

Great book on the cars-first disaster of urban planning that I read years ago if you're interested: http://www.amazon.com/The-Geography-Nowhere-Americas-Landsca...

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking

#180

Post by prestadige »

zo1 wrote: post #176
prestadige wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the paradox is that daydreaming and apparent purposelessness are, in the long run, about the most important things that get done. Or at least the beginning of the most important things: things which eventually become more active and purposeful. e.g. Peter Higgs was walking in Scotland when he thought of first thought of his boson. I do feel that the article is somewhat strident (ho ho). The only rule about wande…

" Yes, the paradox is that daydreaming and apparent purposelessness are, in the long run, about the most important things that get done. Or at least the beginning of the most important things: things which eventually become more active and purposeful. " Assuming you actually do something with those thoughts/ideas/daydreams. I have a habit of thinking of wonderful ideas, and never quite getting around to them. At some…

You're right. It's a bit like evolution. The overwhelming majority of mutations led nowhere but we absolutely relied on the tiny few that got us to where we are today. That said, people who can't truly relax and daydream (most people I think) are never going to get started. And children who are made to sit still in school can't think so well.
Post reply on HN