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Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

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Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#101

Post by archagon »

viridian wrote: post #90
Fricken wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's the loci method for memorization: The method of loci (loci being Latin for "places") is a method of memory enhancement which uses visualizations with the use of spatial memory, familiar information about one's environment, to quickly and efficiently recall information. The method of loci is also known as the memory journey, memory palace, or mind palace technique. Many memory contest champions claim to use th…

Funny you mention this, I swear when I replay a video game with my girlfriend that I played solo before, while listening to a podcast or something, I can recall with amazing clarity stuff I had heard on the podcast at a particular point in the game. It's not a minor effect at all, it's pretty huge.

Huh, I guess that explains why I recall specific passages in audiobooks when I revisit the places I walked while listening to them.

Kinda problematic if I listen to an unnerving passage in a place I enjoy visiting!

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#102

Post by yawz »

z3t4 wrote: post #69
Fricken wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's the loci method for memorization: The method of loci (loci being Latin for "places") is a method of memory enhancement which uses visualizations with the use of spatial memory, familiar information about one's environment, to quickly and efficiently recall information. The method of loci is also known as the memory journey, memory palace, or mind palace technique. Many memory contest champions claim to use th…

am i the only one that can remember where in the code something is located ? By remembering the shape of the code.

I can definitely relate to that.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#103

Post by thefalcon »

archagon wrote: post #101
viridian wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny you mention this, I swear when I replay a video game with my girlfriend that I played solo before, while listening to a podcast or something, I can recall with amazing clarity stuff I had heard on the podcast at a particular point in the game. It's not a minor effect at all, it's pretty huge.

Huh, I guess that explains why I recall specific passages in audiobooks when I revisit the places I walked while listening to them. Kinda problematic if I listen to an unnerving passage in a place I enjoy visiting!

Absolutely! I have paths in my old neighborhood where if I walk them I can recall specific passages from Ready Player One or Steven King's On Writing. If you need to clear a specific associative memory from a place you enjoy visiting, just keep visiting while listening to other audiobooks and you may lose that specific association.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#104

Post by thefalcon »

yawz wrote: post #102
z3t4 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

am i the only one that can remember where in the code something is located ? By remembering the shape of the code.

I can definitely relate to that.

Yeah, the document preview pane in Sublime Text is like a live satellite map of my code that gives me the ability to warp wherever I want.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#105

Post by agumonkey »

petra wrote: post #41
agumonkey wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm still not sure I approached a meditative state by "meditating". When I play drums I do get into a slight trance / bliss where I kinda become music and my mind shifts off.

The key to flow/meditativr-state is sussposed to be fitting the processing capability someone's brain has , to the task. That way all of your attention is given to a network called "task mode network" and no attention is left to the "default mode network " (which is resonsible for mental chatter and self in past/present) so the brain becomes quiet. So maybe there's a way to make chores more demanding of attention[1]…

I do that all the time. I think I did this from birth. Anything boring I twist it to make it "interesting". I achieved supposedly a 10x throughput increase in my last mission (stupid job though) by applying checking constraints so tight it was a choreography.

This doesn't work all the time though. I believe there are limits to ones ability to influence it's mental state. Last year, very sick, I could sense the calming effect of meditation. But tonight for instance, after a violent incident, my mind is racing.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#106

Post by AriaMinaei »

petra wrote: post #92
AriaMinaei wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's quite interesting. Any reading material about that?

Some of it from internet research about flow, so hard to pinpoint specific material. Some of it from this very good youtube lecture: "the end of suffering and the default mode network" .

Thank you. I'll make sure to watch it :)

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#107

Post by r00fus »

z3t4 wrote: post #69
Fricken wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's the loci method for memorization: The method of loci (loci being Latin for "places") is a method of memory enhancement which uses visualizations with the use of spatial memory, familiar information about one's environment, to quickly and efficiently recall information. The method of loci is also known as the memory journey, memory palace, or mind palace technique. Many memory contest champions claim to use th…

am i the only one that can remember where in the code something is located ? By remembering the shape of the code.

Probably why whitespace approach (tab =? Spaces) is so important to coders.

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#108

Post by [deleted] »

coldtea wrote: post #33
agentgt wrote: post #18

For those that want to perhaps burn more calories or for whatever reason want to make it more challenging I recommend rucking. That is take a backpack and put like 35 pounds in it. I highly recommend it.

How does that work for back health? Sounds something that will cause extra strain in an unstructured way.

[deleted]

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#109

Post by astrostl »

repeek wrote: post #38
coldtea wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does that work for back health? Sounds something that will cause extra strain in an unstructured way.

Rucking is more than dropping a kettlebell in a JanSport -- you will want a rucksack that is designed to properly support a balanced load on your back. I recently picked up a GoRuck GR1 [0] -- it's an amazing bag for everyday use. They also sell weighted ruck plates that fit the rucks and keep the load close to your body. [0] http://www.goruck.com/gr1-explained

Had never heard of this. Walk (and podcast) all the time for light exercise. Just ordered a GoRuck GR1, Field Pocket, and 20 LB plate. Thanks!

Re: Why Walking Helps Us Think (2014)

#110

Post by betenoire »

kazinator wrote: post #88

Walking helps us think only if we don't bring any modern distraction such as a mobile device. The main advantage of walking with regard to thinking is that we are away from such things and also away from people. Anyone who wants to get a hold of us to distract our thinking first has to figure out where we are and then track us down on foot. Experience shows that this doesn't happen, unless it's a very, very urgent ma…

I bet walking helped humans solve problems long before distracting gadgets existed.
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