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The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

bbc.co.uk

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Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#111

Post by vram22 »

Spooky23 wrote: post #102
kleiba wrote: post #11

There were times in my life (thesis writing) where I'd go and sit in the library all day to work and come home in the early evening. The psychological stress on me during that time was tremendous. Every evening, after coming home, I'd have a small dinner and then go for a one-hour walk, always the same route. At that time, I lived in a small town, and my route would take me down a dead-end street, across another one,…

A guy I went to high school with is in the process of walking across the United States. He's pushing his gear in a cart that looks like a baby carriage. His first week on the road, someone frantically called the cops to report a man walking down the road with a dead baby in a stroller.

>walking across the United States

Long back I had read an article or series in National Geographic about an American who did that - walked from coast to coast. Great story.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#112

Post by neurobuddha »

neurobuddha wrote: post #73

I go on longs walks a lot, and a few months ago I bought a poker stick to pick up the plastic bottles I see littered everywhere. My walks are no longer purposeless, but I feel better when I come back with a garbage bag of plastic that will be recycled rather then end up in our soil and water supply. Here's the poker stick I bought: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B0042SNCGA/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UT...

That product page is the mobile version. Here is a better shot: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0042SNCGA/ref=oh_aui_detai...

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#113

Post by JustSomeNobody »

aninhumer wrote: post #90
greenleafjacob wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That stop is illegal under Terry if the police lack reasonable suspicion that the person is both armed and presently dangerous.

I'd guess that in the context the parent is talking about, "stop" just means driving up and talking to them, not actively detaining them.

Yes, this is what I meant.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#114

Post by cableshaft »

Chris2048 wrote: post #96
cableshaft wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I want to be able to program while walking... That's why Google glasses got me excited, as it's a step towards that direction. I don't see this being too viable until I can control the computer with my thoughts, though, so we need the microchip in the brain (or something similar) still too. But then I could work outside, walk while working, not be tethered to a desk or table all day. Can't wait for that time, hopef…

> I want to be able to program while walking... Won't help the "bus factor"...

If by 'bus factor' you mean not noticing a city bus running me over, well I don't plan to do the walking on a city street, but in a park or forest preserve. There's a bunch near me. The chances of being hit by a bus would be borderline non-existent, and I'd expect the view to be fairly translucent by default anyway.

If by 'bus factor' you mean the business term of concentrating too much knowledge in one person and suddenly losing them (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_factor), then that's something the company should already be taking into account anyway.

If by 'bus factor' you mean something regarding a computer system bus, like maybe it's too much info to carry and display portably maybe then you'll have to elaborate.

If by 'bus factor' you mean communication bandwidth or capability between me and these types of devices still being fairly non-existent, that's my reasoning for expecting there will be a microchip or something that allows me to direct any mouse/keyboard movements (or their equivalent) with my thoughts. Because having to gesture hololens style or dictating everything or navigating with a single button on the side of my glasses would suck, yes.

Might want to be a little more specific next time instead of throwing out a term without context.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#115

Post by ethanbond »

coldtea wrote: post #104
ethanbond wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Younger US cities aren't designed for walking so yes it looks weird when you're walking around. I don't know anything about Atlanta but in Arizona, per parent comment's story, for example, it's strange to see people walking around because it's way too hot in 80% of the state to walk around for leisure. On top of that, the towns are so spread out that it makes no sense to walk from point A to point B. So if people are…

> I don't know anything about Atlanta but in Arizona, per parent comment's story, for example, it's strange to see people walking around because it's way too hot in 80% of the state to walk around for leisure. I don't think it has anything to do with the temperature. You see tons of people walking around in cities in equally hot or hotter climates, from Cairo to the tropics...

EDIT: Leaving my comment for posterity, but on second thought with a bit of reframing, I think you're right. If it weren't quite as hot out, people probably still wouldn't walk around all that much. This can probably be attributed to the horrible experiment that is The American Suburb.

ORIGINAL: You're overlooking a lot of important factors.

Distance: I highly doubt people in Cairo are walking 10+ miles to the nearest market.

Attire: If walking around in the summer in Arizona raises suspicion, I cringe to imagine what suspicions would be raised by doing so in long flowing robes that cover skin head to toe.

Sweat: In my experience in the tropics, being a bit sweaty is quite normal and acceptable. In The South (the southeast) it seems more acceptable, but in the dry Arizona desert, it's not quite normal to be drenched in sweat.

Air conditioning: AC is everywhere in Arizona. As such, the mode of survival is getting from AC to AC as quickly as possible. If AC weren't everywhere, people would probably find sweat more acceptable, but... it is.

Skin tone: I'm pasty white and was born and raised in Arizona. In my travels to the tropics I never once ran into a person as white as me who enjoyed walking in the heat.

All of these together make walking pretty rare. Sure, if people didn't have another option besides walking you'd have a population of fit, well-tanned Arizonians all over the streets. Markets would probably be built closer to homes and suburbs would shrink. People wouldn't need cars and would probably be more comfortable without AC 24/7. As a result, a bit of sweatiness would come to be expected and wouldn't be a source of self-awareness. But that's not the reality of that region.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#116

Post by chippy »

noonespecial wrote: post #106
VMG wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of this story https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pedestrian > Eller writes that Bradbury's inspiration for the story came when he was walking down Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles with a friend sometime in late 1949. On their walk, a police cruiser pulled up and asked what they were doing. Bradbury answered, "Well, we're putting one foot in front of the other." The policemen didn't appreciate Ray's joke an…

This happened to me in a small rural town in Iowa in 2013. It was so rare to see a younger guy in a hoodie walking around my parents' neighborhood that residents called the police. I was taken back to my parents house in the back of a squad car to "verify my identity". I was curtly informed that "just going for a walk" was probably not a good idea. I have never felt more dystopian.

talk to your local volunteer politicians, you know, the ones on your town council, who may well be ex hippies, or at least understand what you are concerned about.

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#117

Post by antognini »

christophilus wrote: post #71
1782635782 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having the time and energy to go aimlessly wandering was a luxurious privilege until very recently You just made this up.... Firstly, you have never been around since the beginning of humans, and secondly, you haven't even read any history books if you think humans have always been extremely busy and that somehow they are not now. The opposite is actually true. Humans have had a lot more free time in the past. It i…

Yeah. A political scientist I know told me that at some points in Catholic history people had almost 1/3rd of the year off. I couldn't find a reference for that, but this site indicates about 1/4 of the year off as leisure time: "Altogether there were about 80 days of complete rest with over 70 partial holidays, that is, about three months of rest spread over the year." http://www.traditioninaction.org/History/A_021_…

Unofficially, there was also good ol' Saint Monday.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Monday

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#118

Post by SilasX »

kleiba wrote: post #11

There were times in my life (thesis writing) where I'd go and sit in the library all day to work and come home in the early evening. The psychological stress on me during that time was tremendous. Every evening, after coming home, I'd have a small dinner and then go for a one-hour walk, always the same route. At that time, I lived in a small town, and my route would take me down a dead-end street, across another one,…

In college (small Texas city), I lived in an apartment just catty-corner to the university, but some parts of it lacked a sidewalk (though still had a curb). When taking the 10-minute walk home, some people would stop and assume I needed a ride!

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#119

Post by chippy »

lmm wrote: post #74
GrinningFool wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cool thing about it is that it's an easy thing to try for yourself [assuming you're not physically unable] and gather your own evidence. I can't believe these words are about to come off of my fingers, but -- if it works for you, then does it matter what a body of scientific research has to say about it? Because the benefits are at least in part subjective, this is a case where a sample size of one is sufficient.

I asked precisely because it doesn't work for me. As far as I can tell the article is nonsense. But I wouldn't necessarily know whether I was being more or less creative, so actual evidence would trump my personal experience there.

What are the conditions of your experiment? What are you wanting to measure?

Just a measure of creativity?

How about incorporating other factors as mentioned in these comments, some do seem more measurable than others.

Ironically, I think that walking to increase creativity, calmness, clarity of mind, reduce stress, increase fitness, etc is actually purposeful walking. Walking to not get any advantages is more of an interesting phenomena. Why do people do that?

Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)

#120

Post by chippy »

amelius wrote: post #27
Xylakant wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does it need to do something to your body? Wouldn't it be good enough if it does something beneficial to your mind? Apart from that, go for a stiff 2 hour walk and then come back and tell me that it didn't do anything to your body. It's certainly not extreme sports, but it's still exercise, at least for your legs and your whole motion apparatus.

> Why does it need to do something to your body? Wouldn't it be good enough if it does something beneficial to your mind? Well, why not ride a bicycle, and let both your mind AND your body benefit? > Apart from that, go for a stiff 2 hour walk and then come back and tell me that it didn't do anything to your body. I've tried this. I walked 1.5 hours a day, 5 times a week for about a year. Didn't lose a gram of body w…

>> Why does it need to do something to your body? Wouldn't it be good enough if it does something beneficial to your mind?

> Well, why not ride a bicycle, and let both your mind AND your body benefit?

Does that make walking a problem, compared to cycling?

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