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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]

#151

Post by bbig »

bjarneh wrote: post #38
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 (~12.5 mi) That is some serious distance. I remember thinking I would be able to do at least 25-35 km per day, a few years ago when I walked parts of the camino de Santiago in Spain. Blisters and destroyed feet in just a few days, not ever reaching 30 km per day I think.. How long did it take you to get used to this kind of distance daily?

I had a good baseline fitness from other activities, so was able to pretty much launch into 20 km daily.

Blisters happened at the beginning. Investing in Darn Tough socks helps.

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

#152

Post by nestorD »

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…

The method of loci is about imagining going down a known path while memorizing a list of items. It is an extremely powerful mnemotecnic device (improved versions are used in world competitions and on stage).

What you stumbled upon is the existing mental process that is emulated by the method. I am only aware of two description of this (binding place to information while you are in the place): a Greek legend and Australian aboriginals practices.

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

#154

Post by kabdib »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #141
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 worry that listening to audiobooks and podcasts negate the creativity boost that a walk provides. You're no longer walking and thinking but walking and consuming passive entertainment. The mind is not free to wander.

For exercise, I walk with audiobooks. They're great for this.

Figured out 30 years ago that I can't think independent thoughts with one of those going, though.

For thinking, I walk with nothing. If I want to remember something, I'll do something out of the ordinary as a reminder (e.g., transfer my keys or phone to a different pocket, or pick up a pebble and carry it) and write it down at the end of the walk. Notebooks seem to chase ideas away.

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

#155

Post by signaru »

fizwidget wrote: post #30
signaru wrote: post #14

This could be part of why work from home doesn't work for me. I missed having spacious work areas, given my crammed apartment unit. I can simulate the walking for travel to work but that comes in bursts at set times, unlike just walking within a building anytime I feel like it.

Might be a silly question, but why not walk outdoors? I find this a lot more enjoyable, though I guess it’d depend a lot on how foot-friendly your local area is.

I do this every now and then, but this becomes a conscious decision with tradeoffs when I work from home, so I cannot do it daily. I'm not immediately surrounded by conducive walking areas, so there's a threshold of effort and time commitment before reaching the better places. When I go to a workplace, there's no decision to make I just have to walk without question.

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

#156

Post by wonderingwhale »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #141
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 worry that listening to audiobooks and podcasts negate the creativity boost that a walk provides. You're no longer walking and thinking but walking and consuming passive entertainment. The mind is not free to wander.

I have to agree with this, and recently I have stopped listening to music on my bike ride commute. It makes me think about things and give me the ability to actually progress on thoughts. I feel like this is more and more becoming something you have to actively do, with the easy distractions of social media and alike.

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

#158

Post by resalisbury »

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…

Location's ability to trigger memories is why we say things like "In the first place". Roman senators used this trick to memorize lengthy orations by "bookmarking" key parts of their speech to physical locations and then would "walk" through it live.

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

#160

Post by Ebree »

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…

What do you think animals use memory for? Mapping terrain & connecting it with life preserving data. That's why best memorising technics are sequences and memory palace. Walking you add spacing splitting materiał binding it with other locatin and when you repeat the same walk path repeat learnt material in sequence memorising it stronger by retrieving/recall. Also while walking you use slow thinking system and balanced regular breathing improving cognition. Plato was walking, guy who wrote thinking fast and slow too while working with collaborator. this should help: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5780548/
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