The positive effect of walking on creative thinking (2014) [pdf] • Hacker News Board

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

#171

Post by wolftickets » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 12:58 PM UTC

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…

There’s actually a huge volume of research on spatial components mapping to memory. Check out the book: Moonwalking with Einstein for proper citations.

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

#172

Post by OhHiMarkos » Thu, Nov 17, 2022, 3:03 PM UTC

baxtr wrote: post #59

marban wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No kids and never worked on someone else's schedule (mid 40s). I do a lot of email and conceptional work while walking so it's technically not leisure time.

Same here. I mostly work while walking. But, I do have a family and meetings for my clients.

How can one work while walking?

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

#173

Post by Doxin » Fri, Nov 18, 2022, 7:49 AM UTC

mhitza wrote: post #91

accrual wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any socks you recommend? I've had good luck with Darn Tough socks, but I'd be interested in something better if available.

Merino wool socks are definitely what I'd recommend for trekking.

Socks with a high percentage of wool are amazing if you've got even remotely sweaty feet. You can be having a complete swamp in your shoes and still have warm feet.

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

#174

Post by Eupraxias » Wed, Nov 23, 2022, 4:54 PM UTC

Eupraxias wrote: post #150

leobg wrote: post #7

"Sit as little as possible; do not believe any idea that was not born in the open air and of free movement — in which the muscles do not also revel… Sitting still… is the real sin against the Holy Ghost." -Nietzsche In fact, he composed most of his works during long walks: "I would walk for six or eight hours a day, composing thoughts that I would later jot down on paper."

For anyone interested, read on the Peripatetic School, and the practice of walking and talking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripatetic_school I have always loved the idea of a College course being taught while strolling the campus (for certain subjects). I once wrote a work of philosophy that was written on foot and edited while sitting.

And it appears someone wrote a book on the topic here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18339944-a-philosophy-of...

From the page:

"In A Philosophy of Walking, leading thinker Frédéric Gros charts the many different ways we get from A to B - the pilgrimage, the promenade, the protest march, the nature ramble - and reveals what they say about us.

Gros draws attention to other thinkers who also saw walking as something central to their practice. On his travels he ponders Thoreau's eager seclusion in Walden Woods; the reason Rimbaud walked in a fury, while Nerval rambled to cure his melancholy. He shows us how Rousseau walked in order to think, while Nietzsche wandered the mountainside to write. In contrast, Kant marched through his hometown every day, exactly at the same hour, to escape the compulsion of thought. Brilliant and erudite, A Philosophy of Walking is an entertaining and insightful manifesto for putting one foot in front of the other."