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Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)

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Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)

#231

Post by ErroneousBosh »

momojo wrote: post #218
ErroneousBosh wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up driving tractors and diggers, it's a very similar thing. Up and down, up and down, Perkins AD3 at 1700rpm for 540rpm PTO shaft speed, it all sounds like a mantra. Write a prayer on a strip of paper, wrap it round the shaft, offer up a prayer nine times a second.

Poetry. I'm not Buddhist but I find the 'metaphysics' of their prayer wheels fascinating.

I'm not a Buddhist either but the Tao helps me find the Way to accept diesel being nearly two quid a litre right when the good weather starts and all the fields need worked.

Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)

#232

Post by elevation »

donatj wrote: post #12

Days after I graduated high school in 2004, my parents moved me and my family out to a 15 acre property in the middle of nowhere. Mowing the lawn on a riding mower was an all-day affair. The time I spent on that mower with just my own thoughts were some of the most meditative and creative of my life.

> some of the most meditative and creative of my life

This sounds like a worthy pursuit. We control the most powerful machines to ever have existed, yet it's all too easy to use them for anesthetic distraction. Offline relationship and meditation help develop our capacity to use these machines for something better.

Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)

#233

Post by ongytenes »

Thomas Edison believed there wasn't a future in alternating current as "a motor won't run it"

Nicolas Tesla wrestled with this problem and one morning while strolling, he looked towards the sun and seen the fog had produced a halo around it. It was the moment he had his epiphany on how he could make an AC motor.

Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)

#234

Post by catuscubitus »

abustamam wrote: post #219
stego-tech wrote: post #42

I was a doubter until COVID. Then I built a habit of 30 to 60+ minutes of walking a day, ~1.5 to 5mi depending on length and pace. Geez , the amount of stuff I got done, problems I solved, and general boost to well-being I achieved was lost on me until a job pushed those walks out of the workday. My productivity wasn’t the same. Definitely going to block off a walk around the harbor during most workdays going forward…

I'm convinced that humans can't (or at least, shouldn't) actually work 8h a day. I'd argue that taking an hour to exercise or walk during the work day and working maybe 6 hours would make people more productive and happier than just working 8h. Unfortunately management thinks that lines of code written or token usage or seats in butts or {insert random quantitative metric} equals peak productivity.

I argue that taking a minute or two every hour or so to do a few reps of an exercise clears people's thinking, lends perspective, provides fresh ideas, is great for general mental health, and hence, makes people more productive and happier than sitting for 8 hours or more and going to a gym after.

Small training sessions at work, throughout the day, are also great to build a strong team spirit and feel pumped all day. Unfortunately, people tend to rigidly compartmentalize rather than seamlessly integrate physical activity into their lifestyles.

Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)

#235

Post by fipar »

stego-tech wrote: post #42

I was a doubter until COVID. Then I built a habit of 30 to 60+ minutes of walking a day, ~1.5 to 5mi depending on length and pace. Geez , the amount of stuff I got done, problems I solved, and general boost to well-being I achieved was lost on me until a job pushed those walks out of the workday. My productivity wasn’t the same. Definitely going to block off a walk around the harbor during most workdays going forward…

Besides the productivity boost (and I know you already mention a boost to your well-being), this is one of the simplest yet effective things you can do to improve your cardiovascular health. I had a heart attack at 40 and 30 mins a day is the minimum recommended, so 60+ is great.

But back to your productivity angle: Stephen Wolfram wrote about the productivity benefits (for him) of walking while working: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-prod...

Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)

#236

Post by Nevermark »

QuercusMax wrote: post #217
Nevermark wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jumping spiders are extremely intelligent for their size. Something they do when they encounter a complex problem is sit and apparently simulate potential solutions until they settle on a plan. Their solutions can involve indirect routes, paths that initially increase the distance to their targets, etc. Walking, or jumping, is inherent to their existence. But the ability to wait and iterate on possibilities is uncomm…

Would be fun to see if they could learn to think with Portals

We might found out that not having our assumptions about topology gives them an advantage on us!

They might be well adapted to twisty little passages too.

Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)

#237

Post by QuercusMax »

Nevermark wrote: post #236
QuercusMax wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would be fun to see if they could learn to think with Portals

We might found out that not having our assumptions about topology gives them an advantage on us! They might be well adapted to twisty little passages too.

maybe someday we can put spiders in a VR harness, like we can do with mice now...

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-024-02554-6 "Moculus"

Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)

#238

Post by pugworthy »

During COVID I started taking almost daily walks as I drank from the firehose of taking over the code base for a mature software product.

I started tracked the walks using the CityStrides website which made it into a fun challenge. CityStrides lets you mark off streets in a city as "completed" once you've hit all the points on the street according to OpenStreetMap data. The goal being, if you so choose, to visit every street in your town.

I did manage to make 100% of all streets in my town - 300 some miles total? It's a really nice way to get out and about while learning more about where you live.

Re: Taking a walk may lead to more creativity than sitting, study finds (2014)

#240

Post by abustamam »

catuscubitus wrote: post #234
abustamam wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm convinced that humans can't (or at least, shouldn't) actually work 8h a day. I'd argue that taking an hour to exercise or walk during the work day and working maybe 6 hours would make people more productive and happier than just working 8h. Unfortunately management thinks that lines of code written or token usage or seats in butts or {insert random quantitative metric} equals peak productivity.

I argue that taking a minute or two every hour or so to do a few reps of an exercise clears people's thinking, lends perspective, provides fresh ideas, is great for general mental health, and hence, makes people more productive and happier than sitting for 8 hours or more and going to a gym after. Small training sessions at work, throughout the day, are also great to build a strong team spirit and feel pumped all day…

I tend to agree. I had a gym trainer tell me that the best way for me to learn to do 100 pull-ups in a row (ie the Murph challenge) was to do a few pull-ups every hour or so (grease the groove) until I can do 100 in a day. Then just keep improving from there.

So it's good for strength too!

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