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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)

#61

Hardest part is forcing yourself to leave the computer

Especially with a bug. Why think about it when you can just feed a stack trace to AI and wait 2 more minutes?

And then it wants to edit some random upstream file that is not relevant to the task at hand and we should not edit it, so you tell it “and only edit the files affected by this commit”, and wait two more minutes.

And now it deletes a test, so you tell it “and don’t delete any tests”, and wait two more minutes.

And now it adds logic to disable the core functionality, so now you tell it “and don’t disable the core functionality”, and wait two more minutes.

Etc

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

#62

Unless you like me, like to walk fast so you go back home ungrier than never because: 1. people walking like turtle in front of you 2. people on phone not looking at where they go 3. both

I've become very adept at passing inattentive/slow walkers and maneuvering through the cbd. I dont understand why the vast majority of people walk. so. damned. slow. (not not pay attention to their surroundings.)

I'm a largish guy as well so it probably helps that when people see me coming they get out of the way :-P

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

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you listen to anything while walking, or just listen to nothing while letting your mind clear itself?

I don’t walk but I run 60-120 min 4-5x a week and could not imagine doing so with headphones. Firmly believe we need time away from the constant stimulation of modern life.

I wish I could do the same, but the running(even at low pace like 6mph) is too taxing without something fun to listen to

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

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t walk but I run 60-120 min 4-5x a week and could not imagine doing so with headphones. Firmly believe we need time away from the constant stimulation of modern life.

I wish I could do the same, but the running(even at low pace like 6mph) is too taxing without something fun to listen to

Too taxing in what sense? Too boring? Too hard? If it’s the later, slow down to a brisk walk to build some stamina.

If it’s the former, start watching your surroundings. There’s a ton of things that are fun to watch.

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

#66
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you listen to anything while walking, or just listen to nothing while letting your mind clear itself?

Not OP, but it has to be a walk with no headphones for me. As I walk, thoughts seem to bubble up from my subconscious and present themselves for consideration. This doesn’t happen as often if I’m listening to music.

I decided to go offline for this summer. I got a dumb phone and a card for public transportation, instead of the app I'm using now.

Downtime from the algorithmic manipulation has been the breeding ground for my creativity and this is one more step to this direction.

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

#67
post #66
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP, but it has to be a walk with no headphones for me. As I walk, thoughts seem to bubble up from my subconscious and present themselves for consideration. This doesn’t happen as often if I’m listening to music.

I decided to go offline for this summer. I got a dumb phone and a card for public transportation, instead of the app I'm using now. Downtime from the algorithmic manipulation has been the breeding ground for my creativity and this is one more step to this direction.

I wish more people knew you can turn iPhones and Androids into dumbphones through MDM and other methods. It would save people money , you wouldn't have to sacrifice security, and they wouldn't complain about losing Google maps or Signal.

Result is no ability to install apps and no web browsing. It's really a smart, smartphone because you get the benefits of it being smart without becoming dumb through the distractions.

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

#69
post #52
post #45

It makes sense. It hard to think creatively when your environment is stagnant. You need some new sights and sounds to kick things along, especially when you’re stuck on something. I like the story of Shigeru Miyamoto getting the idea for flying through archways in Star Fox from walking through archways in a Shinto shrine near the Nintendo headquarters. It wasn’t from playing other video games or reading about game de…

I have really noticed recently that a lot of modern media (film, TV, videogames, etc) seems much more based on prior media than on the author's experience of the world. Like everything is now operating at a meta level. It's a little sad.

I wrote a response to this, but then I realised I was responding to the claim that modern media was more derivative, rather than what you actually said, which was that modern media is more _meta_.

Can you go into that a little more? Do you have specific examples that make you sad?

The first example that comes to my mind is the show Community, which I really enjoy, and which doesn't make me sad at all.

P.S. an article I linked to in my original response was https://www.filfre.net/2025/01/the-crpg-renaissance-part-1-f... which I mentioned as it talks about a historical standout in the genre but puts it in the context of the copycats and the schlock. It's now irrelevant to my comment, but I'd like to link to it anyway.

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

#70
Any form of exercise helps. Do not think of one second that it's only for your body -- it's equally important for your mind. I used to ride by bike by the coast every night, 365 days a year, 20km loop for exactly 40 mins. I couldn't have survived all the stress from work without it. Absolutely a lifeline. Don't keep reading my thread, go for a walk!
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