I'm surprised they did not mention Einstein. From what I've read he loved to take walks.
The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)
81–90 of 166 posts
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)
#82I walk insane lengths as it clears the mind and fosters creativity. I talk into my phone during that; either to colleagues or to a recorder and then type it in at home (no, speech to text does not work; if someone wants to work with me to get that working, that would be great but for now, it does not even work a bit; only gibberish comes out; it seems to have something to do with my way of talking which I am trying t…
You have described my situation to a tee. It doesn't work in the city. It must be in nature, and I must be alone. Except rather than the nitty gritty implementation details, I limit my mental explorations during perambulations to the higher level abstractions of architectural matters. I even wrote a toy "mobile web dicta phone" that uses the media recording api because I wanted a single click, distraction free way to…
Note as well that I walk in nature whenever I walk and that means often bad or no internet: current voice to whatever solutions require internet and quite solid internet as far as I have seen...
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)
#83I walk insane lengths as it clears the mind and fosters creativity. I talk into my phone during that; either to colleagues or to a recorder and then type it in at home (no, speech to text does not work; if someone wants to work with me to get that working, that would be great but for now, it does not even work a bit; only gibberish comes out; it seems to have something to do with my way of talking which I am trying t…
> 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, hopefully it's not much more than a decade away.
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)
#84There 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,…
One hour of above moderate walk will do wonders. If you have subtly wild natural spots to go through, it's guaranteed. Japanese researchers are looking into the benefits of forest walking. There's a subtle complexity in non human processed places that tickle our senses in deep ways. It's as stressing as massaging.
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)
#85The problem with walking is that it does little to the body. Your heart rate stays normal, and thus it is not a cardiovascular exercise.
I just got up and took about 100 steps. According to my Fitbit Blaze, my heart rate went from 76bpm to 99bpm. That may not be great cardio exercise, but it makes a difference. I feel more alert already.
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
"but apparently in that area, just being out and about on foot was enough of a reason to be considered suspicious." Maybe, this is an American thing. Some colleagues of me explain how, in a job trip to Atlanta, they decide to go back to the hotel walking. They could see the hotel from where they were, so, why not? Sure enough, the police stopped them and wanted to know what was wrong. They have a lot of fun explainin…
Sometimes police will stop people who look the complete opposite of suspicious just to make sure they don't need help.
That stop is illegal under Terry if the police lack reasonable suspicion that the person is both armed and presently dangerous.
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)
#87Every day, I walk from the ferry building in SF to 4th Street and back for work. I look at it as the time I can enjoy the city and never (or try to never) think of issues I am having. It relieves a lot of stress, as I look at the faces of pasaers by, and the buildings.
Prior to college, during college, and even now, my wife/wife-to-be and I took an hour walk in the evening (and sometimes morning). It's something I always use(d) to relieve stress.
The thing is, most people thought we were kind of weird. Back where we are from we literally used to walk next or through corn fields and the town was definitely not design for walking. We made it work, but I can see why walking is dying a slow death.
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)
#88I love purposeless walks, but I think one of the quotes had a point about the self conscious nature of it. Even if you're inconspicuous about it people treat it like you're doing something weird. I blame suburbanization a bit. There are some neighborhoods where people just seem to assume you're there to rob the joint if you don't have a dog on a leash.
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)
#89There 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,…
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…
Nice story, it also reminds me that Farenheit 451 also featured the protagonist walking when everyone else is driving so it must have made an impact on him.
Re: The slow death of purposeless walking (2014)
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sometimes police will stop people who look the complete opposite of suspicious just to make sure they don't need help.
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.