
Why Walking Helps Us Think - chippy
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/walking-helps-us-think
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drostie
This is an unusually verbose article even for the New Yorker. The TL;DR
appears to be simply "increased heart rate," with no real citations to prove
it. And it just sounds a bit absurd. Increased heart rates don't have a
reliable correlation with creative thought. You can increase your heart rate
by watching a scary movie or pornography, but nobody that I know of reports
those being prime thinking times. Moreover, you can raise your heart rate
_even more_ by running, but people generally think of running as more
exhausting and less intellectual than walking. Meanwhile lots of good creative
thinking happens in a bathtub, which is sedentary.

I would have guessed that walking helps us think because it gets us to a
position where our problem isn't directly in front of us, nor are our
distractions. But I was really hoping to instead get some science about that
sort of thing. I mean, I guess it's cool to know that there are some mental
tests which some people are slightly worse at when walking, and the Nabokov
quote at the beginning was quite interesting even though it has absolutely
nothing to do with the article, but I'm just left... unsatisfied.

~~~
lacero
The connection between movement and the brain has recently been scientifically
established . A good breakdown can be found in the book "Spark: The
Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain Paperback – January 1,
2013 by John J. Ratey"

Basically movement, especially aerobic (walk, run, etc.) but also complex
movement (sports, music playing , martial arts) as explained in the book

1 causes neurogenesis (release of brain stem cells ) 2 increases the size of
your hippocampus and and improves memory 3 creates new brain circuits for the
movement but these circuits are able to be recruited by different tasks 4
increases the production and balance of neurotransmitters and other hormones 5
increases and regulates executive function And a lot more complex processes in
the brain. This occurs immediately but increases with more exercise . It's
interesting stuff and ratey explains well.

~~~
read
Thanks for this info. It will be interesting to read about how new brain
circuits are created with movement.

I originally suspected walking has more to do with psychology, specifically
paradoxic intention, than it does with physiology. That being easily
distracted allows your mind to drift, whereas aiming to solve a problem keeps
your mind stuck in the same unfruitful paths of thought. It's great that there
is some science behind it.

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tjradcliffe
I'm all for walking and find it does help my thinking, creative and otherwise,
but the line in the article "On average, the students thought of between four
and six more novel uses for the objects while they were walking than when they
were seated" is an example of extremely bad faux-science writing.

There is no mention of how many uses either group thought of, so that number
creates the impression of meaning while actually being completely meaningless.
Was the average number 5? Then doubling it is probably meaningful. Was the
average number 25? Then it's barely a one sigma effect.

It's also worth asking how representative the various tasks mentioned are. I
have never personally been faced with a problem where thinking of many novel
uses for an every-day object has come up, and I can't offhand think of any
real-world creative task that such an exercise maps to (although maybe if I go
for a walk one will come to me...)

Likewise, finding a word that unites a group of terms is something I've never
done, even though I'm a published poet.

There's nothing in the article that suggests walking is particularly special,
either. Canoeing and sailing are also things I find helpful for thinking. I
can speculate as to why (something about engaging the body and mind in a way
that is just distracting enough to free the mind and let it see alternative
paths forward?) but on the other hand, my cat often wakes me up a bit before
I'm quiet ready to get out of bed, and that ten or fifteen minutes of lying in
bed not quite awake are also very productive, mentally.

Talking to people about such things, or even reading the comments here, these
are not rare phenomena. So studies of this kind should not confine themselves
to walking/not-walking but look at a wider range of activities and ideas.

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chippy
I find walking incredibly useful when programming - for those moment where a
bit of lateral thinking is required, to think outside the box a little box, or
step out of the function and look at things anew.

As the article states, it's not very good at helping you solve a particular
logic problem though.

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tracker1
Hey, the box is there for a reason. I like thinking inside of it. I feel safe
in there.

[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Red_vs._Blue](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Red_vs._Blue)

~~~
chippy
Oh I spend most of my time thinking in the box. I find that when I'm out
walking I can see that box more clearly - I think that's part of the "out of
the box" thinking.

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phkahler
There is a relationship between walking and EMDR [http://www.emdr.com/general-
information/what-is-emdr.html](http://www.emdr.com/general-information/what-
is-emdr.html)

Since walking involves alternate motion of opposite sides of the body, and was
part of the activity someone was doing when EMDR was discovered.

Some think that alternately engaging the two sides of the brain causes an
increased activity in the corpus callosum, or something along those lines.

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eastbayjake
It's been a summer for walking at The New Yorker -- the author mentions Adam
Gopnik's piece, but David Sedaris also wrote in June about his obsession with
FitBit: [http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/30/stepping-
out-3](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/30/stepping-out-3)

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noir_lord
> Walking at our own pace creates an unadulterated feedback loop between the
> rhythm of our bodies and our mental state that we cannot experience as
> easily when we’re jogging at the gym, steering a car, biking, or during any
> other kind of locomotion.

As a keen cyclist I find the opposite I do my clearest thinking on a bike not
while walking (with the proviso I'm on a quiet road).

If I get really stuck on a problem I'll whip out for a quick 15 mile bike ride
then if I solve it great and if not at least I feel more relaxed when I get
back.

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diminish
soon google glass will ensure you can't think while walking neither.

~~~
smacktoward
Progress!

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anakha
Nassim Taleb of Black Swan book fame talks at length about being a flâneur and
how long walks help him think through ideas. He wrote an essay on the topic
also but it no longer appears to be available from his web site.

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Shivetya
I walk daily at work, years ago my work published two different "hearth
walks", quarter mile and full mile. The first is easy, walk through entry and
do the full length of the deck. Having done this for years people comment when
they don't see me. Its a quick little breather that serves two purposes, it
lets me soak in nature - the deck is bordered by dense woods - and I get a
reprieve from my desk.

throw in a good heartbeat app and I can push myself to 120+ beats for a good
burst of morning and afternoon energy.

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tamersalama
Any experiences with a walking-desk setup anyone would like to share ?

~~~
gwern
I've experimented a bit with a treadmill+laptop, but the first thing I tested
was my spaced repetition performance, which went down while using the
treadmill: [http://www.gwern.net/Treadmill#treadmill-effect-on-spaced-
re...](http://www.gwern.net/Treadmill#treadmill-effect-on-spaced-repetition-
performance-randomized-experiment) So I'm not sure if I want to continue
trying to use it or reserve the treadmill for winter when I can't take my
usual daily walks.

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bpodgursky
Totally unscientific, but my personal theory is that exposure to different
visual / audio stimulation can make the brain jump to different paths when
working on different problems, and taking a walk makes me experience more
stuff than I will by sitting in the same chair all the time.

The brain doesn't seem to work well in a vacuum, so if you spend all day
staring at the same four walls, it might let you focus, but there's not a lot
of entropy coming in to make you think in different ways.

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bramgg
I love walking. I enjoy long purposeful walks, but I also often find myself
pacing around the house when I hit a creative stump. That's when I get my best
ideas.

~~~
freehunter
I've been trying to find long, purposeless walks, but invariably I always end
up walking a circuit, so the purpose becomes "finish the circle and get back
to work". And I feel that takes something away from using a walk to get away
from stress, instead it becomes one more task I have yet to finish.

There's an arboretum here in town but it's a drive to get there. I wish I
lived next door to a forest.

~~~
chippy
Any coffee shops or bars that sell coffee on the way? Or perhaps a bus route
where you walk to the bus stop and get the bus back?

~~~
recalibrator
If going on a nature walk with a coffee in hand, people need to be prepared to
_hold on to the empty cup_ until they get to a garbage can.

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pbw
I think having no immediate stressors is what frees the mind. Part of our
brain loves stimulation but to function with massive amounts of stimulation
our brain has to work hard to surpress our impulses. Walking is just one way
to do that. Another is to just know all the time that things are going to be
fine.

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lukifer
I've found that this synergizes well with a standing desk: it becomes trivial
to pace for a few moments while thinking, and then jump right back in.

~~~
jrapdx3
I've tried out just about every chair/stool made for the purpose and none
satisfactorily fit my body's construction. I keep thinking I might have to
invent something that works for me.

Meanwhile I make do with an adjustable stool that's sorta OK at a desk height
greater than usual office furniture. I don't sit too long, getting up to stand
or move around pretty often.

Not sure how much this has to do with problem solving vs. dealing with
malformed bones and warped body structure. Maybe it just shows seeking comfort
is overrated.

Though I do like to walk and enjoy the scenery, the hectic crowds, or
especially the wonderful companionship of my wife. If inspiration strikes,
I'll try to hang on to it, though I rarely do. Amazing how often the idea
recurs when I can at last recapture it.

~~~
saraid216
The thing about standing desks is that you're supposed to _stand_ at them.

~~~
jrapdx3
Stand, of course, but manufacturers produce a number of seats or stools
designed to make it easy to transition from standing to seated to standing.

Makes sense. For some tasks standing all day at one spot would be too tiring.
This furniture is not cheap, obviously designed and sold for serious purposes.
There is a market, so I imagine there's reason for it.

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doctorstupid
Walking occupies the body and thus releases the mind.

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vijaykumar13
Wow no wonder, I feel good and relaxed after the morning walk around the park,
looking at the green plants and happy people.

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melipone
It's funny that dogs love to go on a walk too. All the different smells are so
stimulating for them.

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rem7
Or just jump in the shower if I'm too lazy to walk

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afafsd
I bet if I had a treadmill in my shower I'd have twice as many good ideas.

~~~
djrogers
And twice as many ER visits!

That sounds like an awesome challenge for a Japanese game show - soapy shower
treadmill walk...

