Why walking helps us think.

[Tim Cheek]

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/walking-helps-us-think

[Ralph Burgess]

The author of that article (Ferris Jabr) has a rare combination of (literature) literacy and scientific literacy. That was a really enjoyable read.

The experimental psychology paper… pretty funny that almost everything we learn from experimental psychology about human nature comes from this subset of the population: "Participants. Undergraduate psychology students (N 48) were drawn equally from a community college and a private university. All students received course credit."
And a little surprising that it didn't occur to the authors to control for the order in which the subjects did the tests until Expt 2 – in Expt 1 they all did the tests sitting first, walking second. My guess is that a student designed Expt 1, found a strong effect, then the supervisor was all over it, hey we've got a publication here!

[John S.]

But that aritcle pic looks like Bigfoot.

[Rex Sanders]

I thought I was strange because ideas come pouring out when I walk. That's why I carry a voice recorder to capture ideas.

One critical point left out of the original article: Walking alone lets ideas flow. Walking with someone else, even in silence, is a very different mental experience.

Thanks for pointing out this article.

— Rex

[Author]

Posts