I should probably not steal the pre-existing word “focus”. I figured my meaning fell somewhere within the smear of existing meanings, but it sounds like it didn’t, and we should use a different word.
The post neither pre-supposes an interest in meditation, nor supplies a convincing argument for its benefits. To me the tone of the piece indicates a sort of subtext: “if you feel like reading or trying, then read or try. If not, then don’t.” In my mind it’s meant to offer the interested but skeptical a method with low activation energy that doesn’t fail the outside view (ie look asinine or cultish).
With you, I failed to sell low activation energy, because your walks already have something that’s not worth frittering away. So do mine, so it’s worth being more explicit here in the comments: I spend maybe 5% of my total walk time meditating. The cost is not nothing, but it’s small. The gain is an ability to capitalize on the ideas I have during the other 95%, by more effectively fixing on them during non-walk time.
I don’t think I can demonstrate that value, can’t provide evidence. What I can offer is another outside view argument: I’m one of the walking tribe (eg, http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27186709), I walk for hours every week, I did not choose this lightly, and I still found it to be beneficial.
To your and habryka’s comments:
I should probably not steal the pre-existing word “focus”. I figured my meaning fell somewhere within the smear of existing meanings, but it sounds like it didn’t, and we should use a different word.
The post neither pre-supposes an interest in meditation, nor supplies a convincing argument for its benefits. To me the tone of the piece indicates a sort of subtext: “if you feel like reading or trying, then read or try. If not, then don’t.” In my mind it’s meant to offer the interested but skeptical a method with low activation energy that doesn’t fail the outside view (ie look asinine or cultish).
With you, I failed to sell low activation energy, because your walks already have something that’s not worth frittering away. So do mine, so it’s worth being more explicit here in the comments: I spend maybe 5% of my total walk time meditating. The cost is not nothing, but it’s small. The gain is an ability to capitalize on the ideas I have during the other 95%, by more effectively fixing on them during non-walk time.
I don’t think I can demonstrate that value, can’t provide evidence. What I can offer is another outside view argument: I’m one of the walking tribe (eg, http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27186709), I walk for hours every week, I did not choose this lightly, and I still found it to be beneficial.
To paraphrase your third paragraph: Try or try not. There is no “do!”. (Sorry.)