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I have become addicted to having long thinking session in the shower. I probably shower too much. I often go in there. Make sure all lights are off. Usually

I have become addicted to having long thinking session in the shower. I probably shower too much. I often go in there. Make sure all lights are off. Usually sit or lay in bathtub with just shower on. Close eyes and relax and think(and daydream). It's sorta like a combination massage / isolation chamber effect for me. Spending time doing this daily keeps me centered, focused, clear minded, and lastly reduces any temporary stress I have.

phil21 10y ago
And people call me weird for this! It's about the closest thing the average person has in their house to an isolation chamber. I find it very beneficial to retreat to it after I get stuck on a problem and need to approach it differently. Continuous water heaters are a must though :)
- dgfgfdagasdfgfa 10y ago
  It's also extremely resource intensive unless you recycle your waste water; nothing wrong with baths!
  - brianwawok 10y ago
    Google tells me the average bath uses 35-50 gallons of water, while the average shower uses 2 gallons per minute. Which puts the breakeven point at say 15-25 minutes. Although if you live in the midwest like I do, we have infinite water. Use more water? it goes back to lake Michigan and recycled. The gas to heat the water is the only "waste", but you could offset with a solar panel.
    - loeg 10y ago
      Creating potable drinking water from natural sources requires a little energy. You will probably notice it in your water bill if you start showering twice as long.
      - jstimpfle 10y ago
        I'd expect that showering twice as long would not mean twice the energy required to make that water potable again.
        coldtea 10y ago
        Why wouldn't it mean that? It would be twice the amount of water. Why wouldn't the energy required be at least linearly correlated with the water amount?
        jstimpfle 10y ago
        While it's twice the amount of water, the water is not as dirty (when you shower twice as long you may not be twice as dirty and may not be using twice the amount of shampoo). Is that reasoning unrealistic? I don't know a first thing about water treatment.
        loeg 10y ago
        For drinking water, we typically process relatively clean sources of water to begin with, not wastewater. It will vary by region. (I don't think anywhere actually starts with wastewater rather than some more convenient and clean local source, outside of fiction like "Dune.") To take a local example I am familiar with — Seattle gets most of its drinking water from the Cedar River watershed (rainwater). It is a relatively pristine source. Wastewater, including shower output, is treated and released into Puget Sound[0] (the ocean). The only way that ocean water makes it back into the drinking supply is via ordinary evaporation and rain. So the treatment required on the second quantity of water is exactly the same as on the first, and you get linearly increasing cost. [0]: http://your.kingcounty.gov/ftp/gis/Web/VMC/utilities/system_flow_11x17.pdf http://your.kingcounty.gov/ftp/gis/Web/VMC/utilities/system_...
    - bsaul 10y ago
      or you do it like in japan : they have a bathtube filled with water that you reheat when you want to have a bath, but you actually clean yourself before going inside.
      - brianwawok 10y ago
        That's a hot tub in the US... Which generally stay hot all the time and cost about $30 a month in energy costs.
- autokad 10y ago
  if i didnt have roomates i would put a white board in the shower
  - coldtea 10y ago
    You can still put one there -- they'll just be able to use it to.
bootload 10y ago
When you learn things, you do so in a focused mode using working memory. Working memory can be thought of as a re-wipeable white/black board. The information,skill,idea is called a CHUNK and is encoded into a weak neural loop . You strengthen loose understanding through practice and repetition. A chunk has no context. Context is how a chunk fits into the big picture of what you already know. At a neural level, context means neurons are making new connections. Think of a chunk as the WHAT. The context as HOW you use the chunk you are learning. For a learned chunk to be useful, you need to know HOW a chunk is useful. You need to know the CONTEXT. Context is knowing the HOW and WHEN to use what you have learned. If you change from focused learning to relaxation, you can let your un-focused mind create these connections. [0] By letting the brain drift into diffuse mode (unfocused attention), you are making connections between chunks, creating context. The brain is doing this at a lower level of conscience by sleeping or relaxing or changing focus. You use a bath, Darwin had his ^thinking path^ for the same reasons. [1],[2] Reference [0] https://www.brainscape.com/blog/2016/08/better-learning-focused-vs-diffuse-thinking/ https://www.brainscape.com/blog/2016/08/better-learning-focu... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin [2] "Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects" ~ https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn
- hueving 10y ago
  Is there any science behind Chunks, or is it just a seemingly useful way to model learning?
  - bootload 10y ago
    The science underpinning the idea of learning, memory, recall and is based/described in neuroscience at at cellular level. So you can read papers. The coursework is really at a more abstracted level describing the processes as a model based on cited research. This is a high level course to improve learning, not STEM as such. Still very useful. Chunking is described in more detail at Week2 https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn/home/week/2 https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn/home/we... and books: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101982853/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=learningho0a9-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1101982853&linkId=f38b0f0bf9f04b8830adc9b9d6df47a9 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101982853/ref=as_li_qf_sp... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544456238/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=learningho0a9-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0544456238&linkId=43f3a7bff9f00f282182cf825f4a09f5 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544456238/ref=as_li_qf_sp... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743277465/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=learningho0a9-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0743277465&linkId=5056f0364b1965e3b78fd6ed1879b04c https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743277465/ref=as_li_qf_sp... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674729013/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=learningho0a9-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0674729013&linkId=f278bfbdbd7462ea2d0a321bcb59b894 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674729013/ref=as_li_qf_sp... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1579220541/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=learningho0a9-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1579220541&linkId=527c6ac2c4aad9d550e9992152bb27e6 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1579220541/ref=as_li_qf_sp...
ehnto 10y ago
A nice long bath, laying down with a full length album, or driving in the hills. Those are my daydreaming states. I have also begun to note a new state that I let go missing, and that is being thoughtless. It is really hard for me to achieve but I can in situations like focusing on music or on the opposite spectrum, motorsport. I always think so much more clearly afterward.
johnchristopher 10y ago
It seems that doing that everyday isn't that good for the skin. I read a good article about that the other day but it's in french. http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/cleansing/myths/hot-showers-bad.htm http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/cleansing/myths/ho... first google results
foxhop 10y ago
I started doing this and then started feeling bad about all the energy and water being used. I thought about filling the tub with hot water and purchasing a high powered pump to circulate water to produce a shower effect.

phil21 10y ago

And people call me weird for this! It's about the closest thing the average person has in their house to an isolation chamber. I find it very beneficial to retreat to it after I get stuck on a problem and need to approach it differently. Continuous water heaters are a must though :)

dgfgfdagasdfgfa 10y ago
It's also extremely resource intensive unless you recycle your waste water; nothing wrong with baths!
- brianwawok 10y ago
  Google tells me the average bath uses 35-50 gallons of water, while the average shower uses 2 gallons per minute. Which puts the breakeven point at say 15-25 minutes. Although if you live in the midwest like I do, we have infinite water. Use more water? it goes back to lake Michigan and recycled. The gas to heat the water is the only "waste", but you could offset with a solar panel.
  - loeg 10y ago
    Creating potable drinking water from natural sources requires a little energy. You will probably notice it in your water bill if you start showering twice as long.
    - jstimpfle 10y ago
      I'd expect that showering twice as long would not mean twice the energy required to make that water potable again.
      - coldtea 10y ago
        Why wouldn't it mean that? It would be twice the amount of water. Why wouldn't the energy required be at least linearly correlated with the water amount?
        jstimpfle 10y ago
        While it's twice the amount of water, the water is not as dirty (when you shower twice as long you may not be twice as dirty and may not be using twice the amount of shampoo). Is that reasoning unrealistic? I don't know a first thing about water treatment.
        loeg 10y ago
        For drinking water, we typically process relatively clean sources of water to begin with, not wastewater. It will vary by region. (I don't think anywhere actually starts with wastewater rather than some more convenient and clean local source, outside of fiction like "Dune.") To take a local example I am familiar with — Seattle gets most of its drinking water from the Cedar River watershed (rainwater). It is a relatively pristine source. Wastewater, including shower output, is treated and released into Puget Sound[0] (the ocean). The only way that ocean water makes it back into the drinking supply is via ordinary evaporation and rain. So the treatment required on the second quantity of water is exactly the same as on the first, and you get linearly increasing cost. [0]: http://your.kingcounty.gov/ftp/gis/Web/VMC/utilities/system_flow_11x17.pdf http://your.kingcounty.gov/ftp/gis/Web/VMC/utilities/system_...
  - bsaul 10y ago
    or you do it like in japan : they have a bathtube filled with water that you reheat when you want to have a bath, but you actually clean yourself before going inside.
    - brianwawok 10y ago
      That's a hot tub in the US... Which generally stay hot all the time and cost about $30 a month in energy costs.
autokad 10y ago
if i didnt have roomates i would put a white board in the shower
- coldtea 10y ago
  You can still put one there -- they'll just be able to use it to.

bootload 10y ago

When you learn things, you do so in a focused mode using working memory. Working memory can be thought of as a re-wipeable white/black board. The information,skill,idea is called a CHUNK and is encoded into a weak neural loop . You strengthen loose understanding through practice and repetition. A chunk has no context. Context is how a chunk fits into the big picture of what you already know. At a neural level, context means neurons are making new connections. Think of a chunk as the WHAT. The context as HOW you use the chunk you are learning. For a learned chunk to be useful, you need to know HOW a chunk is useful. You need to know the CONTEXT. Context is knowing the HOW and WHEN to use what you have learned. If you change from focused learning to relaxation, you can let your un-focused mind create these connections. [0] By letting the brain drift into diffuse mode (unfocused attention), you are making connections between chunks, creating context. The brain is doing this at a lower level of conscience by sleeping or relaxing or changing focus. You use a bath, Darwin had his ^thinking path^ for the same reasons. [1],[2] Reference [0] https://www.brainscape.com/blog/2016/08/better-learning-focused-vs-diffuse-thinking/ https://www.brainscape.com/blog/2016/08/better-learning-focu... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin [2] "Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects" ~ https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn

hueving 10y ago
Is there any science behind Chunks, or is it just a seemingly useful way to model learning?
- bootload 10y ago
  The science underpinning the idea of learning, memory, recall and is based/described in neuroscience at at cellular level. So you can read papers. The coursework is really at a more abstracted level describing the processes as a model based on cited research. This is a high level course to improve learning, not STEM as such. Still very useful. Chunking is described in more detail at Week2 https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn/home/week/2 https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn/home/we... and books: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101982853/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=learningho0a9-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1101982853&linkId=f38b0f0bf9f04b8830adc9b9d6df47a9 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101982853/ref=as_li_qf_sp... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544456238/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=learningho0a9-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0544456238&linkId=43f3a7bff9f00f282182cf825f4a09f5 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544456238/ref=as_li_qf_sp... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743277465/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=learningho0a9-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0743277465&linkId=5056f0364b1965e3b78fd6ed1879b04c https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743277465/ref=as_li_qf_sp... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674729013/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=learningho0a9-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0674729013&linkId=f278bfbdbd7462ea2d0a321bcb59b894 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674729013/ref=as_li_qf_sp... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1579220541/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=learningho0a9-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1579220541&linkId=527c6ac2c4aad9d550e9992152bb27e6 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1579220541/ref=as_li_qf_sp...

ehnto 10y ago

A nice long bath, laying down with a full length album, or driving in the hills. Those are my daydreaming states. I have also begun to note a new state that I let go missing, and that is being thoughtless. It is really hard for me to achieve but I can in situations like focusing on music or on the opposite spectrum, motorsport. I always think so much more clearly afterward.

johnchristopher 10y ago

It seems that doing that everyday isn't that good for the skin. I read a good article about that the other day but it's in french. http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/cleansing/myths/hot-showers-bad.htm http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/cleansing/myths/ho... first google results

foxhop 10y ago

I started doing this and then started feeling bad about all the energy and water being used. I thought about filling the tub with hot water and purchasing a high powered pump to circulate water to produce a shower effect.