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Yes indeed! From TFA: "Yet when you look closely at their daily lives, they only spent a few hours a day doing what we would recognize as their most important w

Yes indeed! From TFA: "Yet when you look closely at their daily lives, they only spent a few hours a day doing what we would recognize as their most important work. The rest of the time, they were hiking mountains, taking naps, going on walks with friends, or just sitting and thinking." "Just sitting and thinking" sounds like part of their work, and the article deploys a sleight of hand to define this as "not really work" so that it can discover that these guys didn't work very hard.

laughfactory 10y ago
But I still think the articles conclusions are meaningful: namely that, in our overly hurried world, we need to make space to breathe, to think, and to rest. If we're constantly racing off to the next thing, or sitting at our desks trying to force a solution, or sucked into TV or our various devices, we leave no room for our minds to percolate on problems, explore solutions, etc. And we tend to worship those who sleep as little as possible. How radical would it be if we started admiring people who take naps, who go on long walks, who sit and leave space for thinking without pulling out their smartphone or turning on the TV? Before smartphones came along I did some of my best thinking on the toilet. Now it's become time consumed with reading drivel on my news feed. And I don't sleep enough, and personally can see how my productivity and emotional health is impacted. Tough times which require greater self discipline, I think, than times past.
- glangdale 10y ago
  I quite agree with you. We should generally spend more time working without seeming to work, which is part of the problem. I get a lot of work done staring out the window, taking showers, etc. I don't recall any particularly great ideas while on the can... I think the appearance of doing work is now very important. So sitting and thinking has the problem that you might be thinking about the problem or who knows what? Possibly there's a causation problem here - if you are already a famous scientist, you can probably be trusted to "sit and think".
sn9 10y ago
I think they're assuming a difference between focused productive work and the sort of musing that happens during a walk, which seems fair to me.

laughfactory 10y ago

But I still think the articles conclusions are meaningful: namely that, in our overly hurried world, we need to make space to breathe, to think, and to rest. If we're constantly racing off to the next thing, or sitting at our desks trying to force a solution, or sucked into TV or our various devices, we leave no room for our minds to percolate on problems, explore solutions, etc. And we tend to worship those who sleep as little as possible. How radical would it be if we started admiring people who take naps, who go on long walks, who sit and leave space for thinking without pulling out their smartphone or turning on the TV? Before smartphones came along I did some of my best thinking on the toilet. Now it's become time consumed with reading drivel on my news feed. And I don't sleep enough, and personally can see how my productivity and emotional health is impacted. Tough times which require greater self discipline, I think, than times past.

glangdale 10y ago
I quite agree with you. We should generally spend more time working without seeming to work, which is part of the problem. I get a lot of work done staring out the window, taking showers, etc. I don't recall any particularly great ideas while on the can... I think the appearance of doing work is now very important. So sitting and thinking has the problem that you might be thinking about the problem or who knows what? Possibly there's a causation problem here - if you are already a famous scientist, you can probably be trusted to "sit and think".

sn9 10y ago

I think they're assuming a difference between focused productive work and the sort of musing that happens during a walk, which seems fair to me.