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My brain is still "me" more than the meat sack I use to to ice skate, lift weights, and ski. I just think of my body more like a mech I can learn to pilot via t

My brain is still "me" more than the meat sack I use to to ice skate, lift weights, and ski. I just think of my body more like a mech I can learn to pilot via telepathic control interface that gains sensitivity over time. I'll never be one of those athletes who lets go of conscious control and runs off muscle memory, but I've really enjoyed learning enough about my body that I can use it the way it was designed. It feels good when you go from "some part of me is always hurting" to "every step I take recruits muscles from foot and ankle to upper back because I learned how to use all of them against gravity".

kennyloginz 3y ago
Have you ever tried psychedelics, or pinball?
tikk 3y ago
> I'll never be one of those athletes who lets go of conscious control and runs off muscle memory. Oh but you absolutely must try it! I assume being in the zone mentally is a familiar thing to you, so you really ought to try the physical equivalent!
- Noumenon72 3y ago
  I have been trying this with ice skating because you mentioned it, letting my legs go loose instead of lining up every push, and it's actually kind of fluid and fun.
haswell 3y ago
> I'll never be one of those athletes who lets go of conscious control and runs off muscle memory A lot of people feel this way, but the reality is that we already do almost everything without conscious control, we just don’t tend to notice. Not to mention the majority of the systems in our body are also beyond conscious control, and for many, beyond awareness completely (e.g. the nervous system). The book “Flow” is a really interesting read, and describes how one’s approach to daily life can lead to something closer to that athlete’s state. This is closer than most people realize.
- hinkley 3y ago
  There's a whole sub-discipline in UX that talks about the difference between looking at the available information and making the wrong choice, versus making the correct choice but then performing the wrong action anyway. One is a failure of cognition, the other is a failure of the motor cortex. It's reaching for the green button and hitting the red one instead. It's driving to the store near your office and ending up driving to your office instead. It's forgetting to drop your kid off at daycare.

kennyloginz 3y ago

Have you ever tried psychedelics, or pinball?

tikk 3y ago

> I'll never be one of those athletes who lets go of conscious control and runs off muscle memory. Oh but you absolutely must try it! I assume being in the zone mentally is a familiar thing to you, so you really ought to try the physical equivalent!

Noumenon72 3y ago
I have been trying this with ice skating because you mentioned it, letting my legs go loose instead of lining up every push, and it's actually kind of fluid and fun.

haswell 3y ago

> I'll never be one of those athletes who lets go of conscious control and runs off muscle memory A lot of people feel this way, but the reality is that we already do almost everything without conscious control, we just don’t tend to notice. Not to mention the majority of the systems in our body are also beyond conscious control, and for many, beyond awareness completely (e.g. the nervous system). The book “Flow” is a really interesting read, and describes how one’s approach to daily life can lead to something closer to that athlete’s state. This is closer than most people realize.

hinkley 3y ago
There's a whole sub-discipline in UX that talks about the difference between looking at the available information and making the wrong choice, versus making the correct choice but then performing the wrong action anyway. One is a failure of cognition, the other is a failure of the motor cortex. It's reaching for the green button and hitting the red one instead. It's driving to the store near your office and ending up driving to your office instead. It's forgetting to drop your kid off at daycare.