Thinking on Your Feet

So far, it's very evident that the feeling of being in a "flow state" or "just doing it" is not something that simply happens out of nowhere. A precursor to that mind state is rigorous training and practice. Zen in the Art of Archery is a great read for getting a grasp on this concept. Basically, your goal is to perform without any thought, having a clear mind without any judgments or intentions, to the point in which you become one with the action/goal (anyone who has played sports may have experienced those games in which you almost black out during a great scoring streak, not even recognizing what's happening in the moment). BUT, to get to that point, you need to learn all the proper movements and formations and build muscle memory, which requires a ton of intentional thought and analysis. Basically, you need to learn as a stepping stone to unlearning.

After a few weeks, I noticed that I was no longer looking at the ground. At least, not the ground right in front of my feet. My mind was able to see the terrain several yards ahead, and subconsciously my feet would know where the rocks are. This became an essential skill upon entering Pennsylvania, where the AT is more boulder field than trail. I started to call it "Radar feet".

Edit: it was 25 years ago... sheesh my memory. About two years before I heard about an obscure programming language called Python...

Great read on this here: http://japanrunningnews.blogspot.com/2018/04/how-it-happened...

1. It's interesting that a Japanese scientist would hypothesize that a high-performing athlete would be considered an "intellectual", since the Japanese word for "genius" can describe highly talented athletes as well as intelligent nerds. Sapir–Whorf in action?

2. I've seen strong evidence that "overthinking" athletic performance is negative; taking brainpower away from the subconscious and placing it in the frontal lobe is empirically proven to cause basketball players to miss shots and hurdlers to trip and fall.

Interestingly, it seems to work for both physical and mental abilities and importantly at any age (although some abilities are easier to develop at a young age)

The kind of practice is critical -- he calls it "deliberate practice" -- a focused practice that is at the limit of one's abilities and by pushing near the limit, it eventually becomes the new norm and a new limit is developed further beyond.

By continuously iterating on this process, people have been able to develop skills previously unheard of. Fascinating book, thoroughly recommend it.

https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a27225884/kipchoge-is-read...

One way to look at the problem is through Kahneman's system 1 and system 2 dualism: Some tasks are better done with system 1; the fast, instinctive, unconscious mode of thinking. An example would be optimizing your oxygen consumption while running or hitting a topspin forehand in Tennis. Other tasks, like planning your running strategy are better done by System 2, the slower, deliberative mode of thinking. The trick for performing is to use the right system for the right problem.

Personally, I experience this in two very different fields: Tennis and coding. In tennis, whenever I start thinking two much about my strokes, trying to consciously change them, the strokes' quality deteriorate. Similarly, whenever I play a match and lose myself in the zone while forgetting to consciously think about my strategy, about the deficits of my partner and myself, I start losing. Switching back and forth between these two modes is where I reach my potential. The same applies in coding. To work best, I need both the flow, but with pauses here and there to consciously think about the big picture.

It's these last questions that drive excellence in physical technique. Picking out tiny details in how we do things, then starting by consciously adjusting our technique, until it becomes unconscious.

The "self-learning" is what I do myself when I train in martial arts, with computer programming, and with any number of skills. I had my start with a martial art teacher for a few years, and now, I am going through a long stint of solo practice, as I completely rebuild how my body moves. My programming skills were self-taught.

However, wu-wei is not simply "just do it". There is a kind of natural, effortless, spontaneity that meditators, psychonauts, and others who have peak experiences might tap into from time to time. Even "just do it" has a subtle kind of interfering.

The thing is, it's the "self-learning" that eventually bears fruit when someone enters wu-wei, as it pertains to skill. The deliberate effort at self-learning and cultivation greatly expands the possible actions one can take when one stops interfering with themselves.

I found Edward Slingerland’s “Trying Not to Try” very interesting in terms of making connections between classical Chinese philosophy and contemporary US/western thought about neuroscience.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18050134-trying-not-to-t...