the.com/contemplation
doing absolutely nothing while your brain runs a marathon nobody can see
means the act of thinking long, deeply, and quietly about something — turning it over in the mind rather than acting on it
from From Latin contemplari, 'to gaze at attentively,' built from com- (intensive) and templum — the consecrated space an augur marked out in the sky or on the ground to watch for omens. So to 'contemplate' was originally to stand inside that marked-off zone and study the heavens for signs; the word still carries that sense of setting aside a deliberate space to look closely. It came into English through Old French in the medieval period.
- brain cost
- the resting mind burns roughly 20% of your calories
- default mode
- idle thinking activates a dedicated brain network
- latin root
- comes from templum, a space marked for observation
- darwin's habit
- he paced a gravel path daily to think
- shower effect
- mind-wandering boosts creative problem solving measurably
rodin's the thinker — bronze sculpture created 1880, depicts a man in deep contemplative pose
zen meditation at kyoto — buddhist temples in kyoto, japan practice seated contemplation for centuries
thoreau's walden pond — henry david thoreau's 2-year retreat in massachusetts 1845-1847 for solitary reflection