Recently, I've frequently been setting out to hike Candos Hill with the intention to get some alone time and to do some thinking. However, something funny happened each time: I would leave my house highly motivated and fresh, but once I'd hiked to the summit, my inner voice would momentarily disappear, and I found it hard to do any sort of long-term/abstract thinking, despite still being in a happy state/mood for work.
This led to me hypothesize that:
High levels of physical exertion will bring you down to a "lower" state of consciousness.
I don't mean that it is inferior, but simply unsuited for abstract thinking— which makes sense: you don't want to think about math while being chased by a wolf.
Later, I read about [[Paul MacLean]]'s triune brain model in [[David Eagleman]]'s [[Incognito]]. Essentially, it divides the brain into three parts:
1. The reptilian or primal brain, as this structure is in control of our innate and automatic self-preserving behaviour patterns, which ensure our survival and that of our species. The primal brain is also in charge of, what is often referred to as, the four Fs: Feeding, Fighting, Fleeing, and… Reproduction
The reptilian brain, the oldest of the three, controls the body's vital functions such as heart rate, breathing, body temperature and balance. Our reptilian brain includes the main structures found in a reptile's brain: the brainstem and the cerebellum. The reptilian brain is reliable but tends to be somewhat rigid and compulsive.
2. The limbic system
The limbic brain emerged in the first mammals. It can record memories of behaviours that produced agreeable and disagreeable experiences, so it is responsible for what are called emotions in human beings. The main structures of the limbic brain are the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the hypothalamus. The limbic brain is the seat of the value judgments that we make, often unconsciously, that exert such a strong influence on our behaviour.
3. The neocortex
The neocortex first assumed importance in primates and culminated in the human brain with its two large cerebral hemispheres that play such a dominant role. These hemispheres have been responsible for the development of human language, abstract thought, imagination, and consciousness. The neocortex is flexible and has almost infinite learning abilities. The neocortex is also what has enabled human cultures to develop.
The above was pulled from various sources I googled, but the point I'm trying to make is that we have competing decision-making systems, and different states of consciousnesses enable some of them to function better than others.
Related is Maslow's hiearchy of needs:
Except, here is not a matter of needs, but a matter of *wants*. By physically pushing the body, we're telling our unconscious: "Alright, now's the time to engage our inner caveman". So if you want to use your inner mathematician, it's probably best to work up a slight sweat and be well-fed, but not push it past that.