Ideas Come to Those Who...
In the Dutch language, there is a term—“ijsberen” (literally translating to “polar bear-ing,” evoking the restless back-and-forth pacing of a captive polar bear in a zoo enclosure)—that captures a universal human phenomenon.
Throughout history, many thinkers and creatives have found themselves instinctively pacing a room while wrestling with difficult problems. The Greek philosopher Aristotle even founded his school around the habit of walking while lecturing; his followers were famously called the Peripatetics (derived from the Greek peripatetikos, meaning “to walk around”). Even Nietzsche, in his book Twilight of the Idols, asserted that:
All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.
History, instinct, and even the archetypal construct of the thinker who paces all seem to make a compelling case. But is there any scientific evidence to support the claim that walking aids creativity?
Interestingly, there is. While dozens of studies over the decades have explored the broader intersections of physical activity and cognition, a landmark body of research stands out for tackling this exact question. To investigate how movement relates to creative thinking, we can take a detailed look at a prominent 2014 investigation by Stanford University researchers Marilyn Oppezzo and Daniel L. Schwartz.
Giving Ideas Some Legs: What the Science Shows
Oppezzo and Schwartz set out to test whether a simple, mild bout of walking could actively boost creative thinking in real time and shortly after. Across four inventive experiments involving nearly 200 participants, they explored how walking influences different types of thinking.
In their initial experiment, participants completed two types of cognitive tests while seated and while walking on a treadmill facing a blank wall:
Divergent Thinking (Guilford’s Alternate Uses Test): Participants were asked to brainstorm as many unique, practical uses for everyday objects (like a button or a tire) as possible within a few minutes.
Convergent Thinking (Compound Remote Associates Test): Participants solved word puzzles requiring a single, correct unifying answer.
The results were striking. Walking increased creative output for 81% of the participants, boosting overall creative ideation by an average of about 60%. Interestingly, while walking made people more prolific and creative in generating flexible, novel ideas (divergent thinking), it actually slightly impaired performance on the rigid word puzzles (convergent thinking), indicating a selective relationship between walking and creative processing rather than a broad, indiscriminate boost to all cognitive tasks.
Beyond the Treadmill: Outdoors and Residual Boosts
Of course, most people don’t pace on treadmills while brainstorming. Recognizing this, Oppezzo and Schwartz expanded their research to real-world settings.
In subsequent experiments, they had participants walk outdoors along a bustling university campus and tested whether the creative boost persisted even after the participants sat back down. Their findings revealed two fascinating insights:
The Residual Boost: When participants sat down after walking, they maintained a powerful residual creative advantage compared to those who had remained seated the entire time. A quick walk primes the brain, meaning the creative benefits stick with you even after you sit back down at your desk.
Walking vs. Just Being Outdoors: By utilizing wheelchairs to roll participants through the outdoor scenery without walking, the researchers proved that walking itself, rather than just the visual stimulation of moving through nature, is the determining factor.
Conclusion
From Aristotle to Nietzsche, humanity has long sensed that going for a simple walk, taking a small breather, is an incredibly powerful habit and tool. With the data showing an average creative jump of 60 percent, science confirms that intuition. So the next time you find yourself stuck on a creative endeavour, remember: ideas come to those who walk.