QUOTE
Marthe Troly-Curtin once said…
“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
(French author)
CONCEPT
Niksen
Niksen is a Dutch concept that means the art of doing nothing. More specifically, it is the practice of intentionally setting aside time without an objective, obligation, or expectation of productivity.
Nksen is about allowing yourself to simply exist. Staring out a window, sitting quietly, or letting your mind wander without direction are all examples.
STORY
Nothing … Is Everything?
One of mathematician Henri Poincaré's most remarkable discoveries came to him as he stepped onto a bus—and wasn't thinking about mathematics at all.
Poincaré, one of France's leading mathematicians, had been struggling with a complex problem involving mathematical objects known as Fuchsian functions. For fifteen days, he'd worked at his desk, exploring countless possibilities without finding a solution.
After a sleepless night brought an initial breakthrough, he continued developing his ideas. Then he left his home in Caen for a geological excursion organized by the School of Mines.
The trip took his attention away from mathematics.
As he later described in his 1908 essay Mathematical Creation, the change of scenery caused him to forget about his work entirely.
But something remarkable happened when his group reached Coutances, a town in Normandy.
As he stepped onto the bus, an unexpected realization struck him: the mathematical transformations he'd been studying were connected to the principles of non-Euclidean geometry.
Interestingly, he didn't stop to investigate. He continued his leisurely trip and, upon returning home, verified that his insight was correct.
This wasn't an isolated incident.
Later, after becoming frustrated with another mathematical problem, Poincaré spent several days at the seaside. While walking along a bluff, another important insight appeared unexpectedly.
Poincaré came to believe that the unconscious mind continued working on problems even when conscious attention had moved elsewhere.
Sometimes, the most useful thing we can do is nothing at all.