They weren't doing nothing. They admit they were thinking about random shit, like work, or making a list of things to do.
If you want to clear your mind of thoughts and any action, go camping in freezing weather and relish in the fact that you are literally too cold to think about anything but sitting in your tent trying to stay warm by shivering and not being able to think about anything but the moment to moment seconds of living, where every single moment of existence is nothing but digging into a little hole in yourself and staying warm there.
I assure you, no words games, no boredom, no trying to recite the presidents in order, nothing. Just pure ID.
No no. I know what you mean but it is the opposite of the exercise. It is a high stim environment. I've experienced that pure mind blankness (in the same circumstances - freezing cold) and I get it but it's not this.
Amusingly there was a time when I did nothing but sit at home and brood and it was when life sucked and I was depressed (in the colloquial sense). The thing was that it wasn't peaceful. It was just misery folding in on itself.
But I've also had the other kind of solitude and isolation and I like it. So I get what he's going for.
> I wanted to see if I had the willpower to cut off all stimulation for an extended period of time.
I think they're crazy, but they're pretty specific about what they were trying to achieve. Personally, I'd much rather spend my time doing what you describe than putting myself into solitary confinement they way they did.
If you want to clear your mind of thoughts and any action, go camping in freezing weather and relish in the fact that you are literally too cold to think about anything but sitting in your tent trying to stay warm by shivering and not being able to think about anything but the moment to moment seconds of living, where every single moment of existence is nothing but digging into a little hole in yourself and staying warm there.
I assure you, no words games, no boredom, no trying to recite the presidents in order, nothing. Just pure ID.
Or get depression and sleep for 2 weeks straight.