Gregory's ServerEver wondered why walking around museums is weirdly tiring? At normal speed our legs act like pendulums, swinging forward from the hip & saving us a huge amount of energy. In "museum shuffle" our muscles must do ALL the work of constant readjustment. So cake in the cafe is scientifically justified 🥳
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84 comments
@helenczerski this effect is very pronounced when you have an inside leg of 35", which is a roundabout way of saying I need twice as much cake as most @helenczerski Interesting! I've often observed how... uncomfortable it is to walk or run at a slower than normal* pace, so this must be part of the problem. * normal being a personal value, not a mean across the population.  @helenczerski perhaps the way to do museums is quickly, but frequently, stopping at different exhibits each time until you’ve covered everything. Each visit a theme. And afterwards a themed cake in the café of course. @StrangeNoises @helenczerski When I worked for the science museum group, they had stats to the effect that most people would stay in the museum for 2-22.5 hours at a single visit. So most exhibits were tailored to that kind of duration.  @A_C_McGregor @StrangeNoises @helenczerski I'm guessing that's a typo, but the idea that some completionist out there sleeps for 1,5h a day and spends the rest trying to view ALL the exhibits sounds incredible. @StrangeNoises @p4 @A_C_McGregor @helenczerski unless anything past 2 hours is so thoroughly exhausting that you pass out and sleep for 20 hours on a bench somewhere. @StrangeNoises @helenczerski our kids certainly thought that quick transit through the museum was the way to go  Also the mental exhaustion from taking in so many impressions justifies the coffee in the cafe.  @knud @helenczerski I also find it quite tiring negotiating my way around other people - waiting for them to move on so I can look at something, feeling like I'm in the way if I take a while to look at something, awareness of strangers getting a bit close, etc. And that's why the 'museum or theatre?' question makes no sense - you have an allocated seat for the latter, and the other people there generally stay put 😅 @alicemcalicepants @helenczerski For me it's really mainly the artwork or whatever is on display in a museum. But I am quite tall, so other people might not impact me as much. But I'm still saturated after an hour or 90min. Which is fine. There is no way to see everything in a museum or exhibition anyway. So there's no need to try and force myself to see more than I can take in. That means I can come another time. @alicemcalicepants @helenczerski And yes, even 2-3 hours in a theater or concert I find easier. @helenczerski then again, in normal gait, your centre of gravity moves up and down, which is why cycling saves a lot of energy. I would expect the museum shuffle to save energy as well in terms of not having to lift your body all the time? (Also, personally, I don't find it tiring.)  @proseandpassion I volunteer as a museum guide and had to make a long break after an accident. I can walk again to the forest but need at least 2 more months of physiotherapy for the museum. It's body work to stop very often for talking to the visitors and walk even slower than them. @helenczerski @helenczerski That explains why I'm so tired when going with my wife for shopping. @helenczerski aha! That would also apply to an #ArtExhibition perfectly explaining why cake and art go so well together!  @helenczerski Yeah. The pendulum effect is my excuse for always getting miles ahead of my wife when we're out walking - she has shorter legs than me so it would take me lots more conscious effort and energy to walk at her speed. @helenczerski That's so great! I just go to work in our museum and you gave me the best idea how to get the visitors to the cafeteria after the guided tour! 👍😅 @helenczerski I get a lot of exhaustion from standing all day, I suppose my body needs to keep moving, so I'm constantly shuffling on the spot.  @helenczerski Does that partly explain Stendhal syndrome? It also explains the exhaustion of the supermarket @sellathechemist @helenczerski That's fascinating, I'd never heard of that before. I've certainly lost myself in a painting before, to the extent of feeling tingly and numb, which sounds like the same thing albeit a mild case. I just thought I was tired and overly emotional.    @helenczerski Therefore all these articles that say you have to walk at a moderate or vigorous pace for it to count as exercise have missed the fact that the "museum shuffle" is also exercise. @HollieK72 @helenczerski Depends on if the point of the exercise is for cardio or for muscle endurance. "Why visitors do the museum shuffle and leave disappointed" Intriguing article on an alternative to the museum shuffle, but it's missing an explanation on how cake can contribute to the museum experience. https://carrie.medium.com/museums-are-not-novels-da097e0e61eb @HollieK72 We just had to chase people home ... some stayed 3 hours at our museum cafeteria (beside the self-made cake, we had animations making Christmas cookies.) 😁 The cafeteria is one of the most important places to recover muscles and brains. 😉 @helenczerski @helenczerski I concur about cake. I also wish that museums would put in flooring that is easier on the shins and knees. Concrete and marble - easy to clean, hard on the joints. So, cake yes and also, friendlier floors.  @helenczerski @helenczerski Hard floors and lots of standing to read every label: our family call the resulting ache, ‘museum feet’ .  @helenczerski This is why I am still incredibly impressed and happy that the Museum of Science in Boston (well, in Cambridge, but it's pronounced "Boston"), serves beer in their cafe. 🍻  @helenczerski @helenczerski @helenczerski I think your body saying “hey cake sounds good” and you replying “I also enjoy cake and have the funds to afford museum cake” is scientifically valid reason too. Either way is good. -Enjoy what you enjoy and be kind to yourself about it- That’s what I’m working on for myself.    @helenczerski this is fascinating. I presume also applies to carers, and other workers who must slow their roll for the work environment?  That sounds like my ultimate day at the museum! Thanks for sharing, @whatzaname ! Also, I like to take pictures (when permitted). I can't keep up with a group. Too much to see and take in! @whatzaname @helenczerski    @helenczerski Seems legit. I first thought about that when I discovered that a running city tour was much less tiring than a walking one (which includes a lot more standing) ... Thanks! Helps explain why my legs wear out at model train shows: walking slowly among display tables, carefully examining everything offered. @helenczerski Well, I think this accounts for only part of the effect. Art (or other types of museum exhibits, but especially art) is designed to trigger intense emotions and unconventional thinking. Each piece is an emotional thought bomb, so a museum is a minefield of wonders. Viewing, interpreting, connecting, feeling, and reacting to a piece, then moving on to another, and then another, is a flow of intense experiences that cannot help but be wearying.  When I was touring London museums it was typically stopping for a brownie and a cider ;^) @helenczerski We always jokingly blamed "museum gas," an invisible gas piped through museums that makes patrons tired (and sometimes sleepy) after being in them for a few hours.  @dinogami @helenczerski @dinogami @helenczerski @Ambulocetus @llewelly @helenczerski This is fascinating! I had no idea about this--as a paleontologist working primarily in fossil-based collections, pests weren't really a worry, but I can definitely see it needed for specimens of modern animals (I know dermestids are a serious concern for taxidermied specimens). I never really learned anything about what kinds of pest-control measures museums have to take to ward off such pests, but I guess spraying chemicals around isn't really a great idea.  @dinogami @Ambulocetus @llewelly @helenczerski @Ambulocetus Here in France, we have CO2 alarms, especially since Covid. There are administrative rules for enough aeration! @Ambulocetus @llewelly @helenczerski Now I'm wondering about the utility of CO2 treatment in geological and paleontological collections to counteract, or at least slow down, "pyrite disease" which can destroy specimens... @helenczerski@fediscience.org So *that's* why I find a slow amble tiring? Which reminds me, I must get back to BMAG now that it's reopened at last.  @helenczerski @helenczerski When I read this to my teacher wife, she pointed out that the same is true of teaching. @helenczerski That's fascinating and rings true.  @helenczerski I have a frozen knee which prevents me from walking with that lovely pendulum-like gait. Can testify it's exhausting not having it. |
@helenczerski That appears to be a valid and quality analysis, especially the conclusion!