#629: Why We Swim

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2020

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you've been swimming since you were a child, you probably don't think too much about it anymore. But when you take a step back, the human act of swimming is a pretty interesting thing. You weren't born knowing how to swim; it's not instinctual. So why are people so naturally drawn to water? And what do we get out of paddling around in it? My guest today explores these questions in her book Why We Swim. Her name is Bonnie Tsui, and we begin our conversation today with how humans are some of the few land animals that have to be taught how to swim, and when our ancestors first took to the water. We then discuss how peoples who have made swimming a primary part of their culture, have evolved adaptations that have made them better at it. We discuss how swimming can be both psychically and physically restorative and how it can also bring people together, using as an example a unique community of swimmers which developed during the Iraq War inside one of Saddam Hussein's palaces. We also talk about the competitive element of swimming, and how for thousands of years it was in fact a combat skill, and even took the form of a martial art, called samurai swimming, in Japan. We end our conversation with how swimming can facilitate flow, and some of the famous philosophers and thinkers who tuned the currents of their thoughts while gliding through currents of water. Get the show notes at aom.is/whyweswim.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.
0:11.2	If you've been swimming since you were a child, you probably don't think too much about
0:14.5	it anymore.
0:15.5	When you take a step back, the human act of swimming is a pretty interesting, kind of weird
0:19.5	thing.
0:20.5	You weren't born knowing how to swim, and it's not instinctual, so why are people so drawn
0:24.3	to the water?
0:25.3	And what do we get out of paddling around in it?
0:27.0	I guess to explore these questions in our book, Why We Swim, Her Name Is Bonnie Soy,
0:30.8	I'm going to talk about how humans are some of the few land animals that have to be
0:34.9	taught how to swim, and when our ancestors first took to the water.
0:38.6	We then discuss how people who have made swimming a primary part of their culture have
0:41.9	evolved adaptations that have made them better at it.
0:44.2	We discuss how swimming can be both psychically and physically restorative, and how it can
0:47.6	also bring people together using, as an example, a unique community of swimmers which developed
0:52.2	during the Iraq War inside of one of Saddam Hussein's palaces.
0:55.4	We also talk about the competitive element swimming, and how for thousands of years it
0:58.6	was in fact a combat skill, and even took the form of a martial art called Samurai
1:02.3	Swimming in Japan.
1:03.3	And we enter a conversation with how swimming can facilitate flow, and some of the famous
1:06.6	philosophers and thinkers who tune the currents of their thoughts while gliding through the
1:10.4	currents of water.
	...

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