In my research on thinkers, writers, and artists who have, in some way, written about walking, I came across Juan Huarte de San Juan, a 16th-century Spanish physician and philosopher. In 1575, he published his book, Examen de Ingenios para las Sciencias (The Examination of Men’s Wits for the Sciences), where faith shows the difference in abilities that men have, and the kind of letters that correspond to each one in particular.
It’s been said that his work was a precursor to three sciences: Psychology, Eugenics, and Vocational-Educational Guidance. Huarte also made important contributions to Pathology, Sociology, Neurology, and Anthropology. His investigation sought to improve society itself by selecting the appropriate professional education for each individual, based on their unique physical and intellectual aptitudes, which he believed were derived from their particular physical, emotional and neurological constitution. These aptitudes, Huarte explains, clearly indicate what individuals need to be “…men of great prudence and knowledge, who in their tender age would discover each person’s genius, making them study by force the science that was right for them and not leaving it to their choice, from which would result in your states and dominions having the greatest artisans in the world, simply by joining art with nature”.
In chapter V [VIII in the 1594 edition], he comments: “Inventive geniuses are called ‘capricious’ in the Tuscan language, because of the resemblance they have to the goat in its walking and grazing. The goat never rests on flat ground; it always loves to walk alone among the rocks and heights, and to peer into great depths; it therefore does not follow any path or wish to walk with company. Such a property as this is found in the rational soul when it has a well-organized and temperate brain: it never rests in any contemplation; it is always restless, seeking new things to know and understand. Of this kind of soul, that saying of Hippocrates is true: animae deambulatio, cogitatio hominibus(*). For there are other men who never leave one contemplation or think there is anything more in the world to discover. These have the property of the sheep, which never leaves the footsteps of the bellwether, nor dares to walk in deserted places without a track, but rather on very trodden paths and with someone going ahead”.
In these expressions, Huarte clearly uses the walking of the goat as an analogy for the human being and their diverse physical and mental capacities.
(*)animae deambulatio, cogitatio hominibus: A WALK (WANDERING) PROVOKES MEDITATION AND THOUGHT IN HUMAN BEINGS. IT ENCOURAGES PEOPLE TO THINK THROUGH WALKING.
Huarte citing Hippocrates. In another section, he notes: “Both differences of genius are very common among men of letters. There are some who are far-reaching and outside common opinion; they judge and treat things in a different way; they are free in giving their opinion; and they follow no one. There are others who are reserved, humble and very placid, distrustful of themselves and surrendering to the opinion of a grave author whom they follow, whose sayings and sentences they hold as science and demonstration, and what differs from this they judge as vanity and falsehood. These two differences of genius, when combined, are of great benefit. For, just as shepherds usually add a dozen goats to a large flock of sheep to raise them and lead them with a quickened pace to enjoy new pastures that are not trodden, in the same way it is fitting that there should be in human letters some capricious geniuses who discover to the ‘ovine’ understandings new secrets of nature and give them contemplations, never before heard, in which to exercise themselves. For in this way the arts grow, and men know more each day”.
This is a text with a clear analogy of walking in human beings, who may or may not be immersed in certain environmental characteristics, combined with the innate, congenital, or acquired traits of the individual in question.
Finally, I would like to quote this doctor on what he wrote about meditation and contemplation: “To the last doubt, the answer is that when a man sets himself to contemplate some truth he wants to know and then does not grasp it, it is because the brain lacks the proper temperament for it; but after a while in contemplation, natural heat (which are the vital spirits and arterial blood) then goes to the head and the brain’s temperament rises until it reaches the point that is needed. It is true that much speculation is harmful to some and beneficial to others; because if the brain lacks little to reach the point of convenient heat, it is necessary to contemplate little; and if it goes beyond that, the understanding is then disordered with the great presence of the vital spirits, and thus does not hit upon the truth. Which is why we see many men who speak very well on the spur of the moment, and with thought are worth nothing. Others have such a low understanding (either from much coldness or dryness) that it is necessary for the heat to be in the head for a long time to raise the temperament to the degrees it lacks; and, thus, with thought they speak better than on the spur of the moment”.
In summary, we can say that Dr. Huarte affirmed that walking, beyond being a simple physical displacement, is also an expression of human ingenuity. According to him, wandering stimulates reflection, awakens the mind, and activates our deepest capacities, bringing forth both creative and contemplative thought. Just as there are souls that dare to explore new paths—like the goat that challenges the heights—there are also those who prefer to follow paths already marked. Both temperaments are necessary for the advancement of knowledge and humanity.
To walk with genius, then, is to accept that our footsteps can lead us not only to physical places but to new ideas, unexpected truths, and revealing meditations. I invite you, the reader, to walk more—but not just in any way: walk with attention, with curiosity, with the inner impulse of one who seeks to understand the world and themselves. As Hippocrates said and Huarte repeated: “Animae deambulatio, cogitatio hominibus“—the soul that wanders, thinks. May your steps today take you farther than you imagine.