9 ms·

Adderall.

codr4life 9y ago
Worst idea ever, stay off the chemical cocktails. It only takes one objective look and a minimum of reflection to see what Big Pharma is up to, and it's not good for anyone. Speed will make you feel better-ish, but it will also turn you into a Zombie-like shell without substance. I wouldn't recommend drugs at all without knowing more about the person I'm talking to, but I strongly prefer natural alternatives like weed and shrooms to untangle my my brain. Back to subject. I would say stop worrying so much about what others are doing and trust your own intuition about what to learn and how to do it. Most of software is an ignorant echo chamber, most of the people who make noise couldn't write a creative line of code if their lives depended on it. Do your thing, I'm sure you didn't go through all the effort of coming here to be just another drone.
- canttestthis 9y ago
  You wouldn't recommend Adderall (a drug with extensive(!) safety research) but instead you would recommend weed and shrooms? Also speed != adderall.
  - briantakita 9y ago
    Adderall (a drug with extensive safety research conflict of interest, thus bias). I caught a guest (friend of a friend) snorting Adderall & she looked/acted like a meth addict.
  - watter 9y ago
    Why on earth would you trust substances humans have been using for thousands of years in favor of something brewed in a lab by a pharma company with quarterly goals and a decade (or two?) of tests (perhaps with incomplete test coverage). Difficult choice.
    - canttestthis 9y ago
      Just because humans have been using something for thousands of years doesn't mean its a safe choice.
nickpsecurity 9y ago
I'm upvoting it because it's incredibly common in high schools and college. People have to do tons of repetitive, boring stuff. They have piles of work. Many turn to Adderall to stay focused enough to get it done. Like it or not, it's how a huge chunk of people in college "keep improving" despite the challenges they face not getting better over time.
- return0 9y ago
  > People have to do tons of repetitive, boring stuff. A good programmer will automate this stuff and will not bother with it again. Maybe aderall is incentivizing the wrong behavior here.
  - NikolaeVarius 9y ago
    Studying is repetitive boring stuff.
    - weavie 9y ago
      Not if you do it right.
      - nickpsecurity 9y ago
        How do you study mundane, endless trivia "right" where it's not boring or wearing you out? I managed to do what studying I needed to do but it was far from fun. The only times it was fun was when the material itself was fun. It was still work but at least interesting work. Most weren't, though.
        weavie 9y ago
        Good question. I think a lot of it starts with motivation. If you are just studying something for fun then the boring stuff does get really tedious. But if you are studying for something beyond the subject, eg, in my case it was acing my degree to prove something to myself, then the competitive side takes over. There are people out there that devote themselves to memorizing decks of cards or arbitrarily long numbers. Cards or random numbers are not particularly interesting, so these folks invent mind games. They may take each card to represent a particular object and then make up some crazy story involving these objects. Suddenly to them what was mindbogglingly dull becomes tantamount to some epic screen play. You can employ similar tricks to studying any subject. When studying for my degree there were a few things that really helped. Note taking, notes had to be as vivid as possible. I would always have multiple coloured pens and highlights as possible. Pictures, various sized and coloured text and lots of arrows. My notes became art. Mnemonics and stories were important for the long lists of things. Also managing energy levels is pretty important. Regular sleep cycles, exercise help maintain focus. Environment makes a big difference. A library is much better than the common room.. Also, slightly controversially, I find the often given advice to take regular breaks when studying was highly damaging. If I allow regular breaks, then my focus shifts to watching for when my next break is. Also in the breaks I would get time to think about how dull this stuff was. So I would find maintaining pure focus for about 4 hours at a stretch much easier. It helps to have a variety of studying techniques to move around in. So moving between reading / note taking, mnemonic memorization, doing exercises, visiting tutors, discussing with study partners helps keep things flowing.

Adderall.

Worst idea ever, stay off the chemical cocktails. It only takes one objective look and a minimum of reflection to see what Big Pharma is up to, and it's not good for anyone. Speed will make you feel better-ish, but it will also turn you into a Zombie-like shell without substance. I wouldn't recommend drugs at all without knowing more about the person I'm talking to, but I strongly prefer natural alternatives like weed and shrooms to untangle my my brain. Back to subject. I would say stop worrying so much about what others are doing and trust your own intuition about what to learn and how to do it. Most of software is an ignorant echo chamber, most of the people who make noise couldn't write a creative line of code if their lives depended on it. Do your thing, I'm sure you didn't go through all the effort of coming here to be just another drone.

canttestthis 9y ago
You wouldn't recommend Adderall (a drug with extensive(!) safety research) but instead you would recommend weed and shrooms? Also speed != adderall.
- briantakita 9y ago
  Adderall (a drug with extensive safety research conflict of interest, thus bias). I caught a guest (friend of a friend) snorting Adderall & she looked/acted like a meth addict.
- watter 9y ago
  Why on earth would you trust substances humans have been using for thousands of years in favor of something brewed in a lab by a pharma company with quarterly goals and a decade (or two?) of tests (perhaps with incomplete test coverage). Difficult choice.
  - canttestthis 9y ago
    Just because humans have been using something for thousands of years doesn't mean its a safe choice.

nickpsecurity 9y ago

I'm upvoting it because it's incredibly common in high schools and college. People have to do tons of repetitive, boring stuff. They have piles of work. Many turn to Adderall to stay focused enough to get it done. Like it or not, it's how a huge chunk of people in college "keep improving" despite the challenges they face not getting better over time.

return0 9y ago
> People have to do tons of repetitive, boring stuff. A good programmer will automate this stuff and will not bother with it again. Maybe aderall is incentivizing the wrong behavior here.
- NikolaeVarius 9y ago
  Studying is repetitive boring stuff.
  - weavie 9y ago
    Not if you do it right.
    - nickpsecurity 9y ago
      How do you study mundane, endless trivia "right" where it's not boring or wearing you out? I managed to do what studying I needed to do but it was far from fun. The only times it was fun was when the material itself was fun. It was still work but at least interesting work. Most weren't, though.
      - weavie 9y ago
        Good question. I think a lot of it starts with motivation. If you are just studying something for fun then the boring stuff does get really tedious. But if you are studying for something beyond the subject, eg, in my case it was acing my degree to prove something to myself, then the competitive side takes over. There are people out there that devote themselves to memorizing decks of cards or arbitrarily long numbers. Cards or random numbers are not particularly interesting, so these folks invent mind games. They may take each card to represent a particular object and then make up some crazy story involving these objects. Suddenly to them what was mindbogglingly dull becomes tantamount to some epic screen play. You can employ similar tricks to studying any subject. When studying for my degree there were a few things that really helped. Note taking, notes had to be as vivid as possible. I would always have multiple coloured pens and highlights as possible. Pictures, various sized and coloured text and lots of arrows. My notes became art. Mnemonics and stories were important for the long lists of things. Also managing energy levels is pretty important. Regular sleep cycles, exercise help maintain focus. Environment makes a big difference. A library is much better than the common room.. Also, slightly controversially, I find the often given advice to take regular breaks when studying was highly damaging. If I allow regular breaks, then my focus shifts to watching for when my next break is. Also in the breaks I would get time to think about how dull this stuff was. So I would find maintaining pure focus for about 4 hours at a stretch much easier. It helps to have a variety of studying techniques to move around in. So moving between reading / note taking, mnemonic memorization, doing exercises, visiting tutors, discussing with study partners helps keep things flowing.