4 ms·

Any chance you can explain why? Not enough hours in the day kind of thing? Is the only route to success in software engineering to work 24/7?

by Eilene 9y ago

whalesalad 9y ago
I think a human being is really only capable of like 6 hours of solid mental work throughout the day. And even that is tough, with all the distractions of modern life. When you take something like Adderall, that doubles to, say 12 hours and enables you to get hyper-focused on the task at hand. Sure, you can still get hyper-focused on the wrong thing, but if you can reign that in you're golden. Not only that, the amount of things you accomplish in that time span is far greater. So it really does turn you into a 10x engineer. If you're already very strong, experienced, pragmatic, etc.. then the stimulants will truly make you feel invincible. So if you see a software engineer at a big company who is making 200k a year while simultaneously putting out dozens of open source projects a year, maintaining them, speaking at conferences, managing complex hobbies, etc... chances are that is due to a stimulant drug. I know very few people who are capable of that naturally.
- abakker 9y ago
  Out of curiosity, did the stuff you learned during that time also increase 10x? Did it all stick with you, or did it just temporarily increase your ability to hold it all in your head?
  - whalesalad 9y ago
    Yes, absolutely. It's still here, thankfully :)
  - jstarfish 9y ago
    It's great for long-term memory, but short-term memory loss is a side effect of amphetamines. You can read a textbook and retain all of it, but you may not remember where you put it when you finished.
- Eilene 9y ago
  Very insightful, I think, about the exec at a big company. A therapist who treats tech people in Sil Val said she has been told there is coke being done openly at some exec committee/board meetings, etc. and pressure to do it. Like Wall Street in the 1980s. Do you think there's any validity to this?
  - whalesalad 9y ago
    I'm not so sure about that (never seen it myself)... but cocaine is a LOT more prevalent than people realize. There is a funny meme I saw recently that rings true: Two biggest shocks of adult life. 1. everyone does cocaine 2. cheese is fucking expensive
    - copper_think 9y ago
      Man, I really wouldn't. My understanding is that of the people who present to the emergency department with chest pain, something like a third of them have been using cocaine. It causes Real Problems. https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/drug-related-hospital-emergency-room-visits https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/drug-relate...
      - Eilene 9y ago
        thanks for the link. I need to find updated stats on that. I wonder if the number of those in the ER because of cocaine has risen....
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - tudorw 9y ago
        Manchego on the other hand, worth every penny and a great source of butyrate, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304454916_The_neuropharmacology_of_butyrate_The_bread_and_butter_of_the_microbiota-gut-brain_axis https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304454916_The_neuro...
      - 9y ago
- fhood 9y ago
  As someone who has been on stimulants since they were thirteen, you still only have 6 hours of productive time. You just also have 6 hours of flailing about like a headless chicken. Sure it'll help you with mundane and routine tasks, but not with stuff that requires a ton of brain power. Edit: What I see a lot of is people who think they are super productive while churning out lines and lines of garbage.
  - Eilene 9y ago
    If it feels more like flailing now than super productivity, have you stopped taking stimulants (or do you have to because of an attention issue)?
    - fhood 9y ago
      I have to. For me stimulants help me put my six hours of productivity to work. I have pretty severe ADHD.
  - __blockcipher__ 9y ago
    This is very true. I didn’t realize I had ADHD until after a year of college, but basically the first few days of taking stims are basically borderline hypo manic - you havw (seemingly) limitless enrgy, enthusiasm, confidence, drive. Work is intrinsically fun (although it’s actually extrinsic since it’s drug induced). Then tolerance rears its head and it becomes exactly like you said. For me it takes till I get close to t_max (peak blood concentration) that my day really starts, which is from 1-3 hrs after dosing (closer to 3 for the drugs I take)
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
0xdeadbeefbabe 9y ago
That's the perception, and you're likely to find that perception in this thread, but I don't believe it. Work smart or go home.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
hnal943 9y ago
This is an addict's (unreliable) perception, not reality. In reality, software engineers are so valuable and highly sought after that you can have basically any lifestyle you want and still be successful.

Any chance you can explain why? Not enough hours in the day kind of thing? Is the only route to success in software engineering to work 24/7?

by Eilene 9y ago

Any chance you can explain why? Not enough hours in the day kind of thing? Is the only route to success in software engineering to work 24/7?

whalesalad 9y ago

I think a human being is really only capable of like 6 hours of solid mental work throughout the day. And even that is tough, with all the distractions of modern life. When you take something like Adderall, that doubles to, say 12 hours and enables you to get hyper-focused on the task at hand. Sure, you can still get hyper-focused on the wrong thing, but if you can reign that in you're golden. Not only that, the amount of things you accomplish in that time span is far greater. So it really does turn you into a 10x engineer. If you're already very strong, experienced, pragmatic, etc.. then the stimulants will truly make you feel invincible. So if you see a software engineer at a big company who is making 200k a year while simultaneously putting out dozens of open source projects a year, maintaining them, speaking at conferences, managing complex hobbies, etc... chances are that is due to a stimulant drug. I know very few people who are capable of that naturally.

abakker 9y ago
Out of curiosity, did the stuff you learned during that time also increase 10x? Did it all stick with you, or did it just temporarily increase your ability to hold it all in your head?
- whalesalad 9y ago
  Yes, absolutely. It's still here, thankfully :)
- jstarfish 9y ago
  It's great for long-term memory, but short-term memory loss is a side effect of amphetamines. You can read a textbook and retain all of it, but you may not remember where you put it when you finished.
Eilene 9y ago
Very insightful, I think, about the exec at a big company. A therapist who treats tech people in Sil Val said she has been told there is coke being done openly at some exec committee/board meetings, etc. and pressure to do it. Like Wall Street in the 1980s. Do you think there's any validity to this?
- whalesalad 9y ago
  I'm not so sure about that (never seen it myself)... but cocaine is a LOT more prevalent than people realize. There is a funny meme I saw recently that rings true: Two biggest shocks of adult life. 1. everyone does cocaine 2. cheese is fucking expensive
  - copper_think 9y ago
    Man, I really wouldn't. My understanding is that of the people who present to the emergency department with chest pain, something like a third of them have been using cocaine. It causes Real Problems. https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/drug-related-hospital-emergency-room-visits https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/drug-relate...
    - Eilene 9y ago
      thanks for the link. I need to find updated stats on that. I wonder if the number of those in the ER because of cocaine has risen....
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - tudorw 9y ago
      Manchego on the other hand, worth every penny and a great source of butyrate, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304454916_The_neuropharmacology_of_butyrate_The_bread_and_butter_of_the_microbiota-gut-brain_axis https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304454916_The_neuro...
    - 9y ago
fhood 9y ago
As someone who has been on stimulants since they were thirteen, you still only have 6 hours of productive time. You just also have 6 hours of flailing about like a headless chicken. Sure it'll help you with mundane and routine tasks, but not with stuff that requires a ton of brain power. Edit: What I see a lot of is people who think they are super productive while churning out lines and lines of garbage.
- Eilene 9y ago
  If it feels more like flailing now than super productivity, have you stopped taking stimulants (or do you have to because of an attention issue)?
  - fhood 9y ago
    I have to. For me stimulants help me put my six hours of productivity to work. I have pretty severe ADHD.
- __blockcipher__ 9y ago
  This is very true. I didn’t realize I had ADHD until after a year of college, but basically the first few days of taking stims are basically borderline hypo manic - you havw (seemingly) limitless enrgy, enthusiasm, confidence, drive. Work is intrinsically fun (although it’s actually extrinsic since it’s drug induced). Then tolerance rears its head and it becomes exactly like you said. For me it takes till I get close to t_max (peak blood concentration) that my day really starts, which is from 1-3 hrs after dosing (closer to 3 for the drugs I take)

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

0xdeadbeefbabe 9y ago

That's the perception, and you're likely to find that perception in this thread, but I don't believe it. Work smart or go home.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

hnal943 9y ago

This is an addict's (unreliable) perception, not reality. In reality, software engineers are so valuable and highly sought after that you can have basically any lifestyle you want and still be successful.