4 ms·

Serious question, from someone who hasn't had to do it: how is it possible to do productively study for 16 hours a day? Controlled substances? I don't last that

Serious question, from someone who hasn't had to do it: how is it possible to do productively study for 16 hours a day? Controlled substances? I don't last that long even on occasion, much less regularly.

exogeny 8y ago
All joking aside, CMU does very much have a problem with promoting and fetishizing a culture of stress. I only have anecdotal evidence of this, but more so than just about anywhere else, CMU as a university prides itself on a very difficult workload and a lot of the solutions that students come up with are extremely unhealthy.
- intrasight 8y ago
  I have personal experience (EE,CE,AM '88). CMU sucks in terms of student experience - at least then it did. At least the physical plan is far superior now. The place was fugly in the 80s. The teaching was weak. I felt that I was paying for a reputation. And on top of that, in our freshman year they had us all come to an auditorium to tell us this: "Sorry, we have to fail half of you out because there are too many of you. Look to your left and then to your right. Those two students will be gone." Any EE in that class can testify to the truthfulness of what I say.
my_usernam3 8y ago
I'm curious too. I've done controlled substances for studying and still can't do 16 hours a day.
jacobolus 8y ago
It is not productive to study for 16h/day, or even 10h/day for an extended period. It is not only less effective for sustained learning or intellectual work than spending less but more focused time, it also leads to physical and mental health problems, and sometimes results in severe burnout. The problem is that (a) students are young and many of them are quite inexperienced with managing their own time and work, (b) students are so stressed and sleep deprived that it is hard to introspect about process or get into a productive rhythm of focused productive work alternated with rest, and (c) there is often a workaholic student culture which creates peer pressure and presents the illusion that staring at a textbook for hours while already half asleep is the mark of a good student. For grad students (especially foreign students) sometimes there is additional pressure from abusive advisors. It’s sad that e.g. MIT’s unofficial motto is “I hate this fucking place”. Unfortunately the same kind of culture extends into some people’s professional lives. I dated a lawyer for a while who was a few years out of law school and working for a big firm, and with all the hours she needed to “work” and the few hours she could sleep each night her ability to think through complicated legal arguments or write briefs was severely compromised; sometimes she would be “reading” for an hour before bed with her eyes half closed, barely able to parse the words on the page. But that’s what the firm expected (and by their standards she was performing well), so she felt she had no choice.
esahione 8y ago
Everyone takes Adderall. Not just that, but a lot of the time is spent explaining things to your classmates, getting answers to match our expectations, etc. So it's not like 16 hours of reading and trying to understand the material, more like 16 hours of school work.
- copperx 8y ago
  I've always wondered: is the information retained successfully in the long term even if acquired using Adderall? I have taken Adderall for a few months, and I developed serious memory gaps. I have little recollection of several events during that time.
- anitil 8y ago
  What's it like with Adderall? Does it impact your sleep cycle, or just allow you to concentrate?

exogeny 8y ago

All joking aside, CMU does very much have a problem with promoting and fetishizing a culture of stress. I only have anecdotal evidence of this, but more so than just about anywhere else, CMU as a university prides itself on a very difficult workload and a lot of the solutions that students come up with are extremely unhealthy.

intrasight 8y ago
I have personal experience (EE,CE,AM '88). CMU sucks in terms of student experience - at least then it did. At least the physical plan is far superior now. The place was fugly in the 80s. The teaching was weak. I felt that I was paying for a reputation. And on top of that, in our freshman year they had us all come to an auditorium to tell us this: "Sorry, we have to fail half of you out because there are too many of you. Look to your left and then to your right. Those two students will be gone." Any EE in that class can testify to the truthfulness of what I say.

my_usernam3 8y ago

I'm curious too. I've done controlled substances for studying and still can't do 16 hours a day.

jacobolus 8y ago

It is not productive to study for 16h/day, or even 10h/day for an extended period. It is not only less effective for sustained learning or intellectual work than spending less but more focused time, it also leads to physical and mental health problems, and sometimes results in severe burnout. The problem is that (a) students are young and many of them are quite inexperienced with managing their own time and work, (b) students are so stressed and sleep deprived that it is hard to introspect about process or get into a productive rhythm of focused productive work alternated with rest, and (c) there is often a workaholic student culture which creates peer pressure and presents the illusion that staring at a textbook for hours while already half asleep is the mark of a good student. For grad students (especially foreign students) sometimes there is additional pressure from abusive advisors. It’s sad that e.g. MIT’s unofficial motto is “I hate this fucking place”. Unfortunately the same kind of culture extends into some people’s professional lives. I dated a lawyer for a while who was a few years out of law school and working for a big firm, and with all the hours she needed to “work” and the few hours she could sleep each night her ability to think through complicated legal arguments or write briefs was severely compromised; sometimes she would be “reading” for an hour before bed with her eyes half closed, barely able to parse the words on the page. But that’s what the firm expected (and by their standards she was performing well), so she felt she had no choice.

esahione 8y ago

Everyone takes Adderall. Not just that, but a lot of the time is spent explaining things to your classmates, getting answers to match our expectations, etc. So it's not like 16 hours of reading and trying to understand the material, more like 16 hours of school work.

copperx 8y ago
I've always wondered: is the information retained successfully in the long term even if acquired using Adderall? I have taken Adderall for a few months, and I developed serious memory gaps. I have little recollection of several events during that time.
anitil 8y ago
What's it like with Adderall? Does it impact your sleep cycle, or just allow you to concentrate?