3 ms·

From observations of myself, I think this behaviour is compelled by a childlike grasping at control of some trivial external aspect of my experience to make up

• usrusr 7y ago
  Similar experience: I usually don't mind the noises, even when the mental stack is close to maximum capacity, but only while I'm on a good trajectory towards finding a solution. When the trajectory degrades into running in circles, suddenly everything louder than breathing becomes infuriating. I'd describe it slightly different than lack of control, even if it's essentially the same: the noise is something to blame for the lack of progress so the helpless mind will blame it a lot. It's also an outlet for that tiny amount of anger about the failure, anger that would otherwise just fuel more focus, and then that anger itself becomes the main distraction, creating a leveraged effect much bigger than the noise itself. Today I had to silence a broken door before I could eventually beat that bug, didn't even feel much different than introducing the appropriate instrumentations in the view... (about headphones, I used to do that when noticing first signs of that running in circles noise sensitivity, but now I absolutely can't be bothered to sacrifice my hearing to make up for the deficiencies of the workplace provided by my employer)