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I am not a drinker myself (drink 1-3 times a year), but in the past I have coded while slightly buzzed on a few occasions. I could not believe the level of foc

I am not a drinker myself (drink 1-3 times a year), but in the past I have coded while slightly buzzed on a few occasions. I could not believe the level of focus I had. I never investigated it further, but I'm pretty sure the effects of alcohol on our coding abilities is not nearly as bad as it affects our motor skills. Imo, fatigue is far worse.

emodendroket 6y ago
I've found just the opposite. Any booze at all and I basically can't work for hours.
- physicles 6y ago
  Me too, partly because of the reduced short-term memory (which coding relies on heavily). But more than that, my motivation drops through the floor because I can’t shake the thought that life is too short to fight with computers all day.
henearkr 6y ago
When I was not yet a teetotaler, each time I was hitting my maths textbooks after a few drinks, I could not believe my level of focus, and everything was clear and obvious. Textbook pages were flying at a speed never seen. Of course the next day, when re-reading the same pages, I was always discovering that the previous day I had everything wrong, nothing was obvious, and all my reasoning when with alcohol was false because simplistic and oblivious of any mathematical rigor.
- centimeter 6y ago
  Similar effect with psilocybin or LSD - you think you had a really profound and insightful experience, but once you think back on it you realize that (most of the time) you just got the impression that it was profound and insightful.
  - gassius 6y ago
    Its there any difference between having a profound experience and having "just the impression" of it? Also, nothing is comparable between alcohol and psychodelics
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
- ThrowawayR2 6y ago
  Not a great idea for studying anyway because of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-dependent_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-dependent_memory In short, ability to recall memories is at least in part dependent on being in a similar state to the time when memories are formed, e.g. something learned while being intoxicated will be more easily recalled only when intoxicated again.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
3np 6y ago
For me it's really hit and miss - it can either increase focus and motivation, invigorate the mind, while reducing distractions. Other times it has the opposite effect. Same with cannabis. The cannabis absolutely took a decade or so of recreational use until I discovered/developed coding well under the influence. Though I'm talking one or two drinks here, not firing up vscode after a night out or going through a bottle of rum.
jnsaff2 6y ago
https://xkcd.com/323/ https://xkcd.com/323/

emodendroket 6y ago

I've found just the opposite. Any booze at all and I basically can't work for hours.

physicles 6y ago
Me too, partly because of the reduced short-term memory (which coding relies on heavily). But more than that, my motivation drops through the floor because I can’t shake the thought that life is too short to fight with computers all day.

henearkr 6y ago

When I was not yet a teetotaler, each time I was hitting my maths textbooks after a few drinks, I could not believe my level of focus, and everything was clear and obvious. Textbook pages were flying at a speed never seen. Of course the next day, when re-reading the same pages, I was always discovering that the previous day I had everything wrong, nothing was obvious, and all my reasoning when with alcohol was false because simplistic and oblivious of any mathematical rigor.

centimeter 6y ago
Similar effect with psilocybin or LSD - you think you had a really profound and insightful experience, but once you think back on it you realize that (most of the time) you just got the impression that it was profound and insightful.
- gassius 6y ago
  Its there any difference between having a profound experience and having "just the impression" of it? Also, nothing is comparable between alcohol and psychodelics
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
ThrowawayR2 6y ago
Not a great idea for studying anyway because of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-dependent_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-dependent_memory In short, ability to recall memories is at least in part dependent on being in a similar state to the time when memories are formed, e.g. something learned while being intoxicated will be more easily recalled only when intoxicated again.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

3np 6y ago

For me it's really hit and miss - it can either increase focus and motivation, invigorate the mind, while reducing distractions. Other times it has the opposite effect. Same with cannabis. The cannabis absolutely took a decade or so of recreational use until I discovered/developed coding well under the influence. Though I'm talking one or two drinks here, not firing up vscode after a night out or going through a bottle of rum.

jnsaff2 6y ago

https://xkcd.com/323/ https://xkcd.com/323/