5 ms·

Ask HN: Do you smoke cannabis while programming?

10 points by tabob 6y ago

nikivi 6y ago
4-aco-dmt is nicer for that kind of thing
- tabob 6y ago
  You joke, but I actually prototyped a bgp-friendly api & bgp-driven authoritative DNS service for edge-computing over a weekend while on a cocktail of Mushrooms, MDMA and an incredible amount of bubble-hash. Ultimately I formed a small company around it and sold it 6 months later to a hosting company for $75k. I was stoned for 90% of the development work, and was also coming down off of an MDMA trip when I pitched the idea. I literally walked into a hosting company owned by a friend at random (after not seeing him for 3 years) and told him I'd built this thing and that he needed it for their cloud offering.
codevark 6y ago
I only smoke weed when I wanna play like Gilmour.
pakdhbfucttw 6y ago
Yes. It’s replaced coffee and cigarettes for me. It instantly quiets all negative emotions I’m feeling (mostly boredom and frustration) so I can focus on the code. I’m lucky to live in a legal state.
- sangli 6y ago
  Were you able to stop smoking cigarettes?
- tabob 6y ago
  I've found myself in a situation now where I am almost unable to code without being stoned. When I began smoking, I got over more than a decade's of insecurity over being a sysdadmin who couldn't "really code". Now it's sort of intertwined. Without being stoned, I just stare at my screen then switch to a news site after a few minutes, then repeat.
speedgoose 6y ago
Of course, I also drink a lot of alcohol before deploying to production and get a lot of sugar when code reviewing.
- tabob 6y ago
  Do you calculate your Ballmer Peak? https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ballmer%20Peak https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ballmer%20Pe...
  - speedgoose 6y ago
    It's about 0% for me.
sloaken 6y ago
I did once. Not a good result.
SlipperySlope 6y ago
Distinguish smoking and vaping. The latter excludes the toxins from combustion. The body naturally retreats from smoke inhalation which is of course deadly in the extreme. THC makes me want to fix technical debt as I come across it.
logicslave 6y ago
Seems like a good way to open myself up to the nightmarish thought avenues of the inherent existential dread involved in debugging endlessly complex garbage code bases.
dzhiurgis 6y ago
Only when I already know pretty well what to do - write something simple but lots of it. Not when I actually need to reason about something - because your memory is low it’s pretty hard to do.
milkytron 6y ago
For work, no. For educational or personal purposes, yes, sometimes.
cybercraft1 6y ago
No, we don't. In CyberCraft (software development company from Ukraine) we have found out more efficient ways to stay relaxed. We practice different kinds of sport together, try yoga and meditations. Such an approach helps to get rid of anxiety, stay motivated and control the mind.

10 points by tabob 6y ago

nikivi 6y ago

4-aco-dmt is nicer for that kind of thing

tabob 6y ago
You joke, but I actually prototyped a bgp-friendly api & bgp-driven authoritative DNS service for edge-computing over a weekend while on a cocktail of Mushrooms, MDMA and an incredible amount of bubble-hash. Ultimately I formed a small company around it and sold it 6 months later to a hosting company for $75k. I was stoned for 90% of the development work, and was also coming down off of an MDMA trip when I pitched the idea. I literally walked into a hosting company owned by a friend at random (after not seeing him for 3 years) and told him I'd built this thing and that he needed it for their cloud offering.

codevark 6y ago

I only smoke weed when I wanna play like Gilmour.

pakdhbfucttw 6y ago

Yes. It’s replaced coffee and cigarettes for me. It instantly quiets all negative emotions I’m feeling (mostly boredom and frustration) so I can focus on the code. I’m lucky to live in a legal state.

sangli 6y ago
Were you able to stop smoking cigarettes?
tabob 6y ago
I've found myself in a situation now where I am almost unable to code without being stoned. When I began smoking, I got over more than a decade's of insecurity over being a sysdadmin who couldn't "really code". Now it's sort of intertwined. Without being stoned, I just stare at my screen then switch to a news site after a few minutes, then repeat.

speedgoose 6y ago

Of course, I also drink a lot of alcohol before deploying to production and get a lot of sugar when code reviewing.

tabob 6y ago
Do you calculate your Ballmer Peak? https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ballmer%20Peak https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ballmer%20Pe...
- speedgoose 6y ago
  It's about 0% for me.

sloaken 6y ago

I did once. Not a good result.

SlipperySlope 6y ago

Distinguish smoking and vaping. The latter excludes the toxins from combustion. The body naturally retreats from smoke inhalation which is of course deadly in the extreme. THC makes me want to fix technical debt as I come across it.

logicslave 6y ago

Seems like a good way to open myself up to the nightmarish thought avenues of the inherent existential dread involved in debugging endlessly complex garbage code bases.

dzhiurgis 6y ago

Only when I already know pretty well what to do - write something simple but lots of it. Not when I actually need to reason about something - because your memory is low it’s pretty hard to do.

milkytron 6y ago

For work, no. For educational or personal purposes, yes, sometimes.

cybercraft1 6y ago

No, we don't. In CyberCraft (software development company from Ukraine) we have found out more efficient ways to stay relaxed. We practice different kinds of sport together, try yoga and meditations. Such an approach helps to get rid of anxiety, stay motivated and control the mind.