5 ms·

You're in good company with Paul Erdős, one of the most prolific mathematicians of the 1900s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%91s http://en.wikipedia.

by lsb 15y ago

You're in good company with Paul Erdős, one of the most prolific mathematicians of the 1900s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%91s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%91s After 1971 he also took amphetamines, despite the concern of his friends, one of whom (Ron Graham) bet him $500 that he could not stop taking the drug for a month.[12] Erdős won the bet, but complained that during his abstinence mathematics had been set back by a month: "Before, when I looked at a piece of blank paper my mind was filled with ideas. Now all I see is a blank piece of paper." After he won the bet, he promptly resumed his amphetamine use.

chopsueyar 15y ago
Didn't he 'invent' airbnb? [UPDATE] I find it interesting coffee was his 'gateway' drug and self-dosed amphetamine usage allowed him to perform at a higher level. In that sense, amphetamine usage is much better than caffeine. He was not addicted to amphetamines. Most coffee drinkers are addicted to caffeine. How many caffeine addicts would go a month without caffeine for $500?
- ZoFreX 15y ago
  I'm hooked on caffeine and cigarettes, I'd give up both for a month for $500 easy!
  - chopsueyar 15y ago
    How much to you spend on cigarettes and caffeine per month?
- lsc 15y ago
  $500? that's what, a half-day bill rate for most mid range USian computer professionals? If you believe you are deriving much productivity benefit from caffeine at all, that doesn't seem like a very good deal. I'm just saying, the fact that someone won't give up a drug they perceive to enhance productivity for a small amount of money is not evidence that it is addictive; it could also be a rational decision (e.g. I believe I am giving up more than $500 worth of additional productivity if I don't use caffeine) I would be really interested in the results of (and even willing to participate in) a properly controlled study that measured the effects of caffeine on productivity. But measuring actual productivity is /very hard/ which is why I've gotta keep using words like 'perceived productivity'
  - awj 15y ago
    It also probably wasn't that much to Paul Erdos, either. The point was in "proving" that he wasn't an addict, not winning a $500 bet.
- SoftwareMaven 15y ago
  He was not physically dependent on amphetamines. Whether he was addicted is a completely different question.

by lsb 15y ago

chopsueyar 15y ago

Didn't he 'invent' airbnb? [UPDATE] I find it interesting coffee was his 'gateway' drug and self-dosed amphetamine usage allowed him to perform at a higher level. In that sense, amphetamine usage is much better than caffeine. He was not addicted to amphetamines. Most coffee drinkers are addicted to caffeine. How many caffeine addicts would go a month without caffeine for $500?

ZoFreX 15y ago
I'm hooked on caffeine and cigarettes, I'd give up both for a month for $500 easy!
- chopsueyar 15y ago
  How much to you spend on cigarettes and caffeine per month?
lsc 15y ago
$500? that's what, a half-day bill rate for most mid range USian computer professionals? If you believe you are deriving much productivity benefit from caffeine at all, that doesn't seem like a very good deal. I'm just saying, the fact that someone won't give up a drug they perceive to enhance productivity for a small amount of money is not evidence that it is addictive; it could also be a rational decision (e.g. I believe I am giving up more than $500 worth of additional productivity if I don't use caffeine) I would be really interested in the results of (and even willing to participate in) a properly controlled study that measured the effects of caffeine on productivity. But measuring actual productivity is /very hard/ which is why I've gotta keep using words like 'perceived productivity'
- awj 15y ago
  It also probably wasn't that much to Paul Erdos, either. The point was in "proving" that he wasn't an addict, not winning a $500 bet.
SoftwareMaven 15y ago
He was not physically dependent on amphetamines. Whether he was addicted is a completely different question.