7 ms·

Great story, but you've never dreamt in C++.

abdusco 5y ago
He probably means programming or debugging while dreaming, which certainly happens when you're up 4am in the morning fixing a stubborn bug or learning something new that captivates your brain.
- jiggawatts 5y ago
  I meant it literally. I've had dreams where instead of a normal language, I dreamt in C++, as if it was a human language. Instead of spoken words, a header file was changing in my mind, taking shape to match my thoughts. It's the most "alien" experience I've ever had.
  - z0ltan 5y ago
    Hahahahaha!
  - exdsq 5y ago
    Sounds like what an LSD experience must feel like
  - exikyut 5y ago
    That's really cool. Sounds like it was an abstract-declarative sort of narrative - header files are generally references that prospectively describe and model things. I'm curious if the code was valid. (Hmm, and if the numbers were all fuzzy... people sometimes say they can't read clocks or digits.) A bilingual friend once shared that they sometimes forgot which language they'd heard something in, their brain could subconsciously translate back and forth with so little effort. This sounds kind of like that. Hmmmm... programming languages are unique in that they're generally never sounded-out to the same extent as wetware languages, eg in how commas and periods turn into pitch changes and pauses. Human(-to-human) language does have a visual/written component, but it's maybe... hm, 50/50 sounds potentially wrong, but it is sorta half-half; audio serialization is generally awkwardly bolted on to the side with programming, which is generally always visual, and has strong correlation (or even fundamental integration) to control and problem solving. To integrate all that very young may have perhaps slightly remapped things around such that that language processing developed strong cohesive lock-step with visual/spatial reasoning, with sufficient cohesion that the integration retained structural integrity even when the logical/rational/etc parts of the brain shut down when asleep.
    - jiggawatts 5y ago
      Deaf people "hear" sign language in their dreams. It was a bit like that: no audio! It was the structure and form of the API of a pair of associated classes shifting around fluidly. Very abstract, and not at all like human speech. But it was definitely my thoughts. As in, the code was my stream of consciousness, not a product of it.
- baumgarn 5y ago
  A few times in dreams I found solutions to problems I have been working on during the day.
grogenaut 5y ago
im betting he meant it. ill ofyen have fever dreams whem too much caffiene or whatever and ill be trying to do for loops and what not in various languages. ive had people talk to me in code in dreams. in my dreams things are usualy sent essentially telepathically as ideas anyway so language is more about concepts amd structure.
besnn00 5y ago
I've dreamt in bash-like, but in my defense it was kind of a fever dream.
- a9h74j 5y ago
  I had a nightmare in LISP once. At least ... I saw a lot of parenthesis.

He probably means programming or debugging while dreaming, which certainly happens when you're up 4am in the morning fixing a stubborn bug or learning something new that captivates your brain.

jiggawatts 5y ago
I meant it literally. I've had dreams where instead of a normal language, I dreamt in C++, as if it was a human language. Instead of spoken words, a header file was changing in my mind, taking shape to match my thoughts. It's the most "alien" experience I've ever had.
- z0ltan 5y ago
  Hahahahaha!
- exdsq 5y ago
  Sounds like what an LSD experience must feel like
- exikyut 5y ago
  That's really cool. Sounds like it was an abstract-declarative sort of narrative - header files are generally references that prospectively describe and model things. I'm curious if the code was valid. (Hmm, and if the numbers were all fuzzy... people sometimes say they can't read clocks or digits.) A bilingual friend once shared that they sometimes forgot which language they'd heard something in, their brain could subconsciously translate back and forth with so little effort. This sounds kind of like that. Hmmmm... programming languages are unique in that they're generally never sounded-out to the same extent as wetware languages, eg in how commas and periods turn into pitch changes and pauses. Human(-to-human) language does have a visual/written component, but it's maybe... hm, 50/50 sounds potentially wrong, but it is sorta half-half; audio serialization is generally awkwardly bolted on to the side with programming, which is generally always visual, and has strong correlation (or even fundamental integration) to control and problem solving. To integrate all that very young may have perhaps slightly remapped things around such that that language processing developed strong cohesive lock-step with visual/spatial reasoning, with sufficient cohesion that the integration retained structural integrity even when the logical/rational/etc parts of the brain shut down when asleep.
  - jiggawatts 5y ago
    Deaf people "hear" sign language in their dreams. It was a bit like that: no audio! It was the structure and form of the API of a pair of associated classes shifting around fluidly. Very abstract, and not at all like human speech. But it was definitely my thoughts. As in, the code was my stream of consciousness, not a product of it.
baumgarn 5y ago
A few times in dreams I found solutions to problems I have been working on during the day.

grogenaut 5y ago

im betting he meant it. ill ofyen have fever dreams whem too much caffiene or whatever and ill be trying to do for loops and what not in various languages. ive had people talk to me in code in dreams. in my dreams things are usualy sent essentially telepathically as ideas anyway so language is more about concepts amd structure.

besnn00 5y ago

I've dreamt in bash-like, but in my defense it was kind of a fever dream.

a9h74j 5y ago
I had a nightmare in LISP once. At least ... I saw a lot of parenthesis.