5 ms·

I know that when I get into a "flow state" while programming I tell my spouse to have patience with the way I reason/talk for the next few hours. Best way I can

by qq4 5y ago

I know that when I get into a "flow state" while programming I tell my spouse to have patience with the way I reason/talk for the next few hours. Best way I can describe how I feel is the Tetris effect turned up to 11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect

liamwire 5y ago
I’ve experienced this carry-over into my verbal communication with my partner before, it’s nice to have a name for it.
sourdoughness 5y ago
Plus one here: I get a strong case of the cliche “man must fix problem” after a solid day of programming. It’s helpful when you can keep it in balance, but it’s definitely not the right tool for all situations.
- dj_gitmo 5y ago
  This reminds me of a great scene from "Halt and Catch Fire". The lead engineer, Gordon, is supposed to be making dinner for his kids and putting them to bed while his wife is away, but he notices a small leak from the kitchen sink. He then drops all plans and next you see him under the sink. Marital problems ensue.
  - swayvil 5y ago
    Woo! new tv show to watch
    - dj_gitmo 5y ago
      It's really good, both as a drama with great characters, and as a show about tech.
      - swayvil 5y ago
        A punk sexpot supermodel rockstar with awesome hair programmer? Really? But that got me thinking. Say they did it different. Realistically. 3 alienated schlubs. Fat. Bad skin. Brilliant and driven. Would the show have worked with that? I mean, realistically? Do people like that have camaraderie? And society? Is that realistic? I mean of course I like to think they do. But maybe they don't. Maybe it would be like 3 Pak Protectors pinging each other across lightyears. And maybe it would still work showwise. The demographic would be like 10 people. I'd probably watch it. Also, there's some good music. Was that Dead Kennedys?
  - phkahler 5y ago
    Common in real life: Wife comes home and tells husband about shit gone wrong in her day. Husband interprets this as asking for help solving those problems and starts offering suggestions. No, he was just supposed to listen.
is0tope 5y ago
Definitely interesting phenomenon, I wasn't aware it had a name. The closest thing to this for me was when I played factorio for a week. I feel like if you are a programmer that game will resonate with you heavily, making it possibly addictive. I set myself a goal of building the rocket, and then stopping. I know people however who went off the deep end with mods etc hah! The thing I remember most however was how it invaded my dreams. I found myself dreaming at least a few times of conveyor belts, pickers and trains. I think possibly this was some low level version of the aforementioned effect.
L_226 5y ago
Anecdote time: When I was in university I worked in a supermarket as a cashier. I became extremely efficient in packing groceries, in fact I took it as a point of pride to pack items as effectively as possible. Soft items on top or separately, tesselating boxed items and fully utilising bag space - without compromising bag integrity, approximately equal and manageable bag weights and sizes bespoke to the customer's strength. And everything FAST. I had repeat customers come specifically to me just for my packing. But I found that after my shifts I would nearly always dream about packing groceries, and operating the register. These days I still enjoy arranging and packing my own groceries when shopping, to the infinite exasperation of my partner. I also enjoy the same thing with the dishwasher...
- codr7 5y ago
  I do this, and I never worked in any supermarkets. It's just so mind-numbingly boring and frustrating in itself so turning it into a challenge helps me cope and even enjoy it.
- drq 5y ago
  So that's why I so much enjoy packing the dishwasher and optimizing how I arrange all the items. Interesting....
geijoenr 5y ago
I confirm I used to experience this as well, and I have the feeling it also has some long lasting effect in one's communication abilities.
jcul 5y ago
I can relate to this. Especially after intense bouts of focusing on particularly complex problems, I might experience thoughts and have dreams in strange logic / programming kind of modes, unlike normal linguistic thought patterns. And non physically real things, like dreaming about wanting a drink in strange logic. Or if I'd been working on something very multithreaded, thinking in fragmented parallel modes. Very hard to describe it with normal language. Can be almost disturbing when you wake and get back into normal thinking mode as it is difficult to relate to the previous mode.
- qq4 5y ago
  > And non physically real things, like dreaming about wanting a drink in strange logic My brother and I call this "dream algebra"

by qq4 5y ago

liamwire 5y ago

I’ve experienced this carry-over into my verbal communication with my partner before, it’s nice to have a name for it.

sourdoughness 5y ago

Plus one here: I get a strong case of the cliche “man must fix problem” after a solid day of programming. It’s helpful when you can keep it in balance, but it’s definitely not the right tool for all situations.

dj_gitmo 5y ago
This reminds me of a great scene from "Halt and Catch Fire". The lead engineer, Gordon, is supposed to be making dinner for his kids and putting them to bed while his wife is away, but he notices a small leak from the kitchen sink. He then drops all plans and next you see him under the sink. Marital problems ensue.
- swayvil 5y ago
  Woo! new tv show to watch
  - dj_gitmo 5y ago
    It's really good, both as a drama with great characters, and as a show about tech.
    - swayvil 5y ago
      A punk sexpot supermodel rockstar with awesome hair programmer? Really? But that got me thinking. Say they did it different. Realistically. 3 alienated schlubs. Fat. Bad skin. Brilliant and driven. Would the show have worked with that? I mean, realistically? Do people like that have camaraderie? And society? Is that realistic? I mean of course I like to think they do. But maybe they don't. Maybe it would be like 3 Pak Protectors pinging each other across lightyears. And maybe it would still work showwise. The demographic would be like 10 people. I'd probably watch it. Also, there's some good music. Was that Dead Kennedys?
- phkahler 5y ago
  Common in real life: Wife comes home and tells husband about shit gone wrong in her day. Husband interprets this as asking for help solving those problems and starts offering suggestions. No, he was just supposed to listen.

is0tope 5y ago

Definitely interesting phenomenon, I wasn't aware it had a name. The closest thing to this for me was when I played factorio for a week. I feel like if you are a programmer that game will resonate with you heavily, making it possibly addictive. I set myself a goal of building the rocket, and then stopping. I know people however who went off the deep end with mods etc hah! The thing I remember most however was how it invaded my dreams. I found myself dreaming at least a few times of conveyor belts, pickers and trains. I think possibly this was some low level version of the aforementioned effect.

L_226 5y ago

Anecdote time: When I was in university I worked in a supermarket as a cashier. I became extremely efficient in packing groceries, in fact I took it as a point of pride to pack items as effectively as possible. Soft items on top or separately, tesselating boxed items and fully utilising bag space - without compromising bag integrity, approximately equal and manageable bag weights and sizes bespoke to the customer's strength. And everything FAST. I had repeat customers come specifically to me just for my packing. But I found that after my shifts I would nearly always dream about packing groceries, and operating the register. These days I still enjoy arranging and packing my own groceries when shopping, to the infinite exasperation of my partner. I also enjoy the same thing with the dishwasher...

codr7 5y ago
I do this, and I never worked in any supermarkets. It's just so mind-numbingly boring and frustrating in itself so turning it into a challenge helps me cope and even enjoy it.
drq 5y ago
So that's why I so much enjoy packing the dishwasher and optimizing how I arrange all the items. Interesting....

geijoenr 5y ago

I confirm I used to experience this as well, and I have the feeling it also has some long lasting effect in one's communication abilities.

jcul 5y ago

I can relate to this. Especially after intense bouts of focusing on particularly complex problems, I might experience thoughts and have dreams in strange logic / programming kind of modes, unlike normal linguistic thought patterns. And non physically real things, like dreaming about wanting a drink in strange logic. Or if I'd been working on something very multithreaded, thinking in fragmented parallel modes. Very hard to describe it with normal language. Can be almost disturbing when you wake and get back into normal thinking mode as it is difficult to relate to the previous mode.

qq4 5y ago
> And non physically real things, like dreaming about wanting a drink in strange logic My brother and I call this "dream algebra"