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good point about cherry picking. I'm not familiar with Kary Mullis, but Erdos is indeed a good example of someone who rose to the top of their field via obsessi

good point about cherry picking. I'm not familiar with Kary Mullis, but Erdos is indeed a good example of someone who rose to the top of their field via obsessive work, although I would like to point out that much of Erdos's work was done socially, whereas the examples given in the article refer to solitary work time. The article does give non-anecdotal evidence, however - the correlation of hours worked by scientists and productivity, as well as the study of violinists. Of course, you could rightfully claim that for the violin players, sleeping was also a part of their work - there is a fair amount of evidence (detailed in the book Sleep by M. Walker, which, while I've seen some critiques of it, I still consider to be a decent source) supporting the hypothesis that sleep aids learning, and so for a violinist, getting enough sleep would be necessary to learning the skills for their job. However, to once again use my former boss as an example, not everyone understands that hiking and walking and in von Neummann's case sleeping/dreaming are an integral part of productivity - my former boss would sleep less than 5 hours a day, and he was proud of this fact. Furthermore, while I think you are right in saying that the article overly focuses on one path to success (some people got successful by spending relatively little time at their desks), the message that long hours spent toiling away at a desk are not necessary for productivity, and indeed, can harm it, is very useful. There are a large number of highly productive creative people who work 4 hours a day max. Looking at the study of research scientists mentioned in the article, it would seem that they are the majority, and as such a confused grad student/developer looking to be more productive may actually benefit from working less, not more, which is a counter-intuitive/surprising (to my mind at least) truth. :)

eesmith 4y ago
> as well as the study of violinists That's an off-shoot of Ericsson's "deliberate practice" work. More specifically, I think it was four hours of "deliberate practice" per day was the max. But work is more than "deliberate practice". As to the physics work, note that it cites Van Zelst and Kerr in the 1950s. Why no more recent research? Has it been reproduced? > and in von Neummann's case sleeping/dreaming And shaving. https://www.representations.org/thoughts-while-shaving/ https://www.representations.org/thoughts-while-shaving/ > my former boss as an example Remember that Darwin had no boss. > my former boss would sleep less than 5 hours a day, and he was proud of this fact. Oh, that reminds me of another example - Edison. Quoting https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/05/thomas-edison-and-the-cult-of-sleep-deprivation/370824/ https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/05/thomas-ed... "He reportedly slept a mere three to four hours at night, “regarding sleep as a waste of time, ‘a heritage from our cave days,'” as James Maas tells us in his 1997 productivity bestseller Power Sleep (public library)"' (See more from that Atlantic piece for Edison's views on sleep.) > Looking at the study of research scientists mentioned in the article, it would seem that they are the majority .... how many research scientists do you think there are? How many do you think were mentioned in the article?

eesmith 4y ago

> as well as the study of violinists That's an off-shoot of Ericsson's "deliberate practice" work. More specifically, I think it was four hours of "deliberate practice" per day was the max. But work is more than "deliberate practice". As to the physics work, note that it cites Van Zelst and Kerr in the 1950s. Why no more recent research? Has it been reproduced? > and in von Neummann's case sleeping/dreaming And shaving. https://www.representations.org/thoughts-while-shaving/ https://www.representations.org/thoughts-while-shaving/ > my former boss as an example Remember that Darwin had no boss. > my former boss would sleep less than 5 hours a day, and he was proud of this fact. Oh, that reminds me of another example - Edison. Quoting https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/05/thomas-edison-and-the-cult-of-sleep-deprivation/370824/ https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/05/thomas-ed... "He reportedly slept a mere three to four hours at night, “regarding sleep as a waste of time, ‘a heritage from our cave days,'” as James Maas tells us in his 1997 productivity bestseller Power Sleep (public library)"' (See more from that Atlantic piece for Edison's views on sleep.) > Looking at the study of research scientists mentioned in the article, it would seem that they are the majority .... how many research scientists do you think there are? How many do you think were mentioned in the article?