4 ms·

I doubt Ballmer Peak needs to reach as far down as neuroscience to find a basis: developers tend to overthink, and alcohol de-thinks.

• alexpotato 4y ago
  The book Drunk spends a lot of time on this very point: From a long term health perspective, alcohol is very bad or even toxic for humans. That being said, it's been used throughout history for short term benefits ranging from creativity to facilitating social interactions. On the creativity side, the author explicitly states how drinking alcohol can help adults activate child like curiosity and thinking. The idea being that the adult mind has too many inhibitions and the alcohol helps lower those for both internal and external scenarios. 0 - https://www.amazon.com/Drunk-Sipped-Danced-Stumbled-Civilization/dp/0316453382 https://www.amazon.com/Drunk-Sipped-Danced-Stumbled-Civiliza...
  • jiggawatts 4y ago
    This is my experience. I tend to "freeze up" when faced with a blank page. It becomes impossible to just start, because I get bogged down in planning or trying to predict future roadblocks. One glass of wine and I tend to just say "eff it" and start banging away at the keyboard.
    • bolanyo 4y ago
      I'm teetotal and I feel like I can sort of turn this on, usually motivated by boredom. I wonder if I am putting more effort into it, or lacking a genuine uninhibitedness which drinkers access easily. Or perhaps, on the contrary, by drinking they make it harder to access this state naturally?
• tshaddox 4y ago
  It also just makes you feel good at the right dosage, which might make you more productive at certain types of work (not to mention that it might make you report a feeling of higher productivity even if there’s no objective indication of that).