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> Dr Barack and his colleagues collected data from 457 adults who completed an online foraging game where they had to collect as many berries as possible within
by lqet 3y ago
> Dr Barack and his colleagues collected data from 457 adults who completed an online foraging game where they had to collect as many berries as possible within eight minutes.
> Participants who scored higher on the ADHD scale spent shorter periods of time in each patch of bushes and were thus more likely to gain more points in the game than participants with lower scores on the ADHD scale.
So as I understand it, ADHD in that setup basically introduces chaos / randomness to avoid falling into local optima.
It immediately follows that having ADHD may be a major disadvantage in environments where there is only one global optimum (for example, a highly regulated and deterministic academic environment like school or undergraduate studies, or an established corporate environment).
- yamrzou 3y ago> So as I understand it, ADHD in that setup basically introduces chaos / randomness to avoid falling into local optima. Well said. In other words, the ADHD “agent” mostly chooses the exploration strategy in the Exploration vs. Exploitation dilemma.
- _boffin_ 3y agoThis puts so much of my life into perspective.
- milesvp 3y agoWhat I’m curious about is how this relates to other findings that ADHD individuals tend to be better in crises than non ADHD. That is a scenario where honing in and focusing on doing the necessary thing is paramount, and where many just flounder and do nothing.
- nyokodo 3y ago> ADHD individuals tend to be better in crises than non ADHD Two potential factors come to mind. Firstly, those with ADHD are always having to think on their feet and drag their attention back to the issue at hand so when there is a highly distracting and distressing situation it is merely an issue of degree for them. Secondly, another symptom of ADHD is hyper-focus which may help in certain crises.
- blowski 3y agoIf that's right, then it follows that giving medication to suppress it is a bad idea for humanity as a whole. Although it may help an individual cope better with a local situation, it would be better to have more situations in which an individual with ADHD can thrive.
- andybak 3y agoYou can choose when to take meds and when not to. I was actively encouraged by my doctor to be selective and I have a prescription for both the timed release and the normal forms. I am fully capable of recognising situations where the meds help and where they hinder.
- JohnBooty 3y agoI am fully capable of recognising situations where the meds help and where they hinder. How does this work for you in practice? I take mine selectively as well, to an extent. But in practice I am limited by the fact that there's a certain physical dependency - if I'm accustomed to N mg daily, I can't take less than about 50% of that dose without feeling some withdrawal symptoms such as brainfog and physical lethargy. (For whatever it's worth: I don't have much trouble cycling off completely. I can go from 100% to 0% in a few days if I taper the dosage.)
- andybak 3y agoI've never noticed any withdrawal effects.
- JohnBooty 3y agoThat's awesome. Withdrawal is certainly not unheard-of. https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/adderall-withdrawal https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/adderall-withdrawal Based on anecdotal experience I kind of want to say mild withdrawal is the norm but that might well be selection bias at work: people are more likely to talk about withdrawal than they are to talk about the lack of withdrawal. In my personal experience, just to put things in perspective: I would describe my adderall withdrawal as approximately half as bad as caffeine withdrawal. I don't have any other forms of withdrawal with which to compare it.