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I think it's exactly the same thing as coffee, and it's not a medical condition at all. Coding really IS naturally boring and mind numbing. That's neither your

I think it's exactly the same thing as coffee, and it's not a medical condition at all. Coding really IS naturally boring and mind numbing. That's neither your imagination nor subjective experience. No one ever steps through a series of break-points in a debugger, or skims through 1,000 lines of log output, and thinks: "YEAH, MAN! THIS IS REALLY LIVING!" It pretty much requires an altered state to enjoy this stuff. I think the truth is that modern society measures "success" in radically different and totally unnatural ways now. Look back at history, and there's a famous correlation between the introduction of coffee, tea and chocolate to Europe, and the age of enlightenment. (https://encrypted.google.com/#q=caffeine+enlightenment+history https://encrypted.google.com/#q=caffeine+enlightenment+histo...) The reason pills are used on kids is because they won't reliably drink coffee on their own. Meanwhile, many parents won't subject their kids to substances other than normal, healthy food, unless they're comforted by rational, selfless purpose. Without an appeal to authority, in the form of a soliciting a qualified doctor's auspicious opinion, parents would just let their kids be kids. The industrialized world is obsessed with abstract achievements, and rigid behavioral norms. Most people have a hard time resisting the trend, and sometimes do so at their own risk. All of it is artificially tied to quality of life (more than survival) by social pressures, so it's not so much survival instinct, so much as it is envy or maybe a desire for inclusion that drives the behavior. It's not the drug that's demonized, but the fact that it has become a prerequisite for staying competitive and Keeping Up With The Joneses, so to speak.

sillysaurus2 13y ago
Coding really IS naturally boring and mind numbing. That's neither your imagination nor subjective experience. No one ever steps through a series of break-points in a debugger, or skims through 1,000 lines of log output, and thinks: "YEAH, MAN! THIS IS REALLY LIVING!" It pretty much requires an altered state to enjoy this stuff. That's just not true. I'm a counterexample.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
benched 13y ago
I think, working on the type of code I tend to write on my own time: delightful, exciting fun. Working on things assigned by any employers I ever had: somebody kill me already.
lfuller 13y ago
Is this really a common viewpoint in the developer community? I'm a programmer, and I do it because I find what I do to be exciting. I, in fact, truly enjoy "skimming 1,000 lines of log output" to finally find a bug I've been scouting for, or spending hours solving a particularly difficult problem. If I found coding naturally boring and mind numbing I certainly wouldn't have chosen it as my career. Perhaps you should look at whether you are truly in the right field?
- UK-AL 13y ago
  Different developers are good at different things. Some developers like looking at the big picture structure of program, other like minute detail(Bug hunting) for example. People with ADHD can't focus on detail before they zone out. They need be in either intense(Lots of pressure, like sales), or big picture and creative positions.
  - jitl 13y ago
    Your second paragraph is incorrect. Many people with ADHD exhibit both attention deficits and contrasting hyper-focus behaviors. When I'm wrestling with a nasty bug in some software I find fascinating I can pick over little details in my differential for 6 hours without taking a break or eating.
overgryphon 13y ago
Not being able to focus is quite a bit different from simply being bored. Distractions are a problem not only because of the sheer number of them, but because you don't really notice you aren't on task anymore. It can take 30 minutes to realize that reading about ancient Mongolia has nothing to do with that paper you were reading, and another five minutes to trace exactly how you got there. And then you need to find where you were and start again. Focus is incredibly complex, and not well understood. I don't know where the line is between problem and "lazy", but I do know that will power isn't the whole answer to these types of problems.

sillysaurus2 13y ago

Coding really IS naturally boring and mind numbing. That's neither your imagination nor subjective experience. No one ever steps through a series of break-points in a debugger, or skims through 1,000 lines of log output, and thinks: "YEAH, MAN! THIS IS REALLY LIVING!" It pretty much requires an altered state to enjoy this stuff. That's just not true. I'm a counterexample.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

benched 13y ago

I think, working on the type of code I tend to write on my own time: delightful, exciting fun. Working on things assigned by any employers I ever had: somebody kill me already.

lfuller 13y ago

Is this really a common viewpoint in the developer community? I'm a programmer, and I do it because I find what I do to be exciting. I, in fact, truly enjoy "skimming 1,000 lines of log output" to finally find a bug I've been scouting for, or spending hours solving a particularly difficult problem. If I found coding naturally boring and mind numbing I certainly wouldn't have chosen it as my career. Perhaps you should look at whether you are truly in the right field?

UK-AL 13y ago
Different developers are good at different things. Some developers like looking at the big picture structure of program, other like minute detail(Bug hunting) for example. People with ADHD can't focus on detail before they zone out. They need be in either intense(Lots of pressure, like sales), or big picture and creative positions.
- jitl 13y ago
  Your second paragraph is incorrect. Many people with ADHD exhibit both attention deficits and contrasting hyper-focus behaviors. When I'm wrestling with a nasty bug in some software I find fascinating I can pick over little details in my differential for 6 hours without taking a break or eating.

overgryphon 13y ago

Not being able to focus is quite a bit different from simply being bored. Distractions are a problem not only because of the sheer number of them, but because you don't really notice you aren't on task anymore. It can take 30 minutes to realize that reading about ancient Mongolia has nothing to do with that paper you were reading, and another five minutes to trace exactly how you got there. And then you need to find where you were and start again. Focus is incredibly complex, and not well understood. I don't know where the line is between problem and "lazy", but I do know that will power isn't the whole answer to these types of problems.