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Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?

#101

Post by InCityDreams »

zzzeek wrote: post #39

When I was in second grade, which per my timeline, was many years before anyone had access to "a computer" outside of a college lab, I recall doing some kind of arts and crafts thing, or fixing a pen, or something, and I channeled a bit of my dad's energy and got very focused on this task. In second grade, it was before they shuttled me off to the gifted and talented program with other "smart kids" so the other kids…

>Plus I think it occurs in other fields, like my old drum teacher when I watch him in videos, when he's going for some dramatic drum thing, his face turns to total anger and it is definitely some kind of visceral animal thing you tap into when trying to succeed in a tight space.

Guitarists facials abound - (and anything you can watch with Steve Vai playing will show even more) - https://youtu.be/CqdL36VKbMQ

Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?

#102

Post by gerbilly »

I do and I also display other strong emotions such as disgust, surprise etc.

But I also think that I look angry because I _am_ angry.

Anger allows us to increase arousal and helps us focus on an 'obstacle' and programming presents many obstacles.

It's self defeating however, because working in this way is exhausting.

In working with a close friend, who programs much more patiently and methodically, I'm slowly learning to let go of my 'ADD' (Anger Driven Development).

I think I used to consider the slow and steady approach to be plodding, and using my intense approach I really could get a lot of great work done very fast, but after a few burnouts, I had to find another way.

But coding while angry also has another major downside. Anger narrows your focus of attention on what you consider to be the 'threat' or 'obstacle', and anyone who's done technical work knows that the solution is often found by divergent thinking.

Edit: Many people are saying that they only look angry, and that they actually aren't angry. This may be 100% true, but the facial feedback hypothesis suggests that when you make an angry face, your internal state tends towards anger.

Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?

#103

Post by toomanyrichies »

sedeki wrote: post #100
toomanyrichies wrote: post #68

I've gotten this feedback from those around me for years. Even before I was a coder, when I was an ESL teacher in China, I had multiple students approach me (those I had made friends with, they were all 20-somethings and over) and ask me if I was OK, because I looked angry. I appreciated their concern but I didn't feel angry, so I had no clue what they were talking about. It was only later that I learned about the co…

I agree that you don't need to change who you are by "fixing" something. But it is a weak argument for WFH by itself, don't you think?

I didn't say it was my only reason. I said "This is a huge reason...". There are quite a few others as well. I didn't list them, because they're irrelevant to the "Ask HN" question, and are therefore off-topic.

Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?

#104

Post by freedomben »

toomanyrichies wrote: post #68

I've gotten this feedback from those around me for years. Even before I was a coder, when I was an ESL teacher in China, I had multiple students approach me (those I had made friends with, they were all 20-somethings and over) and ask me if I was OK, because I looked angry. I appreciated their concern but I didn't feel angry, so I had no clue what they were talking about. It was only later that I learned about the co…

That tendency of other humans to jump to conclusions about a person's demeanor and personality based on facial expression is one of the most irritating characteristics of humans. No matter how many times we hear cliche's like "don't judge a book by its cover," people routinely (and confidently) do that all the time.

Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?

#105

Post by sli »

If I'm working with other people, usually rest my chin in my hand and cover my mouth when I concentrate specifically to signal that I'm not angry and can be approached because my eyes often suggest otherwise. It's not really a conscious effort or anything, but it certainly changes my expression from "angry" to "furrowed brow."

Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?

#106

Post by hackitup7 »

I was born with congenital RBF (Resting Bitch Face) and it's been a mild inconvenience in my work and relationships. I've actually tried to adjust my neutral face as a result just so that I don't freak out bystanders when I'm waiting for a bus or looking at a restaurant menu.

Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?

#108

Post by toomanyrichies »

freedomben wrote: post #104
toomanyrichies wrote: post #68

I've gotten this feedback from those around me for years. Even before I was a coder, when I was an ESL teacher in China, I had multiple students approach me (those I had made friends with, they were all 20-somethings and over) and ask me if I was OK, because I looked angry. I appreciated their concern but I didn't feel angry, so I had no clue what they were talking about. It was only later that I learned about the co…

That tendency of other humans to jump to conclusions about a person's demeanor and personality based on facial expression is one of the most irritating characteristics of humans. No matter how many times we hear cliche's like "don't judge a book by its cover," people routinely (and confidently) do that all the time.

I agree. I've also come to accept that it's part of human nature and, on an evolutionary scale, is probably a net good. "Judging a book by its cover" probably saved countless cavemen from being eaten by lions, and probably has similar effects today.

Nevertheless, your point still stands- it is indeed incredibly unfortunate, for the reasons you mentioned.

Re: Ask HN: Do you look angry while you work?

#109

Post by wanderingstan »

davidthewatson wrote: post #38
wanderingstan wrote: post #17

I was inspired by a friend who saved hundreds of Webcam selfies of himself at half hour intervals. The face.com API classified the majority as “sad” or “angry”. Mentioned in my Quantified Self talk here at 1m 15s: https://vimeo.com/42239564#t=1m15s This led to the development of LifeSlice, which lets anyone do the same, and I now have s as decade of 30-min periodic selfies. Not sure what I’ll do with them all but it’…

My favorite part about this is that it captures pandiculation: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21665102/#:~:text=Pandiculat... . And makes me wonder whether a simple computer vision algorithm could classify frequency of pandiculation in the work and we could begin making correlations between pandiculation and perception of mood valence.

Cool, "pandiculation" was a new term for me! Had not thought about the purpose of yawning and stretching before.

For others curious, this page gave a better ELI5 definition for me: https://somaticmovementcenter.com/pandiculation-what-is-pand...

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