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Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector

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Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector

#111

Post by lordofmoria »

woah wrote: post #84

I would be careful of overestimating the amount of stimulant use based on comments and emails here. People who use a lot of stimulants tend to love talking about themselves and often have a belief that anyone successful must be taking stimulants secretly. It plays into the motivation of most stimulant users which is that the stimulants have given them a special cheat code in life. I worked in construction in my young…

Logged in to upvote this. Birds of a feather flock together.

I’ve personally never come across anyone who (admits) to using anything stronger than Redbull. In fact, we have some employees who don’t even drink coffee, opting for “natural” stimulants which come with less of a crash. Yerba Mate seems particularly popular these days.

However, I may be in my own bubble; I’m very interested in seeing what you find!

Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector

#112

Post by Eilene »

ryandrake wrote: post #89
Blahah wrote: post #42

I am open to discussing this in raw detail - contact in my profile. Most programmers, scientists, people in finance and startups I know take a lot of stimulants. I take a lot of stimulants. [Edit - as others have pointed out, there's a strong selection bias going on here. I actively seek out people who I know take stimulants, and we naturally congregate socially based on a bunch of subtle and explicit cues that signa…

I’m that squeaky clean guy in high school that (unbelievably) never even encountered anyone smoking marijuana back then. My social circle did not and still doesn’t really include much drug use. Yet I’ve directly observed Adderall abuse in Silicon Valley. That’s how prevalent it must be.

what makes you resist going that route? Do you also feel pressure in the profession to work longer, produce more, etc.?

Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector

#113

Post by meredydd »

Eilene wrote: post #80
coleifer wrote: post #46

Drop me an email, you can find it in my profile.

I will do that. Forgive me, I'm new to HN. When I click on your handle, I don't see an email. Do I find it somewhere else?

The "email" field in your HN profile is not shown to other users. You need to put it in your "about" field if you want it to be public. Many people don't realise this.

(The same is true for you, Eilene - your email address is hidden. If you want people to be able to email you, click your username in the top right of the page, and add it to your "about" section.)

Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector

#114

Post by neverminder »

Eilene wrote: post #64
neverminder wrote: post #43

The way I see it there's mainly 2 types of drugs in this case: recreational and performance enhancing. For instance both cocaine and modafinil are drugs, but vastly different in terms of safety, addiction and last but not least - social stigma. If you want more information regarding performance enhancing substances, more specifically mind performance (very relevant in tech sector), I suggest you visit /r/nootropics.

Yes, realized that in the last 20 minutes, when I went to look up modafinil. Do you think that the use of performance related drugs and stimulants are far more prevalent in the under 40 set? Or under 30? than among those working in tech that are over 4o or 50?

My guess is the younger the more familiar with stuff like modafinil. There's growing outrage that at least half of Oxbridge is on it and that it provides unfair advantage against "clean" students. It's also my understanding that in the valley especially where hours are long and nights short, modafinil is the go-to.

Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector

#115

Post by twi »

oil7abibi wrote: post #41
Eilene wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Peter said he thought he needed modafinil. Why is it a hot topic now? His thought way back was that it was everything he needed at the time--mood regular, stimulant.

It said to have characteristics of a holy grail stimulant: increased performance without the crash or heavy tolerance build.

No crash might be the problem with it: you try to go to sleep and end up just kind of laying there half the night.

Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector

#116

Post by allochthon »

Good luck with your book.

I worked as a software developer for 6-7 years in San Francisco and Emeryville, CA, and never became aware of or suspected widespread drug/stimulant use apart from coffee (a beloved thing in my view). Alcohol was definitely something one saw consumed at startups.

At the present time (now in Colorado, working with a remote team), a colleague of mine uses prescription medication to deal with ADD. Another is into the psychedelic drug scene and micro-doses LSD.

Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector

#117

Post by hx2a »

In the finance industry Adderall is very popular. I know someone who works as an in-house psychiatrist at a top-tier investment bank. Most of the employees that go to see her are looking for an Adderall prescription.

I've known a few people who use cocaine. It is useful for the people who want to stay up late at the clubs and be able to work the next day.

Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector

#118

Post by Eilene »

cryoshon wrote: post #100
Blahah wrote: post #42

I am open to discussing this in raw detail - contact in my profile. Most programmers, scientists, people in finance and startups I know take a lot of stimulants. I take a lot of stimulants. [Edit - as others have pointed out, there's a strong selection bias going on here. I actively seek out people who I know take stimulants, and we naturally congregate socially based on a bunch of subtle and explicit cues that signa…

chiming in here to corroborate that stimulant use/abuse is heavily prevalent in scientists and startup types that i know. even the md/phd types who have been in clinical practice for 20 years do it, even after they've had kids etc. most only abuse coffee-- you can tell because the norm is to drink coffee until you're literally red in the face when there is serious work to get done. there are people who abstain, of co…

So is it almost impossible to be a top scientist in your field if you don't get some help so that you can have those epiphany-producing insights, etc?

Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector

#119

Post by [deleted] »

nathan_long wrote: post #34

Glad you're looking into this. As a counterpoint: I've been a developer 10 years. I've worked at a few established businesses, two startups (one U.S. based and one German), and two consultancies. I worked in-person in Charlotte, N.C. and remotely since then. I've never worked in Silicon Valley. One employer had a "play hard" culture, encouraging alcohol (ab)use outside of work. I didn't stay there long. Perhaps I've…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: I'm writing a book about white-collar drug use, including tech sector

#120

Post by majos »

economics2008 wrote: post #78

I'm a New York-based finance professional (former investment banker turned private equity investor) with a background using a wide variety of drugs, but mostly heroin. Besides heavy drinking and rare cocaine use among younger peers (analysts), I didn't see a lot of substance abuse. I often felt quite alone, especially in using my drugs of choice. I started using heroin right after I graduated high school, and used it…

Serious question, how did you obtain a series of banking jobs after previous employers noticed (fired you for?) your drug use? Do prospective employers overlook these things, or never check references?
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