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Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

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Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#131

Post by jacquesm »

mahmud wrote: post #108
CamperBob wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This happened before, about 40 years ago. A whole younger generation was into marijuana. Now they're running the DEA.

That generation was creative, organized, pushed society against a wall and threatened the status-quo. This one just stares at facebook wall and does nothing more than update their status. And I doubt the hippies actually run the DEA; more like the conservative kids, and the successor Reagan generation that had to be mobilized by mega-churches and shipped on buses from the suburbs, at the expense of the business estab…

Personally I think that the whole 'war on drugs' thing is just another way for a bunch of people to line their pockets and to increase the US influence in Latin America.

As far as I'm concerned they should legalise Marijuana and every other drug simply to stop filling up prisons with people that need help (if they're addicted to the point where they can't function any longer) not jail, or who simply are not a burden at all and function quite well.

Ironically, legalising drug usage in the Netherlands has created a new kind of problem, drug tourism, where problem cases from other countries congregate in the one safe haven they can find. This in turn is now causing a backlash and may possibly result in the re-criminalisation of drug use here.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#132

Post by ndc »

jacquesm wrote: post #13

I suffer from the exact same thing from time to time and I've learned to resort to lists when I am like that. Anything I need to do goes on a list and I reward myself with some kind of distraction only after any item on the list gets completed. Usually it's a sign that my mental batteries are running low or even past empty but some stuff still needs to get done. I find that after the third or the fourth item from the…

Have you ever experienced your list becomes bloated with items? Then you spend your time prioritizing and reprioritizing the items?

When that happens to me, I just pick one item and forget the rest of the list.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#133

Post by jacquesm »

ndc wrote: post #132
jacquesm wrote: post #13

I suffer from the exact same thing from time to time and I've learned to resort to lists when I am like that. Anything I need to do goes on a list and I reward myself with some kind of distraction only after any item on the list gets completed. Usually it's a sign that my mental batteries are running low or even past empty but some stuff still needs to get done. I find that after the third or the fourth item from the…

Have you ever experienced your list becomes bloated with items? Then you spend your time prioritizing and reprioritizing the items? When that happens to me, I just pick one item and forget the rest of the list.

Yes, that also happens from time to time. But I don't spend a lot of time on prioritising stuff at all, I just take the top item on the list and get it over with :)

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#134

Post by toumhi »

mahmud wrote: post #7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique Worked wonders for me.

works for me too. Especially useful the pomodoro log: you can see instantly what you did during the day. If you are supposed to work and you only accomplish 3 pomodori today, that will convince you to achieve more tomorrow.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#135

Post by thevectorist »

berntb wrote: post #125
CamperBob wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... it's far better to spend an unnecessary half-hour with your head stuck in an MRI scanner and feel a bit foolish later than to wait until a real problem becomes irreversible. Is it? Do you have any idea what MRI sessions cost? Money for risk mitigation is limited, just as it's limited for everything else.

Personally, I have no idea what they cost but I'm interested, for a family member. So how much is it? Reference? (We do have a state health system here, but a doctor must send people for testing. It is generally easier to work and pay yourself, despite paying high taxes for other's use of the state health system.)

The place I usually go for my MRIs bills $1600 for an MRI of the L-spine with contrast (this is Phoenix, AZ, USA). The only other place I am aware of cost wise is a local hospital that performed a full central nervous system MRI with contrast for $7000. All of the other MRIs I've had were either inpatient or wrapped into the cost of a larger treatment plan so I do not know of the cost.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#136

Post by jawngee »

jacquesm wrote: post #130
mannicken wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps it is advocated for a lot of disorders because it, well, let me put it this way -- actually helps those disorders? To my knowledge, one of the reasons behind making it illegal was extensive lobbying from drug-corporations who were afraid of an easily-grown, non-addictive fun competitor. For your second point, yeah, it's probably a good idea to research anything before you ingest/inhale/inject it. High-fructos…

I'm cool with people using and growing Marijuana for their own private use, it's 100% legal in the country where I live, even if it isn't beneficial to them. I'm not cool with advocating such on a public forum, and WoW is legal everywhere Marijuana is not. What people do in the privacy of their own homes is their business entirely, but I don't think it's ok to start advocating illegal stuff just because it is either…

So let me get this square:

You shouldn't advocate illegal activity even if the legality of said activity is dubious at best?

The only reason Marijuana is illegal in the United States is due to two things: Hearst Publishing and white people's fear of brown persons.

Hearst wanted to protect their paper based publishing empire, which hemp paper directly challenged. Hearst started an anti-hemp propaganda campaign focused on race to get the ill-educated white folks to jump on board.

So to be clear, it's not illegal because it's dangerous to your health, it's illegal because it was dangerous to the paper publishing empires of yore.

And for every supposed negative health consequence, mental or otherwise, I will give you ten fold citations that state the opposite. Marijuana is very well studied, it's efficacy for a variety of things are very well documented.

So I have no problem advocating it in any forum whatsoever.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#137

Post by starkfist »

jawngee wrote: post #136
jacquesm wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm cool with people using and growing Marijuana for their own private use, it's 100% legal in the country where I live, even if it isn't beneficial to them. I'm not cool with advocating such on a public forum, and WoW is legal everywhere Marijuana is not. What people do in the privacy of their own homes is their business entirely, but I don't think it's ok to start advocating illegal stuff just because it is either…

So let me get this square: You shouldn't advocate illegal activity even if the legality of said activity is dubious at best? The only reason Marijuana is illegal in the United States is due to two things: Hearst Publishing and white people's fear of brown persons. Hearst wanted to protect their paper based publishing empire, which hemp paper directly challenged. Hearst started an anti-hemp propaganda campaign focused…

The problem isn't whether or not it should be illegal... It's that it is actually illegal. Not just jaywalking illegal, it's possibly go to jail illegal. Some places don't really care, or it is quasi legal, but some places still care.

When I was younger, I lived in a place that cared, and a friend of mine got busted, and was poor and didn't have a lawyer who could just get him a good deal. He didn't have to go to jail, but it remained on his record and he could not go to Canada, or quite a few European countries, it showed up on a background check, limiting his employment opportunities, and so forth.

So even if the law is wrong, the fact is that it's still a crime in many (most?) places in the US to possess and use MJ, and getting caught could have a real, negative effect on your life.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#138

Post by lesswavy »

jawngee wrote: post #28

Marijuana + Exercise. Seriously. I was having exactly the same issues recently, mostly the result of burning out in a giant flame from my last gig. MJ and getting off my mildly chubby ass were huge boons to productivity. YMMV, but it's worth a shot. I'd go for something a long the lines of Sour Diesel or BC Blueberry are strains I've found to really increase concentration and focus without making one lazy or sleepy.

Pot can have a positive effect, but you can get a step or three closer to the root of the problem by supplementing amino acids.

A relative who's an engineer has had a great experience with it via the book The Mood Cure, which is a self-help approach that helps you figure out which of four types of amino acids you're short of. He gave us a copy and I needed all four (other members of my family needed between one and four). This is my first workday on amino acid supplements and it's going way, way better than has been the case recently (I'm on HN voluntarily instead of automatically).

The book details ways that marijuana and other drugs (both uppers and downers) work on the mental balance, and explains why and how amino acids are an improvement. Lots of specifics on that topic -- the author certainly agrees that drugs are helping people.

Diet and liver health are another level down and VERY important to get in line, but amino supplements can get you where you want to be in minutes while you work on fixing the root cause gradually.

On another front, RescueTime has a "Get Focused" mode that works great.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#139

Post by wowik »

jawngee wrote: post #28

Marijuana + Exercise. Seriously. I was having exactly the same issues recently, mostly the result of burning out in a giant flame from my last gig. MJ and getting off my mildly chubby ass were huge boons to productivity. YMMV, but it's worth a shot. I'd go for something a long the lines of Sour Diesel or BC Blueberry are strains I've found to really increase concentration and focus without making one lazy or sleepy.

Maybe marijuana is good for relaxation and taking off stress, but it's damn bad for concentration, so I wouldn't recommend it on regular basis ;). Exercise however will definitely help.

Re: Ask HN: My brain refuses to think, what should I do?

#140

Post by binspace »

fmora wrote: post #83
binspace wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, try coding while high. I find it does not really diminish my IQ, it just changes the how I think. Basically, my thinking becomes more tangential, so I'm able to explore scenarios with depth. It also relaxes me and helps me to let go of certain notions create boundaries to coming up with different solutions. Usually, when encountering such a problem, I will pace around the house exploring the line of thought. Of…

"Does not really diminish my IQ" You remind me of a TV program where they did a study how drinking affect driving. The test subjects would swear that they drive even better when drunk. They got them drunk, put them behind the wheel, and it was horrible. They completely suck. How do you know is not the same thing with you. We would need to do an experiment to verify your claims.

> We would need to do an experiment to verify your claims.

Unfortunately, software development productivity (and solution quality) is notoriously difficult to measure and perform experiments on. It is also expensive, time-consuming, and their conclusions tend to be shaky at best. The experiments' applicability is also heavily influenced by the uniqueness of each individual person.

Technology just moves too fast. I'm afraid anecdotal evidence is probably the best we usually can do when talking about how we work.

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