When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves • Hacker News Board

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#281

Post by darawk » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 4:18 PM UTC

fhood wrote: post #240

SuspiciousSwan wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess looking at movies and books, I could see where you'd get this idea, but it really isn't accurate. There are different types of feeling good, and the purely chemical good isn't particularly rewarding. There are the moments in life where you are happy because you are living the life you want to live, and those are way better than just feeling good from drugs. Sometimes life goals and drugs come together, and th…

Lotta people talking about heroin in this thread, but lets be clear, unless you have tried heroin, or are otherwise intimately familiar with its affects, you are probably not qualified to talk about what it feels like. Not trying to single out parent, just felt like it should be mentioned.

As someone who's done quite a bit of heroin...All of these comments are sort of correct in their own way. On its own turf, no, nothing will ever feel as good as heroin. Normal life experiences can't compete with that, not directly. But there is a one-dimensionality to its goodness that allows you to have experiences that, though i'm not sure they feel "better" than heroin, feel good in different ways that can be more satisfying, while also being sustainable.

It's sort of like the fact that nothing tastes better than cheesecake (or insert your favorite dessert here), but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy life or even other food without it.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#282

Post by vokep » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 4:18 PM UTC

fhood wrote: post #231

RIMR wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For you. Carl Sagan touted pot's ability to help him with abstract mathematics, so YMMV.

Abstract mathematics, and finding bugs, are not terribly closely related skills.

They are in that they both require abstract thinking, working in rigid systems.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#283

Post by _dczq » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 4:19 PM UTC

rv-de wrote: post #273

moorhosj wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't it likely that the rails were put in place as a response to people not keeping a safe distance from the edge of the cliff? I often see this assumption that regulations appear from thin air as a way to keep people down. It seems more possible that they primarily come as a result of witnessing the reality of what happens with no regulations.

I think the prevalent assumption on HN is that every regulation can be traced back to some accident or mistake. It is impossible to put safety rails everywhere (both literally and metaphorically). Some people will try to make selfies on the edge and fall to their death - very tragic - but why do I have to keep those people alive with my tax payments or even be annoyed from the sight of a rail in the middle of nature.…

==I think the prevalent assumption on HN is that every regulation can be traced back to some accident or mistake.==

My experience on HN is quite the opposite, but that is besides the point.

==why do I have to keep those people alive with my tax payments or even be annoyed from the sight of a rail in the middle of nature.==

This is libertarian ideology in the real-world. Your argument is that your annoyance is as valuable or more valuable than someone else's potential death. In a civilized/democratic society, we have created a governmental system to make these decisions for us and to the betterment of the country at large, not just you. Stop lights are a regulation and annoyance to my car driving, if I stopped heeding them, do you think that makes society better or worse off?

==I also think that most accidents happen from overtrusting a safety gear==

Based on what? Do you have any evidence or just your personal observation/assumption?

It seems like you've lost the forest from the trees here. Specifically on safety belts, they save many more lives than they could ever cost as evidenced by empirical research:

==Seat belts dramatically reduce risk of death and serious injury. Among drivers and front-seat passengers, seat belts reduce the risk of death by 45%, and cut the risk of serious injury by 50%.==

https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/seatbeltbrief/index.h...

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#284

Post by moorhosj » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 4:20 PM UTC

dredds wrote: post #275

moorhosj wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is sleep a banal activity?

Sleep, dreams, and mental recuperation are underrated. How many coders wake up with the solution to a bug or problem they couldn't resolve.

That's the point, one person's "banal activity" is another person's necessary re-charge.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#285

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 4:20 PM UTC

framebit wrote: post #278

A therapist friend recently attended a conference where a big group of doctors and health professionals focused around adolescents presented on the link between pot and the development of psychosis and even schizophrenia in users under age 32 or something like that. I've definitely heard about this colloquially with people reacting very differently to the same strain ("we were all fine but she was just freaking out")…

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Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#286

Post by CoryShmallager » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 4:21 PM UTC

jlawson wrote: post #7

S0ckpupp3t wrote: post #4

A drug more benign than alcohol. Smoke too much, take a nap. Smoke too often, cut down and get sharp again. Drink too much, you get flu symptoms. Drink too much too often, you get a new liver, or die.

>Smoke too often, cut down and get sharp again. Unfortunately not. If you spend a long time smoking you'll end up permanently slower in the brain. Also, let's not forget our friend lung cancer.

There are clinical trials that show the effects of cannabis consumption are reversed in adults and now recently young adults as well.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#287

Post by thatcat » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 4:22 PM UTC

IanCal wrote: post #120

rv-de wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> pot makes you feel fine with being bored. How do you define "boredom"? According to Oxford Dictionary it means: "Feeling weary and impatient because one is unoccupied or lacks interest in one's current activity." [1] As far as my observations go this is particularly not fitting the perception experienced under the influence of weed. Weed makes you feel - provided one responds positive to it - not weary, not impatie…

> As far as my observations go this is particularly not fitting the perception experienced under the influence of weed. And that is the point of what they're saying. Being bored can be uncomfortable. One route out of that is to do something more interesting and productive, another is to alter your perception so that you are ok with it.

People are usually bored doing math hw, but most people would still consider it "productive and interesting" once they are doing it. If you smoke weed and become more actively engaged with the boring activity of math hw, you become more interested and productive.

If people got to choose what they were doing it seems unlikely they would be bored in the first place though...

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#288

Post by thinkingemote » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 4:23 PM UTC

kadendogthing wrote: post #270

Balero wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

South Park put it quite well: "Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorism, but… well, son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored. And it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative. If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you aren't good at anything."

The problem with this quote is that it's too vague and can be applied to general entertainment and leisure time, no drugs needed. You shouldn't be listening to music, you should be creating it. You shouldn't be playing video games, you should be designing them. You shouldn't be just eating food, you should be the one cooking it. You shouldn't be lazing around at the pool, you should be swimming laps. It's disgustingl…

I understand the quote to mean that pot makes people okay with being bored. Other recreational activities don't have that same effect. You might do them to stave off boredom, or you won't be bored when doing them, but it's not really the same thing.

Video gaming is an interesting one, a form of dopamine addiction. Pot isnt about dopamine I think?

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#289

Post by Maskawanian » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 4:23 PM UTC

thecatspaw wrote: post #250

warent wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have diagnosed ADD/ADHD. Would hardly consider myself a "victim." It has pros and cons just like everything else in life. Personally I don't take medication and am totally sober. Mindfulness meditation helps tremendously

What pros are there? I havent found any personally.

Noticing changes faster, faster reactions. Probably how it evolved in the first place.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#290

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 4:24 PM UTC

zaarn wrote: post #80

Waterluvian wrote: post #67

Maybe this is too reductionist but I once heard someone describe it as, "there's nothing fundamentally dangerous about pot, but one of its (often intended) effects is that is slows our engines down. And some of us need to be firing on all cylinders." School was a tricky time for me. I'm thriving intellectually now, but I was a C- student pretty much 4th-12th grade. I needed those cycles that pot would have robbed me…

One the other hand, people who feel like their engines are firing on all cylinders all the time (ie ADHD and friends) might find some relief in a drug that allows them to slow down and switch of their head radio while firing on only one cylinder...

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