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Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

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Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#81

Post by petargyurov »

52-6F-62 wrote: post #65
k__ wrote: post #5

What boosts creativity? I sometimes used alcohol for song writing purposes. Are there healthier methods?

Some writer and artists would use the following: Hold a key in one of your hands and hang your hand down by your side while you let yourself fall asleep while sitting in a chair (honestly this first part sounds the most difficult). When you fall asleep—or rather the trance-like borderlands between awake and sleep— you should naturally drop the key (or whatever metallic, noise-making object) which should spring you ba…

I would be willing to try this if it didn't take me 20 minutes to fall asleep, probably even longer if I had to do it on a chair in the middle of the day.

Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#82

Post by adrianmonk »

anthony_romeo wrote: post #62
k__ wrote: post #5

What boosts creativity? I sometimes used alcohol for song writing purposes. Are there healthier methods?

Warning: Tangential, rambling thoughts ahead I recall from someone in the field in art therapy who discussed with me the difference between being artistic and being creative. Being an artist implies the pursuit of technical mastery of a certain craft, whereas being creative is the ability to create novel ideas through various means. These certainly aren't mutually exclusive properties, as many of the legendary artist…

I completely agree with your distinction, but I'd subdivide things on another level too. Being artistic is about craft, but it's also about expression.

There is something floating around in your mind that you want others to experience. It might be an emotion or thought or aesthetic experience that you had and want others to share. It can even be "asymmetrical" in the sense that perhaps you yourself haven't had the experience but it's one you want someone else to have.

Craft is all about the "how" of art, and expression is about the "what" and the "why". Expression can be a way of connecting with people because what you feel or think becomes something they feel or think too.

If you have art that is all craft and no expression, it can be a little empty or dull. For example, a pianist who plays all the right notes but doesn't put any feeling into it. Art with all expression and no craft isn't always great either. If a painter wants to capture the beauty of a person's face but can't draw noses, the effect probably won't be beauty.

Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#85

Post by orhmeh09 »

Cenk wrote: post #3

The paper in question: https://citationsy.com/archives/q?doi=10.1016/j.concog.2020....

It's a pretty poor study, to be honest. The pattern I tend to see on Hacker News with studies is that they go unread beyond the abstract (often not even that when a press release is linked, like here) and people just chime in with their anecdotes that confirm their own personal beliefs.

Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#86

Post by fourmyle »

dontparticipate wrote: post #84
dartdartdart wrote: post #83

What other common ways are there to improve problem solving or creativity?

Marijuana

Maybe creativity but at least for me definitely not problem solving. Modafinil on the other hand...

Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#87

Post by iancmceachern »

dacohenii wrote: post #23

Thank you for linking to the paper. The study measures the effects of regular caffeine users: > Participants were invited to participate if they were between 18-35 years of age, consumed between 1-2 cups of caffeinated beverages per day at least 5 days a week, did not smoke, were native English speakers, and took no psychiatric medications or painkillers on a regular basis. > [...] > Participants were asked to abstai…

His audio book is great, also his recent interview on NPRs fresh air was great!

Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#88

Post by fultonfaknem42 »

petargyurov wrote: post #79
salt-licker wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, I almost never drink coffee more than 3 days in a row because it loses its affect. Luckily, intolerance comes back after only a day or two off.

I was under the impression that on average the brain/body needs around 9 days of no caffeine consumption to get back to its natural baseline. I can't seem to find the source of that study right now...

You could do the math if you look up the half-life of caffeine. Via a quick Google search it looks like it is 4-6 hours. So if I understand it correctly, it's 4-6 hours for 100mg to become 50mg, then another 4-6 for 50mg to become 25mg, etc. So like if all you did was have a single cup of 100mg coffee, then its like 12-18 hours for it to go away. If you're me though, you drink like 3-4 a day. This seems to be about 28 to 42 hours. Withdrawals could take up to 2 weeks in my experience, and are proportional to how heavy my intake was.

Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#89

Post by claudeganon »

drenvuk wrote: post #60
jermaustin1 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm no artist, but I've always felt creativity comes from dysfunction/chaos. My wife (a psychologist) and I discuss this regularly around poetry, music, painting, etc. Some of the most "beautiful" works come from unhealthy emotional states. And that a lot of the sameness we get today in popular culture arises when art is cultivated by large organizations which are inherently are devoid of emotion, and are pushing pop…

Yeah that's for most divergent thinking. In the art realm here's an example of Penny Arcade's Tycho talking about anti depressants and the usual lack of creativity that comes with them. https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/01/09/bedeviled Linkin Park's Bennington Talked numerous times about how his drug addictions helped him creatively despite him wanting to be sober. His later more sober songs kinds suck tbh. The…

We have to be careful about romanticizing mental illness though. As a professional illustrator, I’ve seen more people spiral out of the field from mental illness than succeed because of some visionary ability that illness provided them.

There are of course brilliant artists who are nuts, many of whose work I admire. But most high-performing people I know seem to be pretty “normal” and disciplined.

Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#90

Post by empath75 »

simonsarris wrote: post #68

Ha, if true that would confirm Balzac's claim: > Coffee is a great power in my life; I have observed its effects on an epic scale. Coffee roasts your insides. Many people claim coffee inspires them, but, as everybody knows, coffee only makes boring people even more boring. From "The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee, 1830, http://blissbat.net/balzac.html

pretty much true for any stimulant in my experience.
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