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A Survey of Programmers' Cannabis Usage, Perception, and Motivation

arxiv.org

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Re: A Survey of Programmers' Cannabis Usage, Perception, and Motivation

#21

Post by ASinclair »

nemosaltat wrote: post #10
crate_barre wrote: post #2

I can’t see how you can do anything other than micro-dose cannabis (small hits or low dosage edibles). You just get too high to be productive. But I’m very interested to see if low dosages help.

Anecdotally, I’ve found that when I’m stumped on a section of code, a micro dose, coupled with working on something else, _can_ speed my normal process of “walking away from a problem for a bit.” But yeah, exceeding a small amount just makes me code slower. edit: originally omitted “something else”

I've had the same experience. It forces me out of that obsessive debugging loop and gets me thinking about something else for a while. Though I'm sure there are plenty of other activities that could accomplish the same thing.

Re: A Survey of Programmers' Cannabis Usage, Perception, and Motivation

#22

Post by MissionInfl »

throwaway599281 wrote: post #5

> Furthermore, this cannabis usage is primarily motivated by a perceived enhancement to certain software development skills (such as brainstorming or getting into a programming zone) rather than medicinal reasons How can anyone who has tried it remotely believe this nonsense?

It's possible to have different reactions to the same drug :)

As someone that is a heavy longtime user and recently diagnosed ADHD (there is a deep relationship between cannabis/substances and ADHD), I did find during the pandemic that smoking cannabis prior to writing software made it feel more productive. Given I couldn't prove that I was really more productive, and there are other costs, I decided against using it at least for my full time job. This is all to say, YMMV with cannabis or any psychoactive substance.

Re: A Survey of Programmers' Cannabis Usage, Perception, and Motivation

#23

Post by conductr »

flatiron wrote: post #15

I got my three kids desks for christmas. Put them down to bed for the night and smoke a little weed. I was shocked how I couldn’t follow ikea desk instructions. Got frustrated and decided to try again sober. I was super shocked the next day how easy it was to follow when sober.

I’ve experienced this. Generally following ikea step by step style directions is just boring af when high and my mind wonders. But if I put that same energy towards something more creative I can really lock in. Although, sometimes my brilliant creative ideas are complete garbage when seen through sober eyes.

Re: A Survey of Programmers' Cannabis Usage, Perception, and Motivation

#24

Post by haswell »

gumby wrote: post #17
nickysielicki wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is "programmer" a coherent group? Well, it's a profession, so yes. > They have almost nothing in common. They both write code all day. Professionally. I'm sorry for the snark. You might be able to make a case that this study doesn't take income into account but that's not the comment you're making here.

I think there's a fundamental complexity and skills-required difference between someone writing kernel code or microcode and someone writing a generic CRUD app.

Most devs at “$FANCY_CO” aren’t writing kernel code or microcode either.

There is merit to the idea that different developers focus on different kinds of problems, but the positioning of the parent comment - that this variance is due to the size/prestige of the org - is incorrect.

Re: A Survey of Programmers' Cannabis Usage, Perception, and Motivation

#26

Post by [deleted] »

throwaway599281 wrote: post #5

> Furthermore, this cannabis usage is primarily motivated by a perceived enhancement to certain software development skills (such as brainstorming or getting into a programming zone) rather than medicinal reasons How can anyone who has tried it remotely believe this nonsense?

[deleted]

Re: A Survey of Programmers' Cannabis Usage, Perception, and Motivation

#27

Post by pxc »

throwaway599281 wrote: post #5

> Furthermore, this cannabis usage is primarily motivated by a perceived enhancement to certain software development skills (such as brainstorming or getting into a programming zone) rather than medicinal reasons How can anyone who has tried it remotely believe this nonsense?

Different people work differently. I don't have the spare working memory necessary to be very productive on cannabis, except with respect to very menial tasks. But in college I knew people who studied for our calculus and physics exams stoned and did quite well.

I'd be skeptical of a programmer who claimed cannabis made them more productive, especially at high doses, but if I could see that their work were consistent and good, I might believe them.

Re: A Survey of Programmers' Cannabis Usage, Perception, and Motivation

#28

Post by extr »

Just read the abstract but seems to make sense. Weed (in a low/moderate dose) is great every once and awhile if you're trying to brainstorm or think holistically about how something should work. Sometimes if you have to work on something really boring it allows you to see it in a new light and appreciate interesting the aspects of the task. But if you're actually trying to get work done, good luck remembering what loop iteration you're on!

Despite the above, personally I have a hard time justifying getting "high on the clock" as ethical even if it makes me more productive in some things. Though it feels like having a little puff on a wide-open, set-aside Friday afternoon isn't too much different than having a drink in that situation, something I'm occasionally guilty of. IDK. What do people here think?

Re: A Survey of Programmers' Cannabis Usage, Perception, and Motivation

#29

Post by pvarangot »

throwaway599281 wrote: post #5

> Furthermore, this cannabis usage is primarily motivated by a perceived enhancement to certain software development skills (such as brainstorming or getting into a programming zone) rather than medicinal reasons How can anyone who has tried it remotely believe this nonsense?

I don't think it's nonsense, and it doesn't "work" the same way on everyones brain, that's like the whole reason psychiatry is a thing and research like this makes sense. If cannabis helps 10% of the population get into their "programming zone" all power to their nonsensical selves.

Thinking "this drug makes me useless hence it should make the rest of the world also useless and any claims to the contrary are nonsense" it not only a blatant abuse of incomplete induction, but also kinda rude as it can make some people feel othered out just because of how their brain chemistry works.

Re: A Survey of Programmers' Cannabis Usage, Perception, and Motivation

#30

Post by MissionInfl »

educaysean wrote: post #11

For me weed is not really something that actively aids in problem-solving or brainstorming, but rather acts as more of a motivation booster. When it's 11pm and I have a handful of less-demanding tasks to slog through, that's where I've found weed to be a lot of help. It helps make otherwise routine tasks more engaging. It even gives me sufficient motivation to actively refactor and improve parts of codebase that I mi…

Sorry if you have heard this before but you may have ADHD or something similar. I found myself in a similar pattern of using cannabis to motivate myself to do the more boring tasks that inevitably come up being a full time software engineer and after several months of therapy was diagnosed with ADHD.

FWIW, I find that if I have a boring task and attempt to use cannabis to power through it, half of the time I complete the task with vigor and then other half of the time I do literally anything else. So my story is as similar to yours as those saying that cannabis leads them to be anything but productive.

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