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The science of having ideas in the shower

nationalgeographic.co.uk

71–80 of 178 posts

Re: The science of having ideas in the shower

#72

Anecdotally, Americans tend to shower more often than Europeans. Perhaps this explains why more tech innovation tends to happen in America these days? I suspect a major cause of the shower gap is energy price gap, leading one to conclude that cheap energy increases innovation!

Ahh funny my country is very hot, in summer I'd shower 3 times (I wish for 4 sometimes). It's too hot to come up with any idea. It's only thankful to have water run through.

Can I ask, in places where showering that often is the norm, does one change into a new set of clean clothes each time? And does this basically triple the laundry chore burden?

Re: The science of having ideas in the shower

#73
My breakthrough idea come mostly when I'm exercising (read: running). It's one of the reasons I don't run with music / audio. Instead, it's just me and the road.

Initially, I thought it was a personal quirk. Then I read the book "Your Brain at Work" by David Rock. At this point, I'm due for a re-read.

https://www.amazon.com/Your-Brain-Work-Revised-Updated/dp/00...

Re: The science of having ideas in the shower

#74
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

could writing code be considered as an art? genuinely asking

"Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of what constitutes art,...": https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art

If I quoted ChatGPT for this question, how does HN feel?

Re: The science of having ideas in the shower

#75
Maybe I’m discovering the obvious, but I began using THC for sleep in my 30s and as a side effect, I kinda get a little bit high for about 20 mins before bed.

I’ll be having a shower that usually turns into a bath for safety and I just close my eyes and think. And it’s truly miraculous… My brain just wanders so freely among the ideas of the day. But what interests me most are these “eureka!” moments. They’re so fast and fleeting and my brain struggles to focus that I rush to orate them to my phone before they fade. It’s an interesting sensation to have where I’m confident that the idea was brilliant but I can’t for the life of me remember what it was seconds later.

Upon review the next day, 75% of the time the ideas are gibberish and I have a laugh at my own expense. The other 25% aren’t brilliant but are colourable and sometimes actually pan out. Usually about software design or parenting.

Re: The science of having ideas in the shower

#76
post #46

This effect used to be the bane of my ADHD-addled existence until I found these: https://www.myaquanotes.com/ . I buy them in 5 packs now.

Look up "write board for children", they can be had for under 5 USD for a small one. I keep one in the shower too!

This is an example, just the first one I found:

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005004626987148.html

Re: The science of having ideas in the shower

#77
post #4

Anecdotally, Americans tend to shower more often than Europeans. Perhaps this explains why more tech innovation tends to happen in America these days? I suspect a major cause of the shower gap is energy price gap, leading one to conclude that cheap energy increases innovation!

It fails to explain why Japanese people who shower literally everyday don't lead innovations...

The Global War on Terror (GWOT) revealed remote places where the Toyota Hilux refused to break

Re: The science of having ideas in the shower

#78

Maybe I’m discovering the obvious, but I began using THC for sleep in my 30s and as a side effect, I kinda get a little bit high for about 20 mins before bed. I’ll be having a shower that usually turns into a bath for safety and I just close my eyes and think. And it’s truly miraculous… My brain just wanders so freely among the ideas of the day. But what interests me most are these “eureka!” moments. They’re so fast…

I experience EXACTLY the same thing moments before falling asleep (no thc). It's truly amazing. If I manage to jolt myself awake I will write them down, otherwise they will be surely forgotten. And the ratio is similar to yours, good idea/gibberish(or not feasible).

Re: The science of having ideas in the shower

#80

Maybe I’m discovering the obvious, but I began using THC for sleep in my 30s and as a side effect, I kinda get a little bit high for about 20 mins before bed. I’ll be having a shower that usually turns into a bath for safety and I just close my eyes and think. And it’s truly miraculous… My brain just wanders so freely among the ideas of the day. But what interests me most are these “eureka!” moments. They’re so fast…

I experience EXACTLY the same thing moments before falling asleep (no thc). It's truly amazing. If I manage to jolt myself awake I will write them down, otherwise they will be surely forgotten. And the ratio is similar to yours, good idea/gibberish(or not feasible).

Is it just as amusing to you, the sensation of being 100% convinced the idea is absolutely brilliant, only to review it and find its nonsense?
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