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The Benefits of Being Cold

theatlantic.com

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Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#161

Post by thrownaway2424 »

Karawebnetwork wrote: post #136
thrownaway2424 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would like to see a source for that claim. 27C is pretty hot and multiple studies have found that temperature to be suboptimal for classroom performance (which may not by indicative of programmer productivity, I guess). "... the performance of two numerical and two language-based tests was significantly improved when the temperature was reduced from 25°C to 20°C (77°F to 68°F)." http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.…

I feel like all this talk is nonsense and people should simply work at the temperature they feel comfortable at. Offices should be at a neutral temperature and provide personal heaters. I keep my room around 28C during the winter and 35C in the summer. The office I work at is set to 21C. I hate it and feel like I work better when I'm hotter. I doubt there is a magic number that would have everyone work faster.

You must have a well-built house :-) I feel lucky if any part of my house reaches 20C.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#162

Post by npsimons »

logicallee wrote: post #26

I know an 84 year old man in the prime of life, he speaks 37 languages, five of them nearly natively (including three that I happen to speak at a high level from my study and travels, and in which I have conversed with him), and is learning more every day. He is the personal language consultant of a billionaire, and recently picked up a new language fluently for him in less than a year. He also made impressive stride…

Certain old men prefer to rise at dawn, taking a cold bath and a long walk with an empty stomach and otherwise mortifying the flesh. They then point with pride to these practices as the cause of their sturdy health and ripe years; the truth being that they are hearty and old, not because of their habits, but in spite of them. The reason we find only robust persons doing this thing is that it has killed all the others who have tried it. -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#163

Post by Jtsummers »

agarcia-deniz wrote: post #88
aragot wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article never talks either about "getting cold" (and being sick). How does it work? Each time I spend a few hours in the cold (e.g. at work in Sydney in summer, they keep the A/C at 19C), I feel like I have a mini-fever for 24hrs. Is it a natural reaction of the body? Does it go away after adaptation?

I occasionally have the same issue: At work all day feeling cold (normally on a Monday as the heating is not on during the weekend) and then I feel like I'm getting a cold, I'm glad it's not just me. Would love to know why this happens though? I always figured it was somehow psychosomatic.

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/features/the-weather-wreaking...

May not be the correct answer for you, but it's true for me. In the winter when the temperature has dropped suddenly I often need to take a decongestant for a few days and then I'm fine for the rest of it. Crud in your sinuses (for me at least) caused by allergies (grasses in my case) or weather can trigger a low-grade fever and other cold-like symptoms. It's worse since I work in a heated (too hot, IMO) office and then have to go back out into the cold. This was less of a problem when I worked in a more "frugal" office where the temperature (while still warmer inside) wasn't so extremely different from outside.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#164

Post by keithpeter »

buro9 wrote: post #81

I used to dislike the cold, always feeling I suffered greatly from it due to growing up in poverty in the UK and living in damp spaces (mould on the walls, condensation on the window, a cough always a breathe away). Then I was homeless, sleeping rough through UK winters. One does adapt, and fairly quickly too. The first nights I slept out during snowfall I didn't get much sleep as I was shivering too violently and un…

"Last night was -2'c in London with a Northerly wind, and yet all of my windows were left open and I slept soundly."

Do you use blankets/a duvet?

Have you a thermometer to monitor internal temperature in your sleeping space? OA recommends 12 to 16 Celsius?

I grew up in a (sound, dry) house without central heating in the Northern UK and remember Jack Frost on the windows by the way.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#165

Post by keithpeter »

buro9 wrote: post #148
mercer wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any chance you'd be interested in writing up in more detail what your experiences were like? Or maybe you did so already?

I'm not sure I can write it up. I was someone back then that I didn't like, I'm glad I moved on but if I did a comprehensive job of putting it in words I'd have to re-live that time again, and who I was. Hate to go all Bladerunner, but I've seen things, done things, that I no longer want the memory of. Putting it into words would give it life again.

"Putting it into words would give it life again."

I can understand that.

How about practical advice to those who find themselves in the same situation? Dictate into a sound recorder to minimise the engagement with the memories?

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#166

Post by tlong »

Of course. Alpine climbers and mountaineers have known this for decades. They intentionally put on extra fat before big climbs, knowing that it will be nearly impossible to ingest enough calories to keep up with their bodies demands in cold temps.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#167

Post by LordHumungous »

learc83 wrote: post #36
LordHumungous wrote: post #33

The southern US and midwest must be seeing all the benefits of cold, considering they keep the AC at about 60F in the summer.

Who keeps the AC at 60F? I live in Georgia and the normal setting is somewhere between 68 and 74. On a hot day, I don't think most people's ACs are even cable of getting the temperature down to 60.

All I know is that I visit the midwest and south in the summer and when I walk into any indoor space I almost have to put a coat on.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#168

Post by buro9 »

keithpeter wrote: post #164
buro9 wrote: post #81

I used to dislike the cold, always feeling I suffered greatly from it due to growing up in poverty in the UK and living in damp spaces (mould on the walls, condensation on the window, a cough always a breathe away). Then I was homeless, sleeping rough through UK winters. One does adapt, and fairly quickly too. The first nights I slept out during snowfall I didn't get much sleep as I was shivering too violently and un…

"Last night was -2'c in London with a Northerly wind, and yet all of my windows were left open and I slept soundly." Do you use blankets/a duvet? Have you a thermometer to monitor internal temperature in your sleeping space? OA recommends 12 to 16 Celsius? I grew up in a (sound, dry) house without central heating in the Northern UK and remember Jack Frost on the windows by the way.

A sheet and two cheap blankets. I can afford nice down quilts but haven't felt the need.

I find it colder to walk around bare foot first thing in the morning. Slippers help there (when I can find them).

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#169

Post by arjie »

Karawebnetwork wrote: post #136
thrownaway2424 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would like to see a source for that claim. 27C is pretty hot and multiple studies have found that temperature to be suboptimal for classroom performance (which may not by indicative of programmer productivity, I guess). "... the performance of two numerical and two language-based tests was significantly improved when the temperature was reduced from 25°C to 20°C (77°F to 68°F)." http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.…

I feel like all this talk is nonsense and people should simply work at the temperature they feel comfortable at. Offices should be at a neutral temperature and provide personal heaters. I keep my room around 28C during the winter and 35C in the summer. The office I work at is set to 21C. I hate it and feel like I work better when I'm hotter. I doubt there is a magic number that would have everyone work faster.

Oh certainly, I didn't mean that there was some magic number. I just wanted to say that obviously temperature extremes don't work. I should never have mentioned that 27 C thing (which was just a misremembered number). It isn't even my own favourite.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#170

Post by learc83 »

LordHumungous wrote: post #167
learc83 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who keeps the AC at 60F? I live in Georgia and the normal setting is somewhere between 68 and 74. On a hot day, I don't think most people's ACs are even cable of getting the temperature down to 60.

All I know is that I visit the midwest and south in the summer and when I walk into any indoor space I almost have to put a coat on.

If it's 95F outside and you're dressed for it, when you walk into a 70 degree room, it's gonna be cold.
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