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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

#111

Post by mariodiana »

leesec wrote: post #107
nscalf wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Write drunk, edit buzzed, then?

Code drunk, commit sober.

I remember reading writing advice somewhere (prose, not code) that suggested you have an alcoholic beverage in the evening for your rough drafts, and then coffee in the morning for your editing. The strategy was: loosen up and then tighten up.

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

#112

Post by mywittyname »

petra wrote: post #74
kingpiss wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My weed code is usually really creative but riddled with bugs

Does it help with solving hard problems ?

When you come back sober, the solutions won't make any sense.

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

#113

Post by rafaelvasco »

Of course. Creativity is not a matter of more brain activity, more synapses etc. It comes from elsewhere. One could say we have two brains, the one that is active while we're awake and the one which activates when we sleep and dream. It is known that some painters deliberately entered in a dream like consciousness state, and from there they took the creativity and inspiration to paint out of the box things;

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

#114

Post by vorpalhex »

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…

I personally cycle my caffeine usage, with intentionally low dose weeks between higher dose weeks.

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

#115

Post by barrenko »

k__ wrote: post #5

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

Zen anon here. First step is just recognizing you can't force it and have to let it come to you, OR be ok with it not coming.

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

#116

Post by droopyEyelids »

kgonza wrote: post #95
empath75 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pretty much true for any stimulant in my experience.

Not... Ah, in your experience. I missed that, initially. I meant to write "Not khat," which gives me the best inspiration ever (and a crash that lasts days when I get off of it).

What part of the world are you in where khat is a thing?

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

#117

Post by olooney »

_pastel wrote: post #104

Ah, the classic confusion between not finding enough evidence to disprove the null hypothesis, and finding enough evidence to prove the null hypothesis. The caffeinated group outperformed the noncaffeinated on all 5 creativity metrics. The sample size and effect size were too small to prove caffeine caused an improvement. How did that turn into this title?

Right. These results could equally well be interpreted as caffeine have the same effect on both convergent and divergent thinking, but divergent thinking (renamed "creativity" in the title) is harder to measure because it has more variance. If anything, it provides mild evidence in favor of the hypothesis that caffeine improves divergent thinking and calls for further study with a larger control group.

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

#118

Post by blaser-waffle »

droopyEyelids wrote: post #116
kgonza wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not... Ah, in your experience. I missed that, initially. I meant to write "Not khat," which gives me the best inspiration ever (and a crash that lasts days when I get off of it).

What part of the world are you in where khat is a thing?

Presumably middle east or north/eastern africa.

Then again I'm sure there are plenty of SV hipster types who might be big on it. "forget microdosing, khat is the new path to rockstar programming flow states"

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

#120

Post by LoveMortuus »

blaser-waffle wrote: post #118
droopyEyelids wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What part of the world are you in where khat is a thing?

Presumably middle east or north/eastern africa. Then again I'm sure there are plenty of SV hipster types who might be big on it. "forget microdosing, khat is the new path to rockstar programming flow states"

Is anyone afraid that microdosing might become the next must, if you want to be competitive in the programming fields of industry?
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