Missed solving of riddles. Also why programming is fun as you try to solve the problem wrap your head around it immerse yourself in problem space and at the end you get to solution that usually is a pleasant sensation.
Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself
211–220 of 238 posts
Re: Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Shawshank Redemption has a similar story. Didn't do well when released. Its video release fared a little better, maybe because people could re-watch it at home. Then Turner picked up TV distribution rights cheaply and showed it again and again. Now, just like It's a Wonderful Life , it's considered one of the best movies ever made. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shawshank_Redemption#Criti... Groundhog Day is l…
Your summary of the reception of The Shawshank Redemption doesn't seem to fit the wikipied article you linked to > Leading up to its release, the film was test screened with the public. These were described as "through the roof", and Glotzer said they were some of the best she had seen > nominated for several Oscars in early 1995 > It went on to become the top rented film of that year
"Best movie" lists tend to have films with both critical acclaim and audience appeal.
It got critical praise but was a flop at the theater. The home video market redeemed it (haha) with audiences. From the article:
"Despite its disappointing box-office returns, in what was then considered a risky move, Warner Home Video shipped 320,000 rental video copies throughout the United States in 1995. It went on to become the top rented film of that year. Positive recommendations, repeat customer viewings, and being well received by both male and female audiences were considered key to the film's rental success."
All 3 movies (It's a Wonderful Life, Groundhog Day, and The Shawshank Redemption) had critical praise upon their initial release. Groundhog Day was even a solid hit. But no one could've predicted what they became later.
Re: Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
That interesting. I can hyperfocus without medication just fine. It's the choosing what to focus on that I take medication to solve.
I think "just fine" would imply you can invoke hyperfocus whenever you want. In my experience, it happens with the most undesirable things at the most undesirable moments.
That seems to contradict my third sentence. Hyperfocusing does not mean choosing what to focus on. My point was, ADHD to me is not an issue in focusing. It's an issue with choosing what to focus on.
Re: Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself
#214This was a great essay, and as someone who struggles a lot with hyperawareness OCD, I cried reading it. First on a positive note, the example about attention on sex and arousal feeding back on itself and deepening the experience is well described and easy to relate to. But I think the "deepening an experience through attention" phenomenon applies in so many other domains as well - Sustained attention on a film or vid…
> Paradoxically, most of the treatment/recovery advice for this type of OCD is to allow these sensations to be there without rejecting them
That sounds a lot like meditation.
Re: Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks! I like to think that I have mindfulness and self control, but I might be overestimating myself.
Yeah honestly I have good self control for a lot of drugs, but this one was pretty tricky. It took me a while to realize what was happening. I had been on Adderall for almost a year when I started a new job at a fast paced startup, and only then did my usage patterns become an issue. My golden rule now is I only ever take the same dosage at the same times of day (morning and afternoon). For a while I took extra on bu…
That's awesome! Thank you for the tips!
Re: Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think "just fine" would imply you can invoke hyperfocus whenever you want. In my experience, it happens with the most undesirable things at the most undesirable moments.
That seems to contradict my third sentence. Hyperfocusing does not mean choosing what to focus on. My point was, ADHD to me is not an issue in focusing. It's an issue with choosing what to focus on.
Understood, thanks for clarifying. In my case, my hyperfocus sessions (sometimes on useful, sometimes on useless things) are in between absurd levels of distractions so I can't totally relate.
Re: Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself
#217This did not go where I thought it was going, and I'm glad. I enjoyed the read. I'm not versed enough in psychiatry to validate the brain-chemistry stuff but my practical experience lines up. Reminds me of the trick of telling yourself "let's give this my full attention for just 5 minutes, and if I still don't want to do it we can move on". I pretty much always end up wanting to keep doing that thing.
That's interesting. I really enjoy playing video games, when I have time. There are games that I objectively find fun, like recently, Clair Obscur Expedition 33. But oftentimes I'd play with my full attention, trying to absorb the beauty of the world and the music, and then I take my phone out during a loading screen and now I'm "second-screening" with my news feed or HN. And I'm still enjoying the game itself, but I…
I think there's something uniquely distracting about the constant availability of phones. We have muscle-memory now that can reflexively open a little hit of reward anytime we're in an idle moment.
Now instead of choosing to open our phones, we have to actively choose NOT to let that muscle memory spring into the action of unlocking the phone. Seems bad.
Re: Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
awesome, thanks. > I don't think there is any solid basis to say this. The history of eugenic programs as well the blocking of male/female sex hormones to inhibit sexual development or for transitional purposes should reveal a solid basis. Brain/body are capable of recovering close to a genetic baseline, at least up to some age. > developmental signals have widespread cascades of impact throughout the body. I read to…
> Any increase towards baseline is beneficial throughout the entire affected graph of neural structures, as well as proximate ones. This cannot possibly be assumed when talking about physiology already known to be atypical. And specifically, assuming that reducing blood flow one place, and increasing it in another place, post-development, will predictably be a benefit is ... I have no words. Your whole comment is ful…
> assuming that reducing blood flow one place, and increasing it in another place
should have made it clear that I did not mean decreasing in one place while increasing in another but increasing throughout all proximate areas.
> Your whole comment is full of this type of worse than weak reasoning.
Agreed, should have tagged it #sciencephilosophy or something ... I was thinking out loud. But there is merit. I am not uncertain any studies can prove me entirely wrong. But I understand why such a discussion might be a waste of time.
> This cannot possibly be assumed when talking about physiology already known to be atypical.
I don't understand. If reduced bloodflow is known to be the cause for atypical physiology, then the opposite is certainly also known.
I understand that -q doesn't necessarily mean p, but in the case of reduced bloodflow we have proof, don't we?
There's a little lump in my lag that causes reduced bloodflow if I don't do certain exercises or movements, which causes a bit of lag. If I do the movements for a bit or several times per hour, no lag. That is true for a considerable percentage of the population.
Re: Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
awesome, thanks. > I don't think there is any solid basis to say this. The history of eugenic programs as well the blocking of male/female sex hormones to inhibit sexual development or for transitional purposes should reveal a solid basis. Brain/body are capable of recovering close to a genetic baseline, at least up to some age. > developmental signals have widespread cascades of impact throughout the body. I read to…
> > I don't think there is any solid basis to say this. > The history of eugenic programs as well the blocking of male/female sex hormones to inhibit sexual development or for transitional purposes should reveal a solid basis. Brain/body are capable of recovering close to a genetic baseline, at least up to some age. Showing that some effect can result from some cause is not sufficient to show that it does result from…
> Showing that some effect can result from some cause is not sufficient to show that it does result from that cause.
Definitely something I should have cleared up: it's utterly useless to claim or proof that some mental problem is caused by some reduction in bloodflow in some part of the brain, but I believe it is beneficial to know, if you are afflicted, that it's an area worth investigating, rather than assuming that your personality, your brain or your mind lack innate, exogenous mechanisms to deal with anxiety, depression and or other stuff.
> You're resting big confident assertions on "I read this somewhere, go look it up." In fact biology and mentation are complex and we don't have the whole picture. It's easy to put together whatever "just so story" you want by rearranging fragments of evidence, but it doesn't make it true.
Science philosophy starts somewhere. I'm sure at least some of it started in garages =]
Re: Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
But you did not suffer from a reduction to your genetic baseline. You went up from your baseline. > Most of the improvements could be adequately explained by the hedonic treadmill. I could suffer longer. That's chemistry in body and brain. There were changes.
I’m talking about pain/annoyance threshold, not general neurochemistry.
> pain/annoyance
Can be mitigated via drugs and increasing thresholds with, as you did, training, which results in decreased stress hormone levels from lower forms of physiological and psychological stress, better lactate metabolisms (not sure it's an actual metabolism, but better fitness results in higher storage capacities for lactate and quicker recovery), etc.
And endurance literally means your body and brain can suffer/sustain higher levels of stress due to fatigue and damage because the mechanisms causing "overflow" and "breakdown", "total collapse", even if it's just for the sake of reducing subsequent damage, are balanced by their biochemical counterparts and, again, higher storage capacities for pretty much everything body and brain produce while generating, transforming, exerting energy and all the exhaust ...