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An observational study of programming and cannabis intoxication

arxiv.org

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Re: An observational study of programming and cannabis intoxication

#31

Post by __MatrixMan__ »

cynicalsecurity wrote: post #18
Etheryte wrote: post #14

Can't recall where I read this off the top of my head, but wasn't a similar idea tested with musicians? If memory serves correct, the results were that while high, the musicians thought what they were making was great, but when they later revisited it when sober, they thought it was rubbish.

It was some study about usage of cocaine. That's why using drugs is really stupid, they don't enhance your capabilities, they simply give you an illusion of that.

Different drugs are different. Lumping them all together is dangerous:

- Kids who discover that one wasn't a big deal will then be motivated to try others and see what else they were lied to about (I did, got around to most of my checklist too).

- Taboo about drugs in general prevents harm-mitigating conversations from happening that might protect someone from one specific drug or another (I turned out ok because of conversations like that).

Re: An observational study of programming and cannabis intoxication

#32

Post by rancour »

delichon wrote: post #19
perihelions wrote: post #12

- "enhances creativity and focus" Wait, how do you make cannabis enhance task focus? I'm unfamiliar

I once got stoned and watched a washing machine wash a load from start to finish. Utterly fascinating and no way I'd have that focus unaltered. It's not clear whether it was a good use of time though.

I’ve had moments like those back when I used to smoke over a decade ago, but they’ll come to you regardless (they still come to me from time to time). The “utter fascination” is like a direct link to reality, the interconnected perception of sound and motion and abstract shapes and colors and reflections and other things is just fucking bewildering. We are just observers of something spectacular.

Re: An observational study of programming and cannabis intoxication

#34

Post by [deleted] »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #27
perihelions wrote: post #12

- "enhances creativity and focus" Wait, how do you make cannabis enhance task focus? I'm unfamiliar

In my experience cannabis has bimodal impact based on your individual biology. In my personal case it is measurably and consistently transformative for focus, opennness and creativity. To the extent that it basically feels like magic at this point and I’ve only really been working with cannabis for a couple years. Other people it just seems to put to sleep I’m exceptionally rigorous with my dosing and have experiment…

[deleted]

Re: An observational study of programming and cannabis intoxication

#35

Post by satellite2 »

cynicalsecurity wrote: post #18
Etheryte wrote: post #14

Can't recall where I read this off the top of my head, but wasn't a similar idea tested with musicians? If memory serves correct, the results were that while high, the musicians thought what they were making was great, but when they later revisited it when sober, they thought it was rubbish.

It was some study about usage of cocaine. That's why using drugs is really stupid, they don't enhance your capabilities, they simply give you an illusion of that.

It depends on the drugs. Amphetamines generally display improved cognitive performances in RCTs.

Re: An observational study of programming and cannabis intoxication

#36

Post by bazil376 »

jesselawson wrote: post #17

All good and great but I think it’s a bit misleading. The participants were asked to do LeetCode—which limits this study to the suggested effects of cannabis on arbitrary and abstract programming tasks.

I’d probably spark one up if I got asked to do leetcode in an interview

Re: An observational study of programming and cannabis intoxication

#37

Post by janis1234 »

Don't really need a study for something you can figure out fairly easily on your own. I tried to smoke and program probably 3 times and results were always the same. Significantly less productive. Started working on tasks not aligned with larger goal. Had many ideas that seemed amazing at the time and later found out to be dumb. In that sense it is creative enhancement in that you consider more idea, but just in general most ideas are dumb. Difficult to stay focused on the most important task and makes me wonder more. Loss of focus.

The real question is: How do I use cannabis correctly? What can it actually do for you?

From my experience smoking once every 2 months has net benefit... It cannot help you program but it can help you higher level ideas related to programming. It can answer the why better than it can answer the how. It can be a reset and motivation and prevent you from burn out even if you are working more than 60 hrs a week. But it is dangerous in that you want to get the relief constantly, so from my experience once every 2 months is fine.

Re: An observational study of programming and cannabis intoxication

#38

Post by candiddevmike »

kelseyfrog wrote: post #8
Mountain_Skies wrote: post #3

Guess the Ballmer Peak will remain the domain of alcohol.

Stimulants remain an under-researched, potential gold mine.

Most of the NYC financial district runs on some variant of Adderall

Re: An observational study of programming and cannabis intoxication

#39

Post by fsociety »

perihelions wrote: post #12

- "enhances creativity and focus" Wait, how do you make cannabis enhance task focus? I'm unfamiliar

It’s a subpar way to treat ADHD and similar issues with focus/attention. Subpar because other medications or non-medication treatments are usually better - but many use it as an accidental coping mechanism.
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