The Right Amount of "Challenge" In IT & Gaming

boyko.at.netqos writes "In an essay entitled 'An Epiphany I Had While Playing Pac-Man,' the author talks about how smart people need to find a certain amount of intellectual challenge from day to day. If they don't find it in their workplace, they'll end up playing complex, 'smart' games, like Civilization IV or Chess — and if they do find it in their workplace, they're more likely to sit down with a nice game of Pac-Man, Katamari Damacy, or Peggle. Quoting: 'When I look back on my life, and I compare the times in my life when I was playing simple games compared to the times in my life when I was playing complex ones, a pattern emerges. The more complexity and mental stimulation I was getting from other activities — usually my day job at the time — the less I needed mental stimulation in my free time. Conversely, in times when I was working boring jobs, I'd be playing games that required a lot of thinking and mental gymnastics.' The author then goes on to speculate that some IT workers might subconsciously be giving themselves more challenges by choosing to deal with difficult problems, rather than performing simple (but boring) preventative maintenance and proactive network management."

Comments

Must be some sort'a endorphin thingy

[Nefarious Wheel]

I like the way I feel when I'm thinking.

I like the way I feel when I'm being creative.

(In fact, I like the way I feel when I'm being procreative, but that's another story.)

I like the warm fuzzy feedback I get when some cold jagged radical slams into place in an equation.

But it all blows up if I'm drinking fine wine and doing mathematics. People are harmed.

Please, people, for the sake of the children -- don't drink and derive!