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Do Recreational Drugs Help Programmers?
jfruh writes "Among the winners of last night's election: marijuana users. Voters in both Washington and Colorado approved referenda that legalized marijuana for recreational use, though the drug remains illegal under federal law. There's been a long-standing debate among programmers as to whether recreational drugs, including pot and hallucinagens like LSD, can actually help programmers code. Don't forget, there was a substantial overlap between the wave of computer professionals who came of age in the '60s and that era's counterculture." (There's even a good book on that topic.)
Absolutely.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
I will program something while not being high and see if it makes a difference, later though. So far I am still collecting data points.
Is the pot free as in beer or free as in speech
---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
First cup of coffee gets first post!
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains. The stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion
Exactly what are the drugs supposed to help?
Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro
Why is this not an "Ask Slashdot" question?
then Cthulhu t-shirts and mugs and solstice carols are good for programming.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for legalizing drugs. And I don't like it one bit that my tax money goes into making victims of some harmless pot smokers.
But [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cum_hoc_ergo_propter_hoc]cum hoc ergo propter hoc[/url] is a fallacy for a reason.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
*the cat seems to be know something...*
"Dude, did you see where I put that lighter?"
*Must get test routines done for code review tomorrow....*
*Woah.. how'd my browser get on Ebay buying troll dolls?*
"Dude, did you see where I put that lighter?"
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
I would expect code produced under the influence to have more bugs, less comments and generally be an unmaintainable mess.
Those who do will of course say that it does and will provide anecdotal evidence (although I'm sure most of them have not actually performed any controlled tests to verify that claim). Most studies would indicate that drugs would not aid in many of the mental processes involved in programming, but that won't change anyone's mind, and I definitive statement can't be made until studies are done to specifically test this assertion.
Voters in both Washington and Colorado approved referenda that legalized marijuana for recreational use
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States.
If HL2:EP3 finally comes out, I guess we'll know what to thank.
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
We'll never have the materials to clinically test this theory on us 60's came-of-agers. We took them all.
Scruting the inscrutable for over 50 years.
In case you were tempted to RTFA, don't. You have to click through two ad-laden pages, and there really isn't any more information than in the summary.
Do a DNA sequence and publish the results under an "open" license.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Could it help programmers? Possibly, if you work in a high-stress environment.
Would it improve the code? Would you want to be the guy who has to maintain code written by another developer who was high?
Does coding while drunk result in good code? For a mentally-intensive task, why would any mind-altering substance be generally beneficial?
THC... sometimes for certain people. It helps me focus, and some of the best code I've done has been while stoned.
LSD on the other hand... I can't even read the text on the screen and find it difficult just to play music on my computer. I think that after the fact it leaves one with a more holistic and empathic perspective on life, but it sure as hell can't help you at the time of being high - similarly with pretty much any other psychedelic drug (I have the term hallucinogen, because they don't really make you hallucinate, strictly speaking).
But I would argue that the type of person who would try recreational drugs is also the type of person that might get into programming. Curious, risk taking and someone who doesn't want to be told what to do or fit into a mold? Yeah sounds about right.
Drugs do things to your brain that make you realize certain things.
The fallacy is assuming that the only path to these realizations come through drugs.
(It's worth mentioning that drugs have numerous downsides as well.)
If you learn to meditate, or for those with aversion to religion to "think hard," you'll get everything you could from drugs.
This isn't an anti-drug argument; that's for someone else's thread. It's an argument against assuming drugs can give you something that can't get another way.
If the potential is within the mind, clearly it's the important element, not the drugs.
Had a stoner friend back in school who thought weed made him do everything better. In reality it made him do everything WORSE, but he was too stoned to realize it. Creative people think weed helps them, but it doesn't. That's just some horseshit they've convinced themselves of, as an excuse to smoke more weed.
It's like the old idea among Wall St. types that cocaine allowed them to work harder and longer. Yeah, it does...and also work a lot dumber. Read a quote once from an old-school SNL writer from the late-70's-early 80's who said "Cocaine gives you diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of the brain." Pretty much sums it up for most drugs.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
You end up with a short term gain and long term problems. Anyone who tells you different has not reached the other end yet.
For example aderall lets you concentrate to a very effective degree. Until you start need to up the dose to get the same effect. Then you give up and are a wreck for it.
Cocaine makes you spazzy.
Codine sorts of things makes you relaxed and happy until you are full blown addicted to it.
Caffeine makes you a 'bit spazzy' but long term you keep having to up the dose to get the same effect. Then trying to quit = massive I am going to throw up my lungs headaches.
Weed makes you mellow. But eventually you get paranoid.
So yes you can 'hack' your body. But remember sometimes what you do can NOT be undone.
Don't forget, there was a substantial overlap between the wave of computer professionals who came of age in the '60s and that era's counterculture
And there was a non significant number that did not touch it. You are trying to justify a position with spurious thinking. This is usually the words of someone who is doing something they know is stupid yet want to justify it in some way. Just man up and say 'I am doing something stupid'.
Sure, this isn't 'the end of it, but these kinds of events are symbolic of the direction the country is moving. A few states trying it out here and there, pretty soon Iowa will be doing it and then it will be all over.
Can I mod something +1 Scary if it's true but I wish it weren't?
I don't know those states' referendum laws, but in some states, the legislature cannot, on its own, override a referendum.
The feds can make the voters WISH they'd voted another way by hitting them in the pocketbook, but it may take a full run of the referendum process to roll back these new laws.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
I've smoked pot and explored ideas relating to my highly technical job that I feel I wouldn't have otherwise. I drew up elaborate diagrams, worked through highly difficult mathematics to express ideas and actually develop reliable hardware that is still being used by a specialized technical department to train and use in the field. My company employs over 10,000 people. I had a stint of pot smoking for about a year, but quit because I fear losing my job, but in the time that I did, I would venture to say I was more productive than I am now.
As with anything, moderation is key. As I remember from my college days there are a few times where I got so out of it I was couched locked and did not want to do anything.
The typical drug war debate aside, I personally wouldn't toke up every time I had to program. I know how it affects me and sometimes being sober for work is a good thing. Just keep it simple and enjoy it as a treat when your work is done. Just like one would treat alcohol.
The body compensates to anything one throws at it to make up for the temporary gains. It's a zero sum gain sadly. Just enjoy it as a treat or treatment if you really need it for a disease/disability.
Over a population, certain individuals will likely benefit from almost anything. Drawing conclusions for the population will be impossible and doing so will produce errors.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Of course it does. But then it takes hundreds of times as long to remove all the extra bugs written in.
A lot of people think they perform better, or are more attractive, or that other people are more attractive (an affliction known as beer goggles) when under the influence of something. All that happens in fact is that their judgement is impaired. There's no reason to think that the application of other mood/mind altering substances: dope, caffeine etc. would improve a mental performance more than it would cloud their judgement. They may well think it improves their programming skills, but that's just another case of poor judgement.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Don't worry, I got this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBcVbV6_Vwc
Recreational drugs serve more as a device to cope with Management than they do for any other aspects of developing code.
In the end, I think the main question really is, can the use of “mind expanding” drugs (hallucinogens) help programmers to “think outside the box” and come up with more solutions (or more creative solutions) to difficult problems?
And really, by now, it is extremely rare that I have to think outside the box. 99.9% of what I program is a combination of things I've done before, or learning how someone else's API works. Coming up with a new algorithm is rare.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Interesting idea, but one problem...
Where the hell would you find any drug-free programmers to use as a control group?
I suppose you group them into tweakers (stimulant users) vs psychonauts (hallucinogen users), using the FDA's standard "best known therapy as the control" protocols...
Sensationalism at its finest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines
"Evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb." - Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)
http://xkcd.com/323/
Every stoner thinks they are geniuses when stoned. Even geniuses. I famously recall Carl Sagan commenting on his and his wife's drug use and how he felt his writing process was more elucidated while high on marijuana.
Of course, every stoner thinks they are Carl Sagan when high. "Man, l can like totally see it now, it's like, there are like billions and billions... served at this McDonalds..."
I didnt know Berkley was in Switzerland.
They very well might improve imagination, but for serious scientific tasks no.
Some might keep you awake, and improve your typing speed, but they will also have you making more mistakes (and have you suffering longitudinal problems from lack of sleep).
If there was a way for out current body/brain structure to be improved with just a little stimulation then evolution would of picked up on that missing feature a long time ago.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
I'm fairly certain my predecessor was stoned or tripping acid when he wrote the code I have to maintain and I have no doubt he THOUGHT he was writing good code. Code is basically logic, math. Logic and drugs don't go together. Please get high AFTER work, not while coding.
With the amount of evidences that shows it hurt productivity, I'm not sure why anyone thinks thins is a controversy.
Have these people ever worked with stoned people?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
People like you are the reason why you have many co-workers who smoke pot every day but don't tell you about it.
Discussion over.
What about crack cocaine and Windows ME?
Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all
Well if you take a drug that boosts your confidence, you will think you just wrote the best code of your life.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
Sometimes when I go to long thinking on a problem, I stop and have a beer or a glass of wine, a bit after that, the brains changes the way it thinks about the problem. Often times this brings a better/faster abstract solution and worst/buggier code.
Steroids improve athletic performance. LSD increases ridiculousness (yellow submarine, anyone?) sober helps logic (programming) Sure there will be a few exceptions to any rule, but the rule is still valid.
Fucking up your liver is ok, fucking up your brain is not.
When I was on the Windows 8 UI development team, we all were taking Meth and PCP daily. And look at the wonderful and innovative design we came up with!
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Whenever I've coded even the day after getting high, if I look back on it a week or so later without having done any marijuana, I am amazed at the number of sloppy bugs. Marijuana and coding don't mix. Even off hours.
Would you want to be the guy who has to maintain code written by another developer who was high?
Alcohol is legal. How many programmers go to work shitface drunk?
You should ask instead, do you want to be the guy who maintains code written by another developer who uses recreational drugs in the privacy of their own home?
:(){
This is your code:
This is your code on drugs:
Any questions?
There is a trade-off between getting each step right first time by absolute concentration eg. coding, and wasting time exploring the solution-space at the speed of an ant. A lot of programming involves juggling eggs and a mind trained not to drop stitches is required. On the other-hand you can't cross a ditch with lots of tiny steps no mater how small you make them - you need to jump. SOME way of letting 'what the heck' out of the bottle can be a very useful mind tool for minds that are trained to analyse and check everything. Chemical means is one, requirement not to be a 'total nerd' in public another. You could try serious habit-forming methods but cider is more fun -- is there something wrong with that?
don't drink and derive.
Funny thing about destructive/disgusting tendencies: you are not the sole arbiter of morality. Making your declarations as if from on high (if only) just shows your authoritarian nature. The "destructive/disgusting" tendencies are excesses which you will not find me supporting. But moderate use which does not endanger the lives of others - how could you be against that in any form? Your personal morality is just that: a conscious decision on your part to follow dictums which you agree with. Liberty is being able to follow your own moral compass and freedom means not having that liberty infringed upon. When you deny liberty then you deny your own.
But they sure wont help you keep your job if HR finds out about it.
http://saveie6.com/
This same question gets asked about writers and alcohol.
the question will be stated something like: There have been many incredibly talented writers who also abused alcohol (Hemingway immediately comes to mind - but there is there is a large sample size). Did alcohol make them better writers? Will alcohol make you a better writer?
The popular answer is: "The genius that made them great writers probably contributed to thier drinking, but drinking didn't make them great writers."
Drinking might make people think they are great writers, but simply being a drunk won't improve your writing. the cliche "correlation doesn't imply causality" applies.
Many great programmers may have also used recreational drugs - but recreational drugs didn't make them great programmers.
in both writing and coding there is a lot of hard work involved to become (and stay) "good" at your craft - and addiction (to anything) will interfere.
But remember: Mr Garrison says drugs are bad.
So just say no.
This is your brain: this is your brain on /.
Follow your dreams, but stay in school.
It ain't what they call you. It's what you answer to. http://mylyceum.us/
It seems that class of molecules has a natural function in the brain, to ease or wipe bad memories. Coding is stressful and honestly if you remember every single detail all the time it would overburden you from being locally focussed when needed, let alone socially functional. How many burned out coders do you know who just broke cause they held onto it all. Also as far as a work life balance, people need to chill out and marijuana is one way people do that.
Now if we are talking about heavy chronics, that is a different story.. the one benefit is that it keeps them in their chairs I guess.. but beyond that not so much.
For my part, I obviously don't use illegal drugs at work and I'm doing fine. But I can see that most of the programmers, including me, using energy drinks, or shit load of coffee. It seems obvious to me that caffeine is a great drug for programming as much for most of other jobs and activities.
Sometimes at home however, I like to smoke a spliff, read some code on the Github which eventually results in coding my own projects after a while. I have never used any stronger stuff for programming, because it doesn't make much sense for me. While you can get some inspiration, programming is a very focused activity with little room for being dreamy, thus I would say that anything that is stronger than a lightly made joint would be counter-productive for coding.
I suggest, recreational drugs should belong to our recreational time. Many geeks I know has a huge problem with separating from the computer, at least a little recreational time should detach us from the matrix.
Adderall/dex/meth/speed is used for recreational and also prescribed for the very purpose of helping cognitive performance. The answer to the question depends on many factors, and it simply doesn't make any sense at all to lump all "recreational drugs" in the same box.
They're not all the same at all.
From my experience the answer is no. I was a heavy drug user for 10 years, I now have trouble concentrating, I draw a blank all the time, everything is foggy, etc.. I quit doing drugs 5 years ago, but the after effects still linger to this day. I still play around with android and qt and I write apps for myself because I love to program, but it's only a hobby at this point.
I'm probably a fringe case though, I think the majority of people can smoke pot and be perfectly fine. I wouldn't recommend mixing drugs and programming though, you need a clear mind and a healthy body.
I think this article makes some good points:
http://blog.seangransee.com/post/35254966580/no-studying-after-5pm-using-parkinsons-law-to-kick
While I agree that you shouldn't mod GP down because of disagreeing...I do believe GP should be modded down. He uses inflammatory and trolling language.
"This Is Disgusting And Sick"? Filthy, vile, and destructive? Timothy is irresponsible and should be fired?
This is exactly the kind of language that stops thoughtful discussion, and should be discouraged accordingly by the mods.
Whatever your opinion is of recreational drugs, this animosity toward people minding their own business in the privacy of their own home is reminiscent of those who think violent video games caused the Columbine massacre and other real-world violence. It is a simple fact that humans generally consumes large amounts of chemicals that alter the way our mind and body work, and our society generally manages to do just fine. And just like some people will be violent psychopaths who just happen to be gamers, some people will self destruct who just happen to use recreational drugs.
:(){
Or meth and Windows 8?
There are no data points to refer to here.
Perscriptio in manibus tabellariorum est.
They wouldn't have then adopted policies of giving speed out like candy in combat situations if it impaired performance more than they helped it.
That depends entirely on what is being impaired and what is being helped. The military has certain rather specific objectives. It's reasonable that they can find some performance enhancing drugs that aid with those objectives. However ALL drugs have side effects and it is entirely likely that soldiers performance in other areas of cognition are degraded at the same time. In combat falling asleep or being drowsy might mean getting killed which is a worse outcome than most other drug effects so a stimulant might make sense in spite of some pretty severe side effects.
If you're a good programmer, pow, you got it.
I don't know about other recreational drugs, but I've heard about people using Ritalin to help improve their focus.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
Most people don't know Pot comes in a very wide variety of effects (and side effects). Some might make a person drowsy while another might make a person more alert. One might have a side effect of affecting short term memory. Another strain might not, but cause something else. Some strains might very well be useful for coding. There are lots of Sativa dominant strains that are very similar to amphetamines / caffiene, in that they have a stimulant effect and in many people tend to stimulate creativity. It's really impossible to say definitively marijuana does this or that with so many varieties around. Many American recreational users are just concerned with raw THC content when this matters very little (it's the balance of different Cannabinoids that makes the difference). The government's lack of attention to this issue in their propaganda does little to help. Medical users, on the other hand, have known these things for decades. You have one strain for the day, and one for the night time. If you're going to try pot, my recommendation is to do your research. Start off with an Indica dominant strain unlikely to cause paranoia (the most unpleasant side effect), and graduate up to something that is a little more cerebral and leaves you less drowsy. My personal recommendation is Hindu Kush. It's a very calming, typical Indica smoke but at the same time is totally like other Indicas in that it won't leave you drowsy
FTFY.
Have gnu, will travel.
It's a fun topic to debate but the question is pretty fuzzy. "Recreational drugs" vary so widely in their effects that you can't really say anything about all of them at once. "Help" is also a subjective term that would need to be further defined to have any meaningful discussion.
I'll also put out there that anyone who hasn't done much of them is unqualified to answer.
Personally, and speaking very generally, ie. the way this question would typically be taken, I would say that they do not help. More specifically:
- Depressants such as pot and alcohol can help you think more creatively but tend to erode motivation and coding accuracy/efficiency.
- Hallucinogens (LSD, DMT, MDA, 2CB, shrooms etc) in normal doses also help creativity but will usually make interacting with the computer difficult or impossible. At very low doses (see LSD microdosing) there can be potential for augmenting sharpness of mind and attention.
- Most energetic stimulants (cocaine, meth, crystal, crack) make you too wired to sit still and focus on a task like programming. Way too little attention span.
- Speed is an exception to the above. With lower doses it can help keep you focused and awake almost indefinitely without being foggy. This the one drug I would say has the ability to help, even if it doesn't allow you to do anything you couldn't already with willpower and enough Jolt.
- MDMA (ecstasy) I consider a class on its own. Coming up with and talking about programming ideas could work very well but sitting in front of a computer doing a task that needs a clear head would definitely be problematic due to the mashy fogginess. Besides, why code when you could be hugging someone or dancing?
- I couldn't tell you about heroin but from what I've seen in movies it doesn't look like something you can code on at all!
FWIW I've been coding for about 30 years. Hope this helps :)
I think in rare cases it can help, but it largely impairs your ability to code. A small amount of substance use can slightly impair the brain and allow you to be less rigid in your thinking and get past a block by considering valid ideas you would immediately dismiss otherwise. It's the same way a small amount of alcohol in your blood will impair motor function a small amount to act as a muscle relaxant which can help smooth out your motion and make you more precise at certain tasks, like a game of darts or pool, but it very quickly becomes a serious impairment.
These are basically crude solutions to the fact that our brains are prone to overfitting our patterns for how to come to a solutions. Yes it can help, but 9/10 it is probably more harmful and there certainly isn't some hidden potential that is unlocked by regular substance use and there are certainly means of getting past code blocks or coming up with more elegant solutions that don't require it. If you came up with a great idea while using, there are was probably a safer way to get the creative juices lowing without it.
There is no memory shortage. yes I have heard of XFCE. Go away.
No I don't
Oh well then just say that you're straightedge instead of demonizing recreational drug use, and I'll just respect your decision and quietly pity you instead of responding to a ridiculous post.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I won't deny that smoking pot has had its influence in the artistic creative-arts world. But programming involves thinking-things-through, and being logical, and not being lazy. Pot does not help this at all. Maybe caffeine and amphetamine based drugs though. That'll perk you up and get you focussed on getting things done, which is required for programming.
I don't know if it was my age (late 20s) or what, but I found that my best programming was when I smoked (hand-rolled cigarettes, usually Drum).
There was something about smoking and staring at code or errors or whatever that really enabled me to focus. Maybe nicotine has a similar effect to Aderall or other stimulant-based ADHD drugs?
I quit smoking years ago and quit smoking in the house years before that; now I find that my best focus is early morning after drinking about 6-8 standard cups of coffee (about two travel mugs). Coffee isn't as effective as nicotine, but then again, I'm nearly 20 years older, too.
Coincidentally, I was also using a DEC VT320 at this same time as my terminal (via dial-up) to a Slackware system. Added focus may have come from fewer distractions, too, like not being able to click into other Windows or whatever. Although trn was always a window away via screen.
Studies have been done where they tested learning, while under the influence of alcohol, cannabis, etc. and later tested these individuals on the learned material.
They found that testing improved when they were under the influence if they had learned under the influence. Cramming all night eating pot brownies would show better test results if you did pot brownies when taking a test on the material.
Note: These were small, level 1, doses here, not baking yourself into oblivion or drinking until you passed out.
From a programming standpoint, which usually is not a one day coding effort on real projects, do you think that would that require maintaing a semi-constant "high" or drug effect to aid in the project? If you've developed code following a certain way of thinking, would going dry alter your thinking enough to cause programming inconsistencies to what you first designed?
On another note, I personally make and use psychedelics. I find them to be tremendously useful in allowing you to think is amazing new ways. Not every idea has ended up past the drawing board, but I've been able to construct completely different ways to do something that I had never even thought of doing before, which is one of the nice side effects of the particular psychedelics (the mind expanding type) that I make. I've had some great strides in developing different topologies for neural networks and training them directly related to the ideas brought on from the use of these substances which did not require me to use them after the initial "idea" was come across
Is it good? Bad? For me they work. But then I take them specifically for mind expansion. Most people I know, who do weed or booze, is for depression or stress relief. I don't see someone sitting in a bar drinking whiskey because they want to find new spiritual meaning. I can't speak for weed, but most I know use it for relaxation or have fun, not to gain new insights. Or maybe they do. Any weed smokers do it purely for the intellectual opportunities?
Anyone else use psychedelics to try new avenues of thinking?
I'm a satanic clam.
Helps me concentrate on specific tasks if I know what to do. It puts me "in the zone" in ways that soberiety simply can not do.
However, it is counter productive when having to plan out what I need to do in the first place. The architecture and high level planning/design/etc doesn't work for me in any state other than being sober.
I'm god, but it's a bit of a drag really...
I was a casual pot smoker decades ago. I tried, several times, to write code while stoned. Invariably, I regretted it in the next day. It was like looking at someone else's code and realizing that the other person really doesn't understand programming at all.
The problem (devil?), I think, was in the details. You get some terrific ideas when you're stoned. (Also some terrible ideas, but we'll stay positive for now.) Broad, general, sweeping ideas about how to do something in the most elegant manner imaginable. Better than anything that's come before. Then you sit down and actually try to write the stuff and realize that the compiler is extremely, extremely picky about everything. You also realize that you can only hold about two things in your head at a time, which makes handling complex data structures or algorithms really challenging. It's like trying to drive a cheap RC car from one point to another, where all you can do is go forward in a straight line and turn right in reverse. You can get there, but the route is torturous. Going from a broad idea to the details of writing code is not well accomplished while stoned. You have to hold too many things in your head simultaneously.
Bottom line, I discovered that it was a lot better doing other stuff stoned than write software. Programming with a perfectly clear head is way more satisfying in the long run. Of course, all this was a very long time ago. Maybe if I returned to smoking now I would think differently.
That seems true. This explains Honey Boo-Boo, dubstep and the prevalence of SUVs on the roads.
I'm not sure I agree, however. Underlying brain fog probably has a cause. This may be physiological or emotional. If it's physiological, meditation may not be the answer, but more sleep, better nutrition, or more exercise may be the answer. I'm not qualified to hypothesize beyond that point :)
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Espresso + Sativa = Productivity
Hash = Good Ideas
Indica = Sleepy Procrastination
I would say it helps programmers in the same way that it has helped many great philosophers.
It helps you take a step back from a specific focus on particular details.
While looking at a bigger picture, your mind starts to pick up on subtle patterns which can shape the underlying paradigm of your work.
The whole universe is now part of the framework and you'll start to wonder what, if anything, black holes have to do with class inheritance.
Did I initialize that variable or did that already happen in another plane of reality? I better sit back and smoke another one before I get too ahead of myself.
An anecdote: My athletic club used to participate in a state program to employ the mentally challenged. The guy who cleaned our locker room was slow. But he was a nice guy and proud to have a job that he could do, and do well. This level of pride motivated him to always do his best and, as a result, we had a fantastically clean locker room. After a while, the program was discontinued and he was replaced by (I suspect) a college student who needed some part time income. The locker room became a slimy mess and the attendant always had a bad attitude about the complaints.
So, I suppose if you have a job that involves repeated hour after hour of monotonous drudgery, knocking a few points off the old IQ might help. Pot smoking (a popular recreational drug) has been shown to impede the creation of short term memory. That might explain stoners' tolerance for doing repetitive work without complaint. It isn't so bad with long term memory, so learned skills are probably still available. Just don't count on converting much current experience (short term memory) into new learning.
Personally, if someone gives me a monotonous job, I figure its a candidate for automation. I figure out a way for the computer to do it (automated code generation from requirements documents, for example) and free up time for something challenging.
Have gnu, will travel.
I almost never drink coffee or tea with caffeine. Not that I'm against them, I just don't like them, I prefer herbal teas. No Mtn Dew or Cola either.
The problem is when I do need some caffeine (Monday overflow or something) if I drink a small cup of regular coffee, I get all anxious and shaky, my pulse increases and overall I feel bad. So, if I didn't get enough sleep, coffee does not make me feel better.
May Peace Prevail On Earth
Just a quick note: the Christian tradition also has a history of meditation, although they tend to call it prayer. But who would "pray" as in sending a little message to God for several hours? I think it's meditations of the same sort as in India, but perhaps less formalized. I am told the pre-Christian indigenous religions of Europe had something similar as well.
Is this related to the usage of "woo" you used above?
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Now you regret taking the Google job instead of the one at Microsoft!
There are all kinds of supplements that are supposed to replenish chemicals required by the brain, or stimulants or whatever. What are the students taking now-a-days to get through their studies?
I'm speaking more of its origins, but I'd like to clarify:
Meditation is a type of thought.
Thought is not necessarily religious.
Cassocks are types of clothing; altars are types of furniture.
Furniture and clothing (textiles) aren't necessarily religious either.
Is meditation religious by nature?
Historically at least, it arose from religious principles (Hinduism and others), and has been spread by the expansion of those religions.
The statement you be wanting to make is "Meditation does not require religion for its practice."
That's true, I think. Although some people tell me that it may lead to a more religious mindset.
Then again, so does good quality dope.
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Warning: Psychedelics can cause fear, nervousness and delusions in those who do not use them.
In several studies, the effect of many recreational drugs is simply to inhibit the executive functional parts of the brain. In some individuals this has the potential to release bursts of creativity or insight that are being supressed by the executive function parts of the brain. In other individuals, it just releases social inhibition and sometimes even chaos. Unfortunatly, since a large part of programming is focus and high-attention span, and directing the brain to focus on tasks at hand is a large function of the executive funtional parts of the brain, this is not likely to result in a significant net benefit from programmers. Even if it were to help somehow, it is probably just as likely to steer you produce code which is stunningly creative, yet totally unrelated to the task at hand (or worse, totally underengineered useless code) mitigating the total overall benefit. This is why we probably see net benefit of recreational drugs for those endeavors that can fully embrace open-ended style creativity (writing, music, art, aesthetics, etc).
On the other hand, the jury is out on the other side of the coin with some types of drugs that work to improve focus and attention (e.g., the ADHD treatment drugs such as adderall, ritlin, etc.). Although these types of drugs aren't generally taken recreationally, they have some similarities to amphetamine like drugs, so maybe there's something there. The bottom line is that I imagine that most good programmers have already found ways to channel focus and attention towards programming and probably benefit little from whatever improvement these types of drugs might yield (except perhaps improved productivity by reducing the need for sleep/food, etc). I would suspect that these things benefit whoever is employing the programmer more than the programmer (unless, of course, the programmer is self employed).
But the benefits for programming aside, everyone (including programmers) has ways they like to blow off steam and shut off the executive side of their brain for a while to relax, recharge, and help gain insight into problems. If a programmer thinks recreational drugs are a good way to do that, so be it, but they probably shouldn't expect it to necessarily be a net help with their programming.
Once upon a time I was prescribed into addiction thanks to my ignorance and a doctor who shouldn't have been since he was nothing but an ATM for unlimited prescriptions at a phone call. I discovered something during that period though, certian stimulates when pressed to a certain threshold make you superman when it comes to focus and finding enjoyment in even the most mundane. I definitely understand the appeal of it having gone through it. HOWEVER, the downsides far outweigh it especially if you press it to the point of suffering the consequences of withdraw and all that fun stuff.
Having said that, I'm firmly against the use of stimulants and drugs such as Adderral for increased concentration where-as I use to be all for it. It changes your personality, how you act and many other things. The deeper you go the more pronounced the not-so-good side affects. Even the most discplined will abuse it when it's easy to do so just because you don't even realize it after a certain point.
Pot takes my mind away from programming, when is time to sleep. It also makes me a lot more relaxed, and interested on the silly things my kid wants to do. After a day of blasting my brain with logic and debugging, inhaling some canabinoids through a vaporizer, helps me get my mind away from the stress from work, without the side effects of pharmaceutical headache otc medicine. I don't smoke weed when I am at work, but my best programming and design ideas come in when I am stoned. I write them down, and then review then the next day. I am one of the top contributors, get bonuses every year, and my life couldn't be happier and healthier. Also Washington state rules. Take that Oregon!
From my experience, pot (and more hallucinogenic drugs) can help me look at a problem in a different way and find a solution that I otherwise may have missed. However, this doesn't usually help me at the keyboard. When I am actually writing up the code, I do my best when sober.
A neon green cross, I hear that's what the legally gray "head shops" in the US west coast are using nowadays XD
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I believe that most of my past employers would still do a drug test.
So I guess I am lacking in my potential, DAMN!
oh?, I remember the 70s government warnings: the "LSD can damage your genes" "MJ can cause sterility", etc.
clearly such drugs cause delusions in non-users
you're just not getting it right. code while high for creativity, debug while sober
I have walked out of interviews when they said they required a drug test. I simply will not work for someoen who thinks they can control what i do in my spare time. These decisions have cost me some fortune, but i have a vault full of self-respect.
Good-bye
Sure, they help me get stoned.
Guess there's something to that gateway theory after all
Drugs have killed people in my family. Illicit drugs reduce your life expentancy. FACT.
Coding while high is stupid. Clouded & foggy thoughts make it difficult to focus on the concrete aspects of writing code.
On the other hand, thinking about coding while high is incredibly relaxing. A totally different mindset that can lead to clever solutions... that are usually implemented the next morning.
If nothing else, it's incredibly effective at removing stress at night.
I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
Having done both pot and LSD among others I can say that they definitely don't help with programming. You might thing they're helping while you're high, but when you sober up and get down to debugging the godawful mess of code you wrote you'll know better. Adderall type drugs might be the exception, but I never tried those.
OK, this guy was widely respected as one of the top hackers of the world. Smoked a lot of pot for some time but later abstained and he remained on top of the game. But he died at the age of 54 because of a haemorrhage of the stomach. To counter the effects of previous marijuana use he had to take quite some prescription drugs that in turn damaged his stomach. A good coder gets his kicks of writing good code I believe.
http://www.libertyclassroom.com/objections
Author Thomas Woods makes a good argument about the idea of state "Nullification". Only laws which are made in "pursuance of The Constitution" are "supreme".
The federal government was created by an agreement among the states. It seems ridiculous that they should be completely subservient to the creature they created. Woods' argument is that the federal monster cannot be the sole arbiter of its own power.
I sometimes use Modafinal when I'm working late or need an extra boost. To me it's much more noticeable than caffeine; it keeps me concentrating all day and doesn't make me jittery. Not recreational though. Anyone else it whilst coding?
That's what a drug is. That's practically the definition of the word. Every drug improves something -- almost always by inhibiting something else. Welcome to focus. If you allow that focus to flourish, you'll reap the benefits.
Whether or not that inhibition is detrimental, short-term or long-term, is the value proposition.
It helps me not burn down the customers building during onsites.
LSD wasn't developed at Berkeley (as per another post). Its use was popularized there though. The obervation:
Two thing came out of Bekeley in the '60s: LSD and Unix. This is not a coincidence.
still holds.
Cheers,
Dave
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
Ben
I am not getting it.
You say you are a top contributor at work, get bonuses and could not be happier, yet to do pot because of the stress?
And you do that in the evening to get away from work, yet you keep thinking about programming, and write the ideas down?
Sounds contradictory to me. Are you stoned now?
365 X $100 > $32K hmmmm.... Let me offer some free accounting advice - you might want to find a better-paying job or a cheaper "habit". Could I recommend fishing, jogging, or playing video games? All much, much more in line with your current stated income.
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> Illicit drugs reduce your life expentancy.
Some of them, perhaps. As do many licit drugs. I fail to see why you make the licit/illicit distinction, as it is not the legal status of a drug that determines its harmfulness (except perhaps when it lands you in prison...). How about "Some recreational drugs reduce life expectancy, in particular those that are (for that reason) illegal.
> FACT.
Not really.
Ketamine helped create cyberpunk. My vote's on yes.
(2,3-Benzopyrrole)
Marijuana most certainly helps. Well, it helps me, but with marijuana one thing is for sure: everybody reacts differently to it. So YMMV tremendously.
It typically has two effects. The first is to help focusing, enabling absorbing much more information into your brain than you typically manage. This helps you through the boring parts (think: endless debug sessions or typing that javadoc), the typical project-blockers which are avoided by procrastinating. It also helps thinking on a more abstract level, working on the bigger picture.
The second effect is that it can trigger a certain kind of creativity, coming up with solutions that you'd otherwise simply not have thought of, the kind of solutions that may sometimes pop into your head while taking a shower after a good nights sleeps.
Note that - in my case - it typically does not negatively affect code quality at all; my code is pristine whether I'm stoned or not. (And I'm considered one of the most horribly code-quality nazis by most of my colleagues so I think I can judge on that;-)).
While such effects do occur quite often, you cannot rely on it; sometimes it just does not happen. Another problem is that using recreational drugs in order to achieve a specific outcome other than recreation-thing itself is guaranteed to end in a bad habit that can quite easily develop into a dependence on marijuana, which can be quite difficult to get rid of. Note that in many people marijuana does trigger nasty symptoms such as an irregular hearthbeat, low bloodpressure (fainting), stomach complaints as well as
withdrawal symptoms ranging from not being able to sleep at all to being unimaginable nervous to actual physical symptoms such as sweating profusely. While I no longer am addicted, I have been for several years and it literally took me years to get rid of that. I have found it much easier to quit smoking tobacco than to quit smoking my daily joint. BE CAREFUL.
Therefore I suggest not to use marijuana at all and if you do, do it at most once a week and do it for recreational purposes ONLY. For me, that advice came a bit too late, but I'm absolutely convinced that smoking weed has increased my programming productivity at home tremendously and has helped me come up with some of the best ideas I've ever had, thereby having a hugely positive effect on my professional career as well.
Nevertheless: just don't do it.
0x or or snor perron?!
Im dutch, some drugs is legal to use here, and i have never heard of this as being relevant to (software) engineers. In my experience we use less drugs, and if we use it (or alcohol) we close in on the stereotype "normal" person.. or so I heard.
Hivemind harvest in progress..
I use racetams like aniracetam and/or piracetam. I also favor eugeroics like Adrafinil. While not miracles, both of these are extremely helpful in enhancing memory and attention. Caffeine too, is a perennial favorite. I've also had good experiences with Bacopa, but you take it the night before, not during the day when you're programming. All legal and available on Ebay too. Bonus!
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%91s "After 1971 he also took amphetamines, despite the concern of his friends, one of whom (Ron Graham) bet him $500 that he could not stop taking the drug for a month.[34] Erds won the bet, but complained that during his abstinence mathematics had been set back by a month: "Before, when I looked at a piece of blank paper my mind was filled with ideas. Now all I see is a blank piece of paper." After he won the bet, he promptly resumed his amphetamine use."
Subject says it all.
If it's good enough for the Air Force to give to pilots, it's good enough for you!
Psychedelics and cannabis can help with the conceptual part of designing software, but they make it more difficult to write actual code and can make it more buggy. I find that a small amount of weed can help me focus for a couple of hours before it makes me groggy. Also, microdosing LSD - taking just enough to get the stimulating, creative, awareness-expanding, uplifting effects but not enough for the reality distortion and motor impairment - shows promising signs as a nootropic. I would recommend looking into LSD microdosing if you're really curious about how recreational drugs could be used beneficially for intellectual purposes. I've never used LSD explicitly for problem solving, but all kinds of unique ideas come to me spontaneously, and there have been many times while tripping that I've viewed the world in an objected-oriented way for example thinking about each person as a separate implementation of an abstract Person class along with implementing interfaces for each role they perform in society as a way of conceptualizing the way unique people can all fit into predefined roles in society. Most of the realizations on psychedelics are hard to describe to others, but that's mostly because of how complex and nuanced (and many times, personal) the realizations are. It would be like trying to explain how some 100,000 line system you wrote works to someone; You understand it conceptually in your head, but putting it into words so a lay person can understand the inner workings is all but impossible.
It's not that recreational drugs help the actual act of writing code, but they can be greatly beneficial to the conceptual design process.
Then there's stimulants like adderall and (obviously) caffeine. And the fact that smoking weed after work can be an effective means of preventing burn out.
In the end, I think it mostly varies from person to person. What drugs they're used to, how their mind naturally works, what kind of work they do, what kind of effects the want, etc.
Unless the people who worked on Unix were also the ones doing LSD then yes, it is very much a coincidence.
If there is one, I don't know what it is. Alchohol makes me feel generally lousy. Tobacco can be fun at a party but fuzzes my brain for anything requiring concentration. I'm addicted to caffeine, but if I get the level wrong, it fuzzes my brain. BTW, I have CFIDS, so I'm not exactly starting out in a good place, and basically everything makes me worse. Even too much sugar! Energy drinks fall flat for me because the sugar cancels out the other effects. Especially when it's HFCS, which makes me really tired; cane sugar causes me less trouble. Taurine and B vitamine are fine, but carnitine gives me headaches.
I have these multivitamins that are high in B's, particularly niacin, and those are the only things I've tried that have a clear short-term positive effect on my concentration.
Drugs can increase performance in two regions in the coding world: long monotonous tasks that just aren't fun to do &... critical thinking. Some bugs / challenges require you to really descend into the code, far more than is normal for most people's cognition and some drugs take you there. Most don't, they're designed to allow people to have fun / forget their lives or something, not work. On general tasks though, like say adding a slew of textboxes and then wiring them up to data points, it requires just enough focus to not be monotonous, but not enough where you can focus in on it and work, you're constantly changing gears. All in all, I'd have to say they're counter-productive on a large scale, but have probably led to some coding gems sprinkled here and there in the coding world.
Out of scope: out-of-the-box thinking & it's effects on coding
Or you can go & figure out how to cheat a UA silly. I'd have more respect for you then. UAs ask the question: can we hire you as a reliable employee & if you are clean you can pass and then it's back up in the air lol, but if you can't pass and aren't resourceful enough to figure out how to cheat, I wouldn't hire you, or anybody for that matter. It's exactly the kind of employee UAs are designed to keep out.
You end up with the best, most usable, most efficient logging class that the world has ever known, before which log4net can only cry with jealousy. However, your project doesnt depend on having good logging.... ooops!
Programming has creative elements. When I was younger, I found pot to be helpful during the design phase, but absolutely counterproductive during the debugging phase.
After we spent years wondering why Vista was such a POS, now we find out Redmond was stoned out of their redwoods.
Oh, I'm sorry sir, I thought you were referring to me, Mr. Wensleydale.
Try repeating the above to someone who needs psychiatric medication to function normally or to keep symptoms down to manageable levels. How would you like someone with schizophrenia to try meditating their problems away?
Not all brains are created equal.
Palm trees and 8
Drugs have helped my career tremendously. I may not be the best developer, but I've been promoted beyond all of my hung-over, buzzed, and fried co-workers.
Yes, I imagine they all do, but for different effects. Someone who plays with poppy tea will adopt a style different from someone who drops acid. Same for ketamine.
The bigger problem you are going to run into is the inability of society to tolerate that kind of evolution. See, it may take 5 trips to level up a programmer from standard to 'I understand how to implement an incredible Visitor pattern,' all while your boss, who has never programmed in his life and thinks drugs are of the devil, is going to be messing with you (either harshing your buzz / creating a bad trip, or if it's done off-hours, he will not be appreciate of the changes ("This new pattern, while awesome, differs from the established way of doing things, and is giving your teenage replacements a mind-fuck"). External forces can and will influence the effects of a trip, as can be seen when the drug-taker is a low-class, middle-class, or upper-class individual. Low-class it can end very badly, and I understand typically does. Middle-class it's hard to tell. Upper-class, especially among artists and musicians, can do some incredible stuff. But then, their fields tolerate that just fine, while programming is slowly becoming intolerant of that (lower salaries, plus bosses care more than you are sitting at a desk, day-dreaming, than writing something incredible at home; it is, no doubt, the primary difference between the big 'gains' we were seeing in the programming sector a decade or two ago, and now, where the biggest thing to come out of tech recently was Windows 8 and FailBook's IPO).
I am John Hurt.
What are the students taking now-a-days to get through their studies?
The same things they were taking in the 90s, 80s, 70s, etc.: caffeine, nicotine, and amphetamines.
Palm trees and 8
Well said. This is how I feel about several social issues.
So, do they now throw out the THC part of the urine tests?
Back in the 80's I was attending a university and programming in Fortran (and regularly smoking pot). Unfortunately I did something stupid that resulted in me spending 3 weeks as the guest of the government (ie: I spend 3 weeks in jail) So this particular jail (or at least the section that I was in) had a chess board. And there were a number of good players. I had learned to play chess as a kid, but I never got particularly good. I had been smoking right up to day I went to court so when I landed in cells I was in what I felt was my usual working mental condition. After a few days I started playing chess (since there wasn't much else to do) and I played badly. However I noticed as the days passed by I was getting better. After 2 weeks I really was noticing that my game had improved dramatically and I was feeling like my thinking was much clearer. By the end of my time I was the top player in the place. Once I got out I of course went back to smoking but almost immediately I felt my thinking becoming muddied. I started looking around and I could see that many people that were regular smokers had little or no ambition and were content to simply drift along in life. I have not smoked in many years and for me it was the right thing to do. The other thing that is problematic is how much crime has become centered around the production and distribution of pot. Just like the days of prohibition, easy money has created gangs that only exist because of the easy money generated by the drug trade. Legalizing and controlling the production and distribution of drugs by the government (as is done with alcohol since the end of prohibition) is a way to remove the funding that gangs depend on. The increase in revenue generated by the taxation of pot sales combined with the savings from no longer having to lock up offenders would make a huge difference to how policing would be done. I see that today's social problems centered on pot use has many parallels with the prohibition era. And like that era, the solution was to legitimize and regulate.
While I agree that you shouldn't mod GP down because of disagreeing...I do believe GP should be modded down. He uses inflammatory and trolling language.
No, he should be modded down because his comment was the fucking idiotic ravings of a lunatic ;-)
I didnt know Berkley was in Switzerland.
Or that Murray Hill, New Jersey was in Switzerland either. (I.e., both parts of that saying are false claims.)
WinME was clearly produced under the influence of Plumbers Crack.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Caffeine is NOT a recreational drug; it is a necessity of life.
Cheers,
Dave
P.S. Interesting obervation in your sig. I wonder if Douglas Adams realized that when he came up with 42.
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
Ben
I worked at a place that had a beer fridge. 4:30 pm was unofficially known as beer:30. Can't say much one way or the other about any code that got written late in the day. The good developers wrote good code regardless of whether or not they had had a beer. I can say that morale and productivity both took a hit when the place went "corporate" and no longer stocked the beer fridge.
Some things are counterintuitive. Supposedly the beer should have been a hit on productivity. Instead, everyone relaxed and talked and worked out dependencies and interactions along with the usual BSing. End result was a better product.
Cheers,
Dave
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
Ben
cat > main.c << EOF
/dev/null
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void) {
printf("%d\n", unix);
return 0;
}
EOF
make main
cc main.c -o main
./main
1
'unix' is simply one of the symbols defined by the compiler.
use this command to show all of them:
gcc -dM -E - <
Have a couple of drinks and get a good buzz (not drunk), and all brain lock goes away! When at home I code at my best with a good buzz - one highball glass of Crown Royal with ice always does the trick! Who needs pot or LSD - legal stuff works great.
The Truth is a Virus!!!
Did anyone say that it was "the only path"? I may have missed that comment.
Odd that you mention "logical fallacy" when talking about the mind, and then assume that meditation can work outside the bounds of the mind - from within which the meditating is being accomplished.
There are many, many potentials which require a spark to ignite the "important element". For you, perhaps that was your dedication to meditation, and perhaps that will get you as far in developing your Self and your Being as you can possibly get in this world. Congrats on having the opportunities, discipline, time, and teachers for that.
Not so for others.
8-PP
Caffeine has little effect on many people (me included). I can drink a cup of strong coffee and go to sleep 30 mins later just fine. I've once accidentally conditioned myself to expect sleep after drinking coffee by drinking a cup each night before bed. So for a few weeks afterwards I was becoming very sleepy after drinking a cup of coffee during day.
And no, I don't have caffeine dependency - I can live (and often do) without coffee for months just fine.
They're mutually exclusive.
there are just as many of us who see recreational drug use for the ... distracting habit it is.
What is wrong with a distracting habit? I watch movies to distract myself from the boredom and suffering of life; so what?
Just because the U.S. is a republic does not mean it is not a democracy. Democracy/republic are not mutually exclusive.
Does alcohol help you driving better?
For somebody who use stimulants its L-DOPA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-DOPA - amino acid precursor to dopamine.
Besides, if we're making up hypotheses, maybe Cthulhu mugs and posters also actually make programmers more motivated to finish the project before Great Cthulhu rises from R'lyeh to kill us all with tentacles. See, it's not just coincidence that so many of us nerds are cultists of the Great Old Ones. What? Are you saying it's just me? ;)
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Follow the George Carlin mantra: Write stoned, edit sober. Maybe for you that means pseudocode stoned, or flowchart, or whatever you do to organize ahead of time. But don't forget to give anything you do the critical, detail-oriented sober eye as well before inflicting it on anyone else. For every great idea you get on drugs, there are at least three times as many bad ones you'd be better off leaving behind.
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
Drug:
n.
1. A substance that has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body, in particular.
2. A medicine, esp. a pharmaceutical preparation
3. A substance taken for its narcotic or stimulant effects, often illegally
Those definitions match up to my internal conception of what the word means... nowhere in there or in my brain is anything saying it's not a drug if you can't OD on it. (There are plenty of drugs you can't OD on.)
Meanwhile, other than euphemistically, I wouldn't really call it an herb. I might call it "herb", with finger-quotes, but not an herb. An herb is a plant, or part of a plant, that's used for seasoning food.
p.s. ellipses are great, but periods are good for other things, too. Sentences are much easier to read when they, you know... end.
WHat a ridiculous question.. Of course they do... In the beginning.. Once you reach a level of "state dependance" however, where you can't do it without, things change.. Programming on LSD though? Has anyone even *tried* it?
Cars have killed people in my family. Riding in cars reduces your life expentancy (sic). FACT.
We should make riding in cars illegal.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
You'll be happy to know the cannacode.com domain is available, should someone wanna make that happen.
"I like systems, their application excepted", George Sand (French)
But correlation is not causation, and "personal testimonials (n=1)" are not "evidence-based analysis (n>>1)". Try looking at a few GOOD clinical trials and see what you think then.
"There is no god but allah" - well, they got it half right.
NO. The LSA is soluble in water NOT alcohol. It's THC which is soluble in alcohol. Am I the only person who researched this before I did it? Go read Richard Schultes.
And as long as we're on the subject, eliminating the black seed coat will *considerably* settle your stomach. Grind seeds, soak in cool water for an hour, pour off top 3/4s of liquid, repeat until liquid is *golden* amber (not dark brown). You might want to send the liquid through a coffee filter at some point to eliminate any fibrous material. Don't *drink* the water -- let it soak into the mucous membrane under your tongue.
Best if you can buy a lot of packages,..
NO. NEVER take seeds directly from commercial packets -- they're treated with methyl bromide, which is poisonous to humans (it's to keep birds from eating the seeds.) Grow your own -- morning glories are fecund. You'll never lack for seeds after the first year.
Don't expect a spectacular acidic trip. LSA doesn't fit as snugly into the serotonin receptors as LSD, since it lacks the 2 ethyl groups. Enjoy it for what it is: a pleasantly organic experience.
DNA is a Turing machine. You, however, being dynamic and emergent, are not.
If you want to take a dopamine precursor, take L-tyrosine, which the brain converts into L-DOPA. L-tyrosine is available in Vitamin Shoppes and General Nutrition stores [USA]. Taking L-DOPA directly is not recommended; it's a pharmaceutical used to treat Parkinson's disease, and not very well at that, as it has unfortunate side effects, such as hyperdopaminergia.
DNA is a Turing machine. You, however, being dynamic and emergent, are not.
is that how Jeff Minter does it? I dont know how that would work really but a spliff can help you get focused into something when it's really interesting, making the rest of the world disappear ... i wouldnt advise it to people who arent used to it though. I've known plenty of people who wouldnt start their working day without a smoke. Never saw any accidents coming from that, time passes by more quickly as well.
Sounds like a nice experimen to try. Since it's being legalised in places in the states, have a go, by all means, have a go at it lol, don't forget to film it.
Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?
I don't have a poblem with marijuana being legallized
One Executive Order could change the law. 50 thousand shops would spring up. 500,000 people, many of whom with limited job history would be in their dream job—taxpayers. The pot would be taxed also. Good.
I have had priviledge of coding with best in the world, talking near perfect IQ tests, been to MIT etc. What they all had in common was their brain thinks faster than normal people, when they smoke pot they can actually focus and concentrate on code like a normal person. I remember one time one of these guys flunked a math test because he ran out, he rewrote it next day stoned and got a perfect 100%. For fun he'd sit up late at night stoned all the time hacking at the linux kernel trying to make it better. For normal people, there are 2 types, ones that shouldn't be programmers and ones that really do want to be there. The type that do want to be there come up with more creative ideas stoned, then implement them the next day, a coding block on an algorithm easily solved with having a joint, then tackling it the next day. Then there are the types that aren't creative that shouldn't be programmers to begin with that it doesn't help them at all. In overall society legalizing is probably a better thing, criminal minds that would go off committing crimes, instead smoke a joint, and say , screw it, lets just play xbox for rest of night, or just hang and chill, creating less work load on society. In general my opinion is do it in balance, don't smoke pot for 6 months straight or it will take you a full month to gain your longterm memory back, just do it here and there for a breather from life, as a sleeping pill or to overcome a coding block. Having a joint means you become effectively 2 people analyzing same problem, 2 minds are better than 1, and generally reason it is easier to solve problems thinking outside the box at times. I am definately not advocating smoking a joint everyday, unless you have no job or income(then go for it), but just in balance, it never hurts to approach things from a different philosophical perspective.