Hacking on Drugs?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6797740

by dasmithii • 13 years ago

11 17 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I've read quite a few books by Oliver Sacks in which he described frantic nights of reading/writing on amphetamines.

Although I'm not into drugs myself, I'm interested to know what others have heard or experienced. Thoughts? Experiences? Stories?

nmbdesign• 13 years ago

Nootropics - maybe Drug grugs - no-no.

dreammachines• 13 years ago

Regular HN user here; throwaway account.

I'm a regular user of cannabis (I smoke everyday after dinner, around 9pm or so). I frequently watch math/CS lectures, write code, and read technical books when high.

I find that it helps me a lot both with focusing, and with creative thought. Ideas flow more easily, bits of knowledge connect on their own. I've most certainly gotten productive work done while high. Recollection is not too much of an issue, but I recommend heavy use of a notebook to keep track of what you're doing, and so that you can refer to it the next day.

I've never used drugs other than weed/psychedelics, mostly because I find that stuff nasty and stay away from it, so I can't comment on that. It's close to impossible for me to get anything done during a shroom trip- however, when the trip ends, I enter a phase of extreme lucidity and am able to focus in a way that I've never been to sober.

Relevant details: I am a cofounder at a small but growing SF tech startup. I also believe I have Asperger's (I've always been that super weird kid) & ADD (I have a really hard time focusing and sticking to a single task, and the feeling of extreme focus and lucidity I experience at the end of a shroom trip feels to me like it should be the way my brain should always be), and that my brain chemistry behaves in a very atypical way with such substances (my gf has remarked several times that I am way more lucid and coherent than anyone else she knows on drugs) - I am currently in the process of getting those things professionally diagnosed. I've gotten my IQ assessed as a teenager, it was in the ~150 range.

Finally, the bay area is super open to that. I regularly smoke weed and talk CS theory/math with friends who work at large famous tech companies, and a certain subset of employees at a well known large tech company with a knack for design absolutely love the Ploom Pax [0].

[0] http://www.ploom.com/pax

nested• 13 years ago

I think it's sad that there are so many daily cannabis smokers out there, but it's still not acceptable to openly identify yourself as one because of possible professional/other repercussions.

Also you post looks like link bait with that vape plug.

aclevernickname• 13 years ago

I recommend heavy use of a notebook to keep track of what you're doing, and so that you can refer to it the next day.

I've been using basket [1] for almost a decade to overcome cannabis-related memory-loss and organization issues. Even in it's semi-broken Qt4 version, it's still one of the three killer apps for the KDE desktop (clementine and krita being the others). I'd love to find a replacement, but nothing really comes close.

[1] http://basket.kde.org

dylanhassinger• 13 years ago

I find it hard to sit in one place and build mental context without something that takes the edge off/slows down my brain. For me, that's marijuana and sometimes adderall or flexeril. But adderall has nasty side effects, so I'm looking for a natural substitute.

fwiw, I am disagnosed aspergers (mild) and ADHD

GuiA• 13 years ago

There is a relevant post by user 'dreammachines', but it is marked as dead.

(side note- I wish HN had a better policy for dead/banned accounts. I often see quality posts that are marked as dead and therefore no one can read/respond to them- don't forget to enable showdead in your account settings for the full HN experience! :P)

Copy paste of said post:

---

Regular HN user here; throwaway account.

I'm a regular user of cannabis (I smoke everyday after dinner, around 9pm or so). I frequently watch math/CS lectures, write code, and read technical books when high. I find that it helps me a lot both with focusing, and with creative thought. Ideas flow more easily, bits of knowledge connect on their own. I've most certainly gotten productive work done while high. Recollection is not too much of an issue, but I recommend heavy use of a notebook to keep track of what you're doing, and so that you can refer to it the next day.

sillysaurus2• 13 years ago

HN autokills comments made by new accounts if they're using Tor.

goldenkey2• 13 years ago

Please remove the shameless promotion for the vape. It makes the whole post look like linkbait (even if it isn't)

sixQuarks2• 13 years ago

I find that smoking pot after a few days of intense but sober learning/thinking does wonders as it allows you to look at the problem at a different angle. I've regularly solved or gotten great insights doing this.

I've literally had million dollar ideas while high.

eurleif• 13 years ago

I've literally had million dollar ideas while high.

So, just to clarify: you're currently a millionaire?

digitalvortex• 13 years ago

These drugs gives your momentarily high with changes in chemical and hormonal level and you feel good, but when this goes on for a long time, you body gets accustomed to that level of chemical increase and you get addicted.

Stay away from drugs and drug users. These things look fabulous in movies but never works in real life.

Quarrelsome• 13 years ago

That totally depends on which drug we're talking about and amphetamines only provide habitual addiction at best.

Don't preach to others if you lack the experience yourself.

atom-morgan• 13 years ago

Sugar and caffeine are both drugs.

drjacobs• 13 years ago

This made sense until you tagged on the last paragraph. Drug use over a long time certainly builds tolerance and forms of addiction. You offer no proof that people affected in this way 'never work' in real life though.

kennethtilton• 13 years ago

A double shot of espresso is great, I have a million ideas all at once and am juiced to do it all. I get absolutely nothing done until it wears off and then I need a nap. hth.

Hacking on Drugs?

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