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Programming High?

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 6:07 am
by veethree
So i recently realized something, And i wanted to ask you guys about it. But i've been here for a while and this community has struck me as a quite "innocent" one, So to speak.

By "innocent" i mean people who stay away from recreational drugs such as marijuana.

I myself am a bit of a stoner, and recently found out that programming high works pretty well for me, Unlike what i expected. Weed usually makes be a bit slow, But i seem to program faster when i'm high. But the amount of "brain farts" is slightly increased (by brain farts i mean times when i do some really obvious mistake but it takes me a little too long to figure out the problem.)

So yeah, Wanted to ask if there's any people here who smoke, and have tried programming while high, if they also program better in that state.

Hope i don't get too much of a negative response to this. :)

Re: Programming High?

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 6:29 am
by TechnoCat
I don't think lovers are inherently "innocent". It just doesn't usually come up when talking about game design and programming.

I'm personally pretty straight edge. Rarely drink and never smoke. I actually had my first beer at work 2 months ago and now occasionally drink at work on Thursdays for company meeting celebrations.

As for recreational drugs, I've only tried LSD and didn't find it overly fun. (Damn this post if this prevents me from getting a future job.)

Re: Programming High?

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 6:43 am
by slime
It's on your permanent record now! Ha ha ha ha ha!

I don't do drugs or drink, but my old friend and mentor-type person was at his most productive after smoking. There's also the well-known ballmer peak.

Re: Programming High?

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:54 am
by molul
I've programmed high many times during my university years. Not for doing it fast but just for the sake of it. Honestly, I program soooo slow when I am high, and make so many mistakes. I ended up using marihuana (the rest of drugs I've tried just don't work well for programming) just for brainstorming. When I'm about to program, the more sober the better.

And the same for music: when I write songs for my band I usually am high as fuck, but in rehearsals or playing live, we just cannot afford to be stoned, because we'd sound like crap.

Re: Programming High?

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 10:05 am
by coffee
Funny thread. But I think you can't get a universal answer to that.
Considerations:
For artistic stuff get "loose" can usually help in general. For logical stuff keep it focus usually in general.
However we don't have the same brain, he don't have same thinking processes, reactions, mental and physical resistance. Some solutions (and some very weird) are better answers that others. Becoming "high" can even help "unblock" some problem by lateral thinking but could waste (and not haste) a whole day of someone. Get that answers is a path, a travel. Good luck on it! Don't get lost somewhere! :D

Re: Programming High?

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:10 pm
by felix24
if people have more "brain farts" when programming while high, then I must be high all the time........... :)

Re: Programming High?

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:29 pm
by kikito
veethree wrote: I myself am a bit of a stoner, and recently found out that programming high works pretty well for me, Unlike what i expected. Weed usually makes be a bit slow, But i seem to program faster when i'm high. But the amount of "brain farts" is slightly increased (by brain farts i mean times when i do some really obvious mistake but it takes me a little too long to figure out the problem.)

So yeah, Wanted to ask if there's any people here who smoke, and have tried programming while high, if they also program better in that state.
I find that the days I'm most productive are the ones I am well rested, have little distractions, and have someone good to pair program with. Which, admittedly, doesn't happen very often.

Are you sure that smoking has really increased your programming output? Maybe it has lowered your output when you are not smoking instead.

Re: Programming High?

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:52 pm
by nevon
kikito wrote:Are you sure that smoking has really increased your programming output? Maybe it has lowered your output when you are not smoking instead.
One quite common effect of cannabis use is that you get really into whatever it is you're doing. I could see how you could crank out more code while high. However, I highly doubt that code is any good.

Re: Programming High?

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 2:00 pm
by coffee
Image
Say NO to drugs! ANY! EVER!

Re: Programming High?

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 2:45 pm
by veethree
nevon wrote:
kikito wrote:Are you sure that smoking has really increased your programming output? Maybe it has lowered your output when you are not smoking instead.
One quite common effect of cannabis use is that you get really into whatever it is you're doing. I could see how you could crank out more code while high. However, I highly doubt that code is any good.
You've got the right idea, I find it easier to really focus on what i'm doing for a longer amount of time when i'm high. I don't really agree with the code not being any good though, I've compared code i've written while stoned and not, And it's usually quite similar. Main difference i've noticed is the code i write sober is a bit cleaner. When i'm stoned i usually don't bother cleaning the code up on the fly. Usually just clean it up later.