I don’t use anything to aid in my work, be it Adderall or THC or alcohol or anything else… but if y’all do, what does that say about or society and the pigs who run it?
What I find is many engineers abuse Adderall and similar medications. People at work openly talk about their strategy to get a larger dosage from their doctor.
I am not anti drugs but I can't help but see this as a race to the bottom.
It was never framed as "abuse." It was talked about very casually as a tool to get more work done, and they deliberately sought out an ADHD diagnosis for access.
I'm in no way judging. They DID get a diagnosis and are using it as treatment. The reason it's relevant is because _they_ talked about it as a tool to get more work done, or a way to be "on" after a late night. Not as part of treatment. But there are tons of reasons why that could be, none of which can be assumed.
That said, I have worked for one of the largest cannabis companies in the world (at the time) and I can say, some of the most productive people I know are all day, every day smokers. A lot of them should have been on some sort of adhd meds for sure but if the cannabis is working, and it keeps them off pharmaceuticals then what’s the harm? It really did change my perception of how some people operate while stoned.
All that said, it’s easy to use cannabis as a crutch, it’s definitely not healthy in other ways but there are worse things to be hooked on.
That would have to be stimulants, because all the other kinds are very unpleasant to quit suddenly.
(This is the opposite of the common belief that stimulants are addictive and everything else is safe.)
I've known people who could do it, but nobody I know personally who is a really good developer is doing this? Esp during work hours? Seems counterproductive.
I don't do it often though. It's never like, I need to get high to code. Its usually like, I'm high and some interesting coding thing comes up.
Watch a super intellectual YouTube video that’s at the bounds of my understanding (e.g. Leonard Susskind’s Stanford lectures on quantum physics).
While watching sober it’s intellectually stimulating and I really enjoy it.
While on THC I can’t grasp what he’s talking about and I attribute him to be just spouting bullshit that’s made up.
That convinced me that THC has a negative hit to cognitive function.
However it makes other things feel more awesome and “in flow”: food, music, bedroom activities.
I guarantee you that they aren't. This is the standard occupational bias of someone who interacts with a highly specific subset of the population all day, and then generalizes from that experience. Same as cops who see violent criminals everywhere, even though in reality they make up a tiny fraction of people overall.
I never got anything out of being chronically stoned other than general dysfunction.
I don't think I've ever worked with anyone that did the later.
A lot of drug users just want to work harder and longer.
No, most people aren't on it all the time. And those who are aren't "highly functional". They think they are, but they aren't and it shows. Most of those who are are ridden by mental health issues, and stuck in an endless loop, living a rather boring and average life, with delusions of performance and greatness. Thinking that somehow being a drug addict is hip and goes with the software industry is a little bit daft.
“What do you do? Ah, a software engineer. I guarantee you most people in your industry are on it all the time.”
He paints a picture where every highly functional modern worker these days is on a steady diet of CBD and THC products, perfectly calibrated to fit their lifestyle and the demands of their profession.
Thinking about it, this might explain some of the odder Zoom/Slack interactions you may have with colleagues at work.