Re:The short, tormented life of computer genius Phil Katz (2...
by amercade on Thursday October 24, 2013 @05:42AM
(#6604270)
Well, it's not just in our industry. Alcohol is basically not treated as a drug by society. But its abuse have consecuences as bad as any other "hard" drug.
"Clad in nothing but underwear, he was suffering from uncontrollable hiccups and burdened by a horribly swollen stomach." While some internal organs were destroyed and he was slowly dying. Terrible.
That said, if not alcohol he would have found something else. The problem was not the drug itself.
Re:The short, tormented life of computer genius Phil Katz (2...
by epo on Thursday October 24, 2013 @01:43PM
(#6606670)
Some personality types gravitate towards drug abuse and some types gravitate towards programming as a primary activity. The overlap between the two sets is very significant.
Add in money and a tendency to have few friends, and almost certainly no SO, and the wonder is there aren't even more casualties. Though there are a huge number of people who get older and wonder where exactly it all went wrong.
Coders in general are susceptible to alcohol for these kinds of reasons. Add in flexi hours (hey it doesn't matter what time I show up as long as I ship code, right?), and it's practically the ideal job for a functioning alcoholic.
I've seen dozens of fellow programmers slip down the slope. It's particularly bad in the financial sector in London, where "trader culture" of hard drinking, drugs and women is seen as acceptable. Usually it's well concealed until early to mid-thirties. Often their situation rapidly degenerates after a relationship breakup or family bereavement. What's fun and social when you're with your friends in your 20s isn't so much when you're 35 and lonely.
It's striking how casual and uninformed the general attitude to this drug is in our industry, e.g. http://zachholman.com/posts/how-github-works-creativity/