I did not suggest that the author should go back and work.

I did suggest that the author should take a walk to clear his mind, and not attempt to zen out at a social gathering. I also suggested that the author shouldn't go to social gatherings that he doesn't want to be at.

Learning to say no without anxiety is a super power.

Walks can be great. But I think that the external stimuli present when around a noisy bunch of people can sometime do wonders to your perspective. If your work environment is noisy, try going someplace quiet, but if you spend most of your working days by yourself engulfed only with your thoughts, perhaps some company would get new ideas to come out.

That's the thing, going and walking around or going to a social event... it's not clear which one will help you solve your problem. Sometimes sitting quietly and thinking about an issue helps me, sometimes it leaves me chasing red herrings. Sometimes closing my eyes and visualizing helps me, sometimes it's about as useful as chewing bubble gum. Sometimes inspiration will strike for seemingly no reason... the other day I literally had to get out of the shower with shampoo in my hair to send myself an e-mail. I've been working on a hard problem for the past few weeks, at this point I'd say a considerable portion of the "clever fixes" have come to me in my dreams... I'll literally just wake up with a new idea about how to approach the problem that weren't even on my radar when I went to bed.

Also, social events and casual conversation is a great way to be social and engage in conversation while excising rubber duck debugging. So long as you make it entertaining for the other party, it's fun... explaining how stuff works for people who are curious is usually fun for both parties.

It's different strokes for different folks for sure, but don't limit your stroke options... and try not to get shampoo in your keyboard.

Actually, chewing bubble gum is apparently very good for stimulating your brain.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/22/chewing.gum.benefits/in...

I recall two other similar studies:

1. People who get migraines are probably chewing too much gum (that is, chewing too much in general.)

2. There's a sharp increase in dementia when people lose their teeth, and this is likely because they aren't chewing enough.

Neither of these were particularly strong studies (the first of the two only had a sample-size of 30, if I recall) but they do support one-another on a general hypothesis: chewing plays a large and necessary part in oxygenating your brain.

Learning to 'zen out at a social gathering', without feeling anxiety, is a super power in my book

i could see it being helpful in some cases because of the varied thoughts and conversation can make you think differently about a problem; and a little alcohol.

He needs to do the exact opposite: instead of clearing his mind, he needs to preserve what is in his mind. I often have this problem, and in the middle of talking to my wife about the new drapes I have to sprint off and grab some graph paper, scribble out my thoughts and then go back - otherwise I know I won't be able to hold the conversation. Sometimes if I'm in the middle of a though I don't even realize someone's talking to me for several seconds, and I have to sort of rewind in my head. It's not that I need to say no, it's that I wasn't even expecting something and my brain wasn't ready to switch.

The problem is that you said you're an introvert, and the author explicitly said, in the title, that he is NOT an introvert.

Going to the social gathering wasn't the problem. The problem was him excusing himself from that social gathering.

In fact, going to the social gathering was the solution. He is an extrovert, who had been trying to solve a problem alone for two weeks. Being an extrovert, going to a place where there is a lot of people is gonna do a lot more than going for a walk alone.

I think you're missing the point. This article is not titled "How a busy place helped me solve my problem." No, the title fundamentally justifying being not talkative (which I'm not sure really needs justifying: everybody can feel out of place at a party of strangers who work in a completely different industry).

What gets me is this piece comes across as very defensive. Why deride the man missing his elevator when he's on his phone (maybe he's not in the moment because he too is working on a problem) ? Why deride a hoodie at an office party? Why deride Dan for having a different social pattern than you ("Talks too much") especially when it's in line with his career?

> What gets me is this piece comes across as very defensive. Why deride the man missing his elevator when he's on his phone (maybe he's not in the moment because he too is working on a problem) ? Why deride a hoodie at an office party? Why deride Dan for having a different social pattern than you ("Talks too much") especially when it's in line with his career?

Because he's human and he thinks like that and the article isn't self-censoring to appeal to everyone?

It's not necessarily a censoring "Why did you voice X in this company?" rhetorical, but a "Why interpret X the way you did in the first place?"

Because it made for a well written, entertaining article.

Absolutely. Once you hit the wall trying to solve a problem, you better distance yourself from that problem. Otherwise you'll likely be hitting the same wall over and over again.

For me personally, quiet walk probably won't cut it, because I'd still be focusing on that same solution that failed. But switching my mind completely often helps me to stumble upon a fresh way to solve my problem that will likely work.