greengoo

I don't see why this was downvoted as well; is it seriously controversial to suggest that a substantial number of people without ADHD are taking Adderall as a cognitive performance enhancer?

https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/12/28/adderall-risks-much-mo...

>I didn’t realize how much of a psychiatrist’s time was spent gatekeeping Adderall.

>The human brain wasn’t built for accounting or software engineering. A few lucky people can do these things ten hours a day, every day, with a smile. The rest of us start fidgeting and checking our cell phone somewhere around the thirty minute mark. I work near the financial district of a big city, so every day a new Senior Regional Manipulator Of Tiny Numbers comes in and tells me that his brain must be broken because he can’t sit still and manipulate tiny numbers as much as he wants. How come this is so hard for him, when all of his colleagues can work so diligently?

The entire piece is worth reading.

I think many people do genuinely have ADHD and benefit from medication, but denying that Adderall abuse is rampant in Silicon Valley (which IMO is what whoever downvoted you is implicitly doing) is silly. This was even portrayed on the show Silicon Valley, and Scott Alexander (the slatestarcodex guy), who has written about Adderall at length, and confirmed its widespread use as a performance enhancer by those who don't have any legitimate medical need for it.

> In addition to a revolving door of fresh challenges that can keep people with ADHD engaged, coding can reward and encourage a state of hyperfocus: a frequently cited symptom of ADHD that developer Neil Peterson calls “a state of laser-like concentration in which distractions and even a sense of passing time seem to fade away.” It’s easy to draw parallels between hyperfocus and the flow state, a distraction-free groove in which programmers, writers, musicians, artists, and other creators produce their best work (occasionally while forgetting to eat). Our paid platform, Stack Overflow for Teams, is popular with developers in large part because it helps them avoid distraction and protect the productive sanctity of their flow state.

How much of the "hyperfocus" is just due to all of the Adderall these people are popping--both those with actual ADHD, and those just feigning it to get pills from their Dr to boost their productivity?

If anything, it would seem like people with autism spectrum disorder, who can hyperfocus without popping pills, would be the perfect fit (and were seen as such 10-20 years ago). I actually wonder what % of SV SWEs (especially at FAANG) would lose their jobs, or wouldn't have gotten them to begin with, if Adderall didn't exist.