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I’m reminded of this story
(All credit to SK for actually quitting his habits.)
So is there a reasonable chance Erdos had ADHD?
It is without a doubt imo
Reading about the guy, I’m convinced he was autistic too. “Diagnosing” historical people is always a bit sus, but I believe this because I know so many autistic nerds in academia who are so much like Erdős. More than that though, I see the ableism in how his narrative is framed. Take for example the following passage from Wikipedia
“He would typically show up at a colleague’s doorstep and announce “my brain is open”, staying long enough to collaborate on a few papers before moving on a few days later. In many cases, he would ask the current collaborator about whom to visit next.”
That quote isn’t one of the bad ones, but other stories about the same thing often frame him turning up at his colleagues’ homes almost like charity, and they emphasised how he had basically never lived independently and struggled with many essential daily living tasks. Except the charitable vibes are diminished by how this is often framed like a trade — housing the genius man-child is an inconvenience and a stress, but ultimately worth it for the ability to bask in his genius and collaborate. It can reduce Erdős down to a 2D character, and adds a weirdly transactional vibe to what is better understood as a community, separated by geography but united by love of maths, supporting each other.
Maybe it’s because I’ve known people like Erdős — weird people who you remember forever because if anyone deserves the label “genius”, they do — but also, they’re just people who have some things they struggle with, and plenty of stuff that they can do, but prefer not to. Hell, I even have one of them crashing on my floor right now, while he’s between homes.
Do ADHD meds enhance creativity too? I thought it was just focus.
They don’t enhance creativity but when you take them, instead of sitting there thinking/stressing about how you are gonna do your creative endeavor, you just do it. It allows you to act on you creative urges and allows you to formulate them into full concepts rather than jumping from one idea to the next.
Imagine you want to write a paper, you have this idea you desperately need to write down, not just to share it with others but also to help yourself fully understand the idea you have but instead of writing this personally important paper you instead sit there and stress about the action of writing for so long that you lose energy and motivation despite never writing a single word. For so long that you lose sight of that original glorious idea and if you eventually write that paper it feels like an utter dissapointment. It took so much damn energy just to think about and when its finally done its shit. Its not even close to what you had in your head and now you don’t even want to improve it bc the whole process was exhausting.
ADHD meds get reduce the severity of that original issue, that executive dysfunction. So no it won’t make you more creative but it will stop you from stressing so much about the process that you forget the creative part.
ADHD meds get rid of that original issue, that executive dysfunction.
Is this an exaggeration? I ask because I don’t know if I might have the wrong medication or dosage. Perhaps with late diagnoses, you not only need to combat the underlying causes that ADHD medication helps with, but also thought patterns and defensive coping mechanisms that are challenging to get rid of, as they are a result of undiagnosed ADHD?
It was hyperbole, I will ammend that in my original comment.
Perhaps with late diagnoses, you not only need to combat the underlying causes that ADHD medication helps with, but also thought patterns and defensive coping mechanisms that are challenging to get rid of, as they are a result of undiagnosed ADHD
Regardless this is absolutely true. I had the luxury of being diagnosed very young and being medicated when I became a teen but I still have problems with my ADHD all the time, even when medicated. It doesn’t remove the executive dysfuntion entirely, it doesn’t make you function like a neurotypical, but it does help. I often take my meds and still get fucking nothing done and still sit around thinking about everything I should be doing. It is certainly far less common when I take my meds and far easier to overcome though.
This advice is unsolicited and may not apply to you specifically but I am throwing it out there incase someone it does apply to happens to see it. I have personally found that managing my ADHD symptoms has revolved around a balancing act of sleep, diet, and meds. I have tried focalin, adderall, concerta, and vyvanse in a range of dosages. Some worked really well at helping me function but fucked my diet or sleep, some didn’t help at all until the doses were high enough to be physically uncomfortable, and there has not been a single one where I had a healthy diet, sleep schedule, and work routine. While this is possible while medicated I was unable to accomplish it and these forms of self care live forever in flux dependent on my meds.
So I say this with plenty of experience and passion. YOUR SLEEP AND DIET ARE MORE IMPORTANT! Obviously focusing entirely on these aspects of self care is not possible for everyone as work is an integral part of our lives but take care of them within your means even if it requires not taking your meds some days or forcing food down a throat that is repulsed by it. Sleep meds even, if necessary.
I fully recommend trying out higher doses if your meds are not helping you enough. ADHD interferes with personal life as much as it does work life so upping your meds could drastically improve your quality of life if you are on too low of a dose rn. Just pay close attention to your sleep and eating patterns. Making good grades or getting that promotion isn’t usually worth the sleepless nights in my experience.
Best of luck friend o7
I used to be far more productive when I was on drugs. The only reason I quit is because of the police harassing me. Now I’m just a shell being addicted to online media. I’m currently waiting until I can get my drivers license back which was taken. Not because I was driving under the influence, but because they simply found some stuff in my saliva. They really want to make the world safe of drugs so now I’m depressed at home trying to pay off my debt to the government because they want to keep me safe? Well it doesn’t make sense but if me being punished and repeatedly being kicked to the ground is the correct way of making the world safe I will do that! Instead of being a happy guy, driving safe on the road and doing some drugs at parties sometimes, I will embrace the nights of insomnia the government forces upon me. At least I can’t drink all of the problems they caused me away, as the only money I have is now considered theirs. What a great society to live in.
Sorry to hear, that sucks. I hope you can get back on drugs safely someday.
Thanks. You get it.
Fucking police. This guy could have been the next Stephen King!
Stephen King has also become a shell being addicted to online media, so don’t worry too much.
Let’s not forget the movie, Maximum
OverdriveCocaine.On a less auspicious note, 1986 also marked the nadir of the cocaine addition phase of King’s career in the form of Maximum Overdrive, the first, last and I think it’s safe to assume, only, adaptation of Stephen King’s work to be directed by Stephen King himself. In Hollywood’s Stephen King, King says, with characteristic self-deprecating bluntness, that he was“coked out of [his] mind all through its production, and [he] really didn’t know what [he] was doing.”
That comes through loud and clear in every frame of the movie. King is credited as director here but this might be another case of a giant bag of cocaine becoming sentient and deciding to direct a movie that reflected its sensibility in its purest form. King is one of our greatest storytellers, but a movie about a crazy world full of Southern-fried assholes where all the machines suddenly become sentient and try to kill all humans sure seems like the kind of idea a sentient bag of cocaine would come up with.
Maximum Overdrive is crazy fun schlock. It’s not even a guilty pleasure for me; I simply unironically and full-throatedly love it.
Not all movies need to be Citizen Kane. Sometimes a coke-fueled, overly acted B-movie is exactly what the soul needs.
You succeeded at XKCD 2184
Edit: wait, it has to have come out after 2000. You almost succeeded at XKCD 2184.
Titan AE has exactly 50% on Rotton Tomatoes, but I’m giving it a shout out anyway because it is an underrated gem
Titan A.E. was them showing us in the USA cartoons wernt just for kids - unfortunately nobody listened.
Such a good freaking movie.
Equilibrium.
Oh man, the gun katas were so stupidly hilarious
Meh. Doesn’t work. Used to have coke every day, for years and years. Never made me a better writer.
Maybe I shoulda’ tried Pepsi?
I smoked weed for thirty years and it made me a much better programmer. That app is going to be done any day now.
Edit: I haven’t checked lately, but Visual Basic 3 is still what everybody’s using, right?
Such creative code!
King actually has a book on writing. And yes, it’s about having the discipline to write everyday.
If I remember correctly, he does talk about his drug use in that book. He even talks about drinking mouthwash at one point because he was that much of an alcoholic.
Yes, and he also makes the point quite clearly that drugs don’t make you super productive as a writer. If anything, they make your writing worse. But it’s a good excuse to live that “drugged artist” lifestyle, telling oneself that, sadly, that’s how you have to do it (while opening the next beer can).
I remember encountering a homeless dude in Florida who was consuming Sterno because its high alcohol content and low price made it the most cost-effective fix for an alcoholic. You can go lower than mouthwash.
It’s literally called On Writing IIRC.
Maybe Stephen King is just saying that so no one else would know what his secret is to his success.
Checkmate!
Interesting theory, but I don’t think it’s chess
I’m gonna have to rethink my strategy…
Multiple books. Cujo for sure, iirc also Tommyknockers and Maximum Overdrive.
Tommyknockers is the only Stephen King I’ve read and knowing he was zooted on cole writing it helps me understand some of the stuff I read in that book.
You should read From a Buick 8
“In Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure-dome decree:”. I understand the author who wrote this was high too.
Or was he just interrupted by Dirk Gently before something horrible happened?
