
The 7 vices of highly creative people - ivankirigin
http://archive.salon.com/people/feature/2000/02/09/sevenvices/print.html
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geebee
I loved reading it. But keep in mind...

Anyone can drink, gamble, smoke, eat oysters, dress well, have sex(1) and use
their credit card.

However, creative people _create_ , and this is the _only_ common attribute of
creative people.

I did a lot of creative writing in college, and a lot of folks acted the part,
but when you asked to read what they'd written, there wasn't much to show.
Even something bad. Just nothing.

(1) may require use of the credit card.

~~~
caffeine
So, to become creative .. I should light up a Cohiba, pour some rum, and have
kinky oyster-eating tuxedo sex with a bevy of Amex-charging escorts?

This sounds curiously like something the Most Interesting Man In The World
might do (his blood smells like cologne..)

~~~
dkersten
I'm starting to like the sound of this "creativity" thing I keep hearing
about.

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edw519
Drink, smoke, gamble, eat oysters, dress well, have sex, use your credit card.

I am so glad you posted this!

I already enjoy 3 of these (drink, sex, credit card) and I sometimes feel
guilty because they may adversely affect my work. Starting immediately I'm
adding the other 4 and I'm not going to feel guilty about any of them.

A friend of mine offered me a real Cuban cigar yesterday and I politely
refused. I'm calling him back tonight. I'm also going to the mall and buying
something I never would have worn before. Then I'm hitting the casino and I
don't care if I win or lose. I'll skip the oysters, but Saturday night, I'm
picking the most decadent thing on the menu. And yes, there will be beer
(maybe even spirits) and sex.

If Hemingway, Einstein, Churchill, Mark Twain, and Oscar Wilde indulged to
feed their creativity, then maybe I should do it more often, too. I'll let you
all know how it goes. A couple of days later.

~~~
dkarl
_I sometimes feel guilty because they may adversely affect my work._

This is the difference between people who are creative for a living and people
who merely wish to be creative while earning a living. For 95% of programming
work, if you're reasonably bright and experienced, getting it done boils down
to the very difficult and subtle art of not being bored to the point of
depression. Creativity requires the opposite art: being easily bored,
tormented by the familiar. That would make any programmer miserable and
unproductive.

~~~
wallflower
I disagree. I see part of my job (software developer) as creative writing
because I get to manipulate abstractions and generate something tangible. I
feel the iterative process of making something from a blank editor screen is
one of the most fulfilling parts of my job. Yes, there is frustration and
sometimes I lose myself in focus and become irritable (to interrupting
coworkers) but when it flows, it flows like running the rack in pool.

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Rickasaurus
I think some of you guys might be missing the overall point of the article.
Creative people tend to do things that make them feel good in the moment (as
creating things does) and think less about the future. The least creative
people are too preoccupied with thinking about what is going to happen to
create. That is, what other people will think or what will happen to their
health down the road.

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jwesley
You could substitute basically any group for "highly creative people" and the
article would still be the same. Like if you substituted "power twitter users"
this would be ready for Mashable. You could also write an equally namedrop-
filled article from the opposite perspective touting the benefits of
abstinence. Clearly the creativebait worked though. Sigh.

~~~
ivankirigin
I think it is more about the word "vice" than creative people mimicry.
Something probably doesn't deserve such a strong word if it doesn't preclude
success, and in some cases encourages it.

~~~
zackham
Completely agree. Public opinion seems to be so easily polarized (a feedback
effect?) it is pleasant to read something that comes off as a casual defense
to it

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petercooper
This piece delivers only slightly dangerous bullshit _if_ you read it as a
serious article - when it really ain't.

I'm going to say this not because I think everyone is naive, but because I
know _some_ people are naive. I certainly have been in the past and pieces
like this once made me rationalize stupid behavior..

Please don't use "well so-and-so does it" as an excuse for engaging in any bad
behavior that you _know_ is bad. There are more than enough vice-free tee-
totallers who reach the peaks of every field - it's just that these "highly
creative people" stand out because of how fucking annoying and self-centered
they are - don't be one unless you truly want to be and it feels right to you.

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nazgulnarsil
oh hi confirmation bias, I didn't see you there!

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noble_Davidson
Does anyone think that these vices come about because creative answers are
found when crashing opposing worlds, and creatives seek to crash into as many
worlds as they can? Isn't it the ability to see the world outside of itself
that gives someone new insight? Is it wrong that I think of such things as
tools instead of vices?... or has my creative lifestyle warped my thought
process?

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jacquesm
procrastinating...

~~~
dtf
Well it was going to be number 8. But, you know...

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DanielBMarkham
_Shoot, a fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that
stuff_

<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/quotes>

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socratees
I do everything on that list. Why am I not famous still?

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alanthonyc
Great post. What I'm wondering is: It's been nine years...where's the book
already?

~~~
lallysingh
It seems the author is busy. I have 7 guesses as to what's taking so long :-)

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anovaskulk
I have to say, this is garbage.

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ilamont
Am I the only one who is disappointed to see this rise to the top of HN with
32 points?

~~~
billswift
It's funny, with enough truth to make it even funnier. (And it's got 66 points
now)

