

The Bipolar Lisp Programmer - smanek
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/msg/a9a5a462915e94bd

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gruseom
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20012>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=78739>

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thaumaturgy
That's fair, but it was the first time I'd seen it. I found it enjoyable and
insightful, and I'm not exactly new to this internet thing.

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trekker7
To add on to that, both those posts are many days old. I've seen this before
and I still voted up this post, just because I like it so much. I think there
might be a need to relax rules about duplicates, when they appear many days
apart.

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swombat
Read this some time ago, and disagreed with the depressive look at things.

I often go through phases where I don't feel like doing anything. That's more
than made up by the fact that when I do feel like working, I work harder and
faster than 20 people.

Peaks and troughs are not a problem so long as you learn to deal with them.

Daniel

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donw
I have the same problem, but the _dealing_ with them is the hard bit.
Depression isn't the sort of thing that you can easily shrug off or power
through, and the inability to do so can make for a nasty, self-reinforcing
cycle.

What makes it worse for programmers is that our work is essentially creative
in nature; progress is not defined by the number of bricks laid or the length
of the ditch dug. It isn't possible to switch off your mind and just work at
the task; you need to come to the compiler with your 'A' game.

On top of this, it really isn't possible to tell your clients that their
projects are going to arrive N weeks behind schedule, because you're
depressed. Well, it is possible, but not if you want to keep them.

One of the ways I deal with things, is to try and do maintenance tasks that
generate 'little successes' throughout the day. So, even though my code isn't
working the way I want it to, getting something else done tends to help get me
back in the right frame of mind. Doing simple sysadmin tasks, or just spending
half an hour tidying up my office a bit, or making dinner for a friend... it
all helps out a lot.

Climbing has also been a big boon for me, because it's a very mental sport,
can offer a string of 'easy successes' through bouldering, and provides some
much-needed exercise and social interaction to the day.

But until I found ways to help myself deal with things, I could spend months
off-line. Depression can be a very real problem, and for people who don't have
good coping mechanisms, it is utterly crippling.

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neodude
Who are you? Are you my twin? I have exactly the same problem with
programming, do the little tidying up actions almost reflexively now, AND I
climb as well. Absolutely love that climbing all in your head.

Joking aside, I'm a sophomore in college now, and I closely approximate the
'brilliant failure' model (a little arrogant to say that though!). High school
was a breeze, but suddenly you can't not do homework anymore. Classes are not
going well and either the depression started first or the lazy/bored attitude
did; either way, it's a death spiral. Takes a ridiculous amount of brain power
to stop it.

Hm that was an impromptu rant, sorry.

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hugh
I suspect that the "brilliant failure" model is a bit of a Barnum profile
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forer_effect>). I suspect most reasonably smart
university students feel that way at some point in their careers.

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yters
It is interesting how highly posts dealing with depression get ranked here.
Must mean most here fit the bipolar lisper, making this post kinda ironic.

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DaniFong
I'm not sure if this is so much 'lisp character' as it is the character of
people working on or in something esoteric, challenging, and powerful.

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jksmith
Slight drift: Tarver's current project accompanied by a fascinating read.
www.lambdassociates.org/FPQi.pdf

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manny
First time reading this. I found it completely amazing.

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mojonixon
is there any other kind?

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brlewis
Yes. Visit a Lisp user group near you and you'll encounter a variety of
personalities.

