
Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates - rajnathani
https://news.uark.edu/articles/52447/caffeine-boosts-problem-solving-ability-but-not-creativity-study-indicates
======
dacohenii
Thank you for linking to the paper.

The study measures the effects of regular caffeine users:

> Participants were invited to participate if they were between 18-35 years of
> age, consumed between 1-2 cups of caffeinated beverages per day at least 5
> days a week, did not smoke, were native English speakers, and took no
> psychiatric medications or painkillers on a regular basis. > [...] >
> Participants were asked to abstain from any caffeinated or alcoholic
> beverages from 4 pm on the day prior to the session.

I recently listened to Michael Pollan's _Caffeine_ [0], which was on Audible's
free monthly audiobook list recently. He argues (and I'm inclined to agree)
that if you are a daily caffeine consumer, your daily cup of coffee does less
in the way of cognitive enhancement, and more in the way of getting you back
to your baseline (i.e. preventing caffeine withdrawal).

With this in mind, I think the study could be improved by having subjects who
started off completely off caffeine for a few weeks. That way, we'd be more
certain that the control group isn't going through caffeine withdrawal, and
that the effect of caffeine isn't decreased by tolerance.

[0] [https://www.audible.com/pd/Caffeine-
Audiobook/B083MVZ91Y](https://www.audible.com/pd/Caffeine-
Audiobook/B083MVZ91Y) [1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22503948](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22503948)

~~~
salt-licker
Yep, I almost never drink coffee more than 3 days in a row because it loses
its affect. Luckily, intolerance comes back after only a day or two off.

~~~
chrisweekly
I'll risk being downvoted for nitpicking in an attempt to be helpful about
"affect" vs "effect":

Did it affect you? Yes, it had an effect.

The psych study showed the meds were effective in improving patents' affect
(mood).

I want to effect (bring about) change by doing X.

HTH!

~~~
codyb
It really is a pain in the butt since both effect and affect have noun and
verb forms. What a language.

~~~
riversflow
I had a couple of teachers who were ridiculous sticklers about this in
highschool. My hack is remembering the two phrases Affect _A_ change vs cause
and effect.

------
simonsarris
Ha, if true that would confirm Balzac's claim:

> Coffee is a great power in my life; I have observed its effects on an epic
> scale. Coffee roasts your insides. Many people claim coffee inspires them,
> _but, as everybody knows, coffee only makes boring people even more boring._

From "The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee, 1830,
[http://blissbat.net/balzac.html](http://blissbat.net/balzac.html)

~~~
arduinomancer
“The 200mg enhanced problem solving significantly, but had no effect on
creative thinking,” said Zabelina. “It also didn’t make it worse, so keep
drinking your coffee; it won’t interfere with these abilities.”

So not really I guess

~~~
lobotryas
You are missing Balzac’s point. He is saying that it makes boring people more
productive; not more interesting.

------
UtMan88
At Game Jams I would always start things off with my "2 beers, 2 coffees"
method. After the theme was announced, we'd go out and discuss ideas over a
few beers (just not enough to get trashed), then, come back, flesh stuff out,
get our coffee and go back to work. Worked out pretty well for generating some
pretty wild ideas while not making ourselves disfunctional.

Drink responsibly.

~~~
nscalf
Write drunk, edit buzzed, then?

~~~
vsareto
Beer code tends to forget about edge cases in my experience, so yeah

~~~
kingpiss
My weed code is usually really creative but riddled with bugs

~~~
petra
Does it help with solving hard problems ?

~~~
oh_sigh
Personally, weed might help in the creative phase of problem solving, but if
it requires working memory weed is a big negative(at least how it affects me)

~~~
chrstphrhrt
I think including some CBD in there negates the memory issues.

------
michalu
I own a coffee roaster with eshop and over 100 corporate customers. I love
coffee.

At the same time, I believe none of the "studies" claiming health benefits of
it.

One only has to study what it does to your brain to make a sound conclusion.
(or read some of those studies and look at the bogus methods they often use)

It also affects sleep in a negative way, with poor sleep being at the root of
most health problems including cancer ... (lookup stuff on sleep by Matthew
Walker)

Likewise, I don't know what to think of all the "coffee is good for your
heart" studies that surfaced in the past decade. It used to be that coffee was
clearly bad for cardiovascular health then with the rise of Starbucks and
global markets it became huge business and suddenly studies making ridiculous
claims (like "10 cups of coffee a day is fine, science says") started to
appear.

I can't see how something that unnaturally raises your adrenaline, cortisol
and blood pressure (on daily basis for most) can be that great for your heart.

Finally, most people drink coffee on empty stomach, something that can easily
lead to ulcers or even worse. Caffeine irritates it and high acid doesn't help
either (reason why we add milk to coffee - it neutralises the acid) ... I find
the rise of the hipster coffee brands pushing highly acidic brewing and
roasting methods problematic.

But the fact is, nobody is telling you the full truth. Take top 1000 google
results for coffee, it's 90% sellers, affiliates and journalists. People
either make money from coffee or are addicted to it.

I love coffee myself, but I don't believe none of the proclaimed benefits. I
consider caffeine a stimulant ... it's good to stay off it and use it's power
selectively ... at the right time for the right kind if work, not mindlessly
every morning.

Finally, I appreciate the cultural aspect ... like hanging out in Viennese
style cafe, read something or engage in 'stimulating' conversations.

~~~
pillefitz
I always daydreamed about roasting and selling coffee online as some kind of
side-hustle. Would you mind commenting a bit about your daily life, the amount
of time spent / money earned? My oven roasts were quite tasty so far, and I'm
not sure what's hindering me from scaling up..

~~~
michalu
I'm happy to share everything, but short on time to write everything down ...
if you like drop me an email on hello () quantitup.com with your Telegram or
whatsapp profile or similar where I can send a voice message

------
_pastel
Ah, the classic confusion between not finding enough evidence to disprove the
null hypothesis, and finding enough evidence to prove the null hypothesis.

The caffeinated group outperformed the noncaffeinated on all 5 creativity
metrics. The sample size and effect size were too small to prove caffeine
caused an improvement.

How did that turn into this title?

~~~
olooney
Right. These results could equally well be interpreted as caffeine have the
same effect on both convergent and divergent thinking, but divergent thinking
(renamed "creativity" in the title) is harder to measure because it has more
variance. If anything, it provides mild evidence _in favor_ of the hypothesis
that caffeine improves divergent thinking and calls for further study with a
larger control group.

------
flycaliguy
As a graphic designer my advice for people looking to convert a stimulant into
divergent thinking fuel is building yourself a framework for developing
creative ideas. Not exactly rocket science, but I do see where this article is
coming from.

Lots of thumbnail drawings and constructive criticism from a teammate is the
meat of it.

Also... be naturally good at divergent thinking I guess? I love working with
people who are naturally divergent. They tell the funniest jokes.

~~~
failrate
Sure, and if you find yourself getting stage fright, you can use something
like Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies.

------
pandigital
Erdos[0] certainly felt his creativity was helped by caffeine (and
amphetamines). From personal experience, math professors seem to be the most
reliable academic users of nicotine and caffeine. I'm skeptical they are all
deluding themselves.

[0]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%91s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%91s)

~~~
copperx
From my experience, amphetamines make the crazy ideas you've had all along
feel actionable. You then put a lot of work on them and they produce fruits.
Then you get off amphetamines and you're amazed at how much you accomplished.
I still go back to some projects that I did while on Adderall and am in awe of
how much I accomplished in a few months on my own, and how many of my ideas
that I had simmered in my head for decades were doable once I sat down and
worked on them.

However, after months of amphetamines I felt like I was a workhorse with no
novel ideas or approaches, but still very efficient.

I've heard that mathematicians carry a well-tested mental toolset that enable
them to solve all kinds of problems. So, perhaps if you have the right toolset
and you just need to put work on an problem, amphetamines can work great.

~~~
porknubbins
I like how you put that “the crazy ideas you’ve had all along feel
actionable”. This is the only way I can write anything- with caffeine all the
crazy ideas in my head seem worth expressing.

------
RichardHeart
I think focusing your mind is like focusing a magnifying glass, you can go
broad, or narrow, but not both. How far do you go down a path till you switch
and try another? I think stimulants increase how far you'll remain engaged on
one idea. Related:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathfinding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathfinding)

------
Cenk
The paper in question:
[https://citationsy.com/archives/q?doi=10.1016/j.concog.2020....](https://citationsy.com/archives/q?doi=10.1016/j.concog.2020.102899)

~~~
orhmeh09
It's a pretty poor study, to be honest. The pattern I tend to see on Hacker
News with studies is that they go unread beyond the abstract (often not even
that when a press release is linked, like here) and people just chime in with
their anecdotes that confirm their own personal beliefs.

~~~
MperorM
At least they read the abstract!

I can't really determine what the right cost/benefit trade-off here. Reading
beyond the abstract is rather time consuming and is not something I can afford
for every paper.

------
rhombocombus
So do the ADHD meds I take; huge gains in problem solving and execution, not
so much in the creativity front. I wonder if this is a general psychological
feature of stimulants

~~~
JackRabbitSlim
I still remember one of the funniest lines from the old movie "Dead Man On
Campus":

"This is my brothers Ritalin, It's great for staying up and studying just
don't try to write an English paper on it"

~~~
s_y_n_t_a_x
Fortunately, delirium sets in during an all-nighter and you can get creativity
from that.

Not that you should strive for that scenario though.

------
DantesKite
On a side note, I really enjoy the taste of coffee. I try not to drink more
than one cup a day, but I wonder now about what would happen if I stopped cold
turkey.

Maybe a couple days reset wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

~~~
panchicore3
I usually take coffee tolerance breaks, 3 days withdrawal symptoms like
headache and 20 days coffee-free, when I come back, it hits better than if I
were stayed so it is rewarding.

~~~
lee
I used to do this too. You know instead of cold-turkey with withdrawal
symptoms you can just gradually lower your intake.

On the first day or of the break I'll just drink half the amount I normally
drink. Then by day 2 I'll drink a third. Probably nicer to ease into it.

------
jpm_sd
For me, caffeine is "focus juice". Makes it possible to care about solving
tedious work problems. I can see how the same would apply to writers and
artists, who have tons of creative ideas but have a harder time battling
through the "war of art" without a little help from our friend Coffea arabica.

Creativity tends to flow best standing in the shower, lying in bed, or out for
a run or a bike ride.

~~~
tic_tac
Creativity can really only happen when the mind isn't doing anything in
particular. Only then can it wander, and only in wandering can it arrive at
novel combinations or alterations of ideas.

------
forkexec
Psychedelics, and maybe weed, boost creativity. So which class of compound
depends if you're writing a novel or painting an album cover, or writing code
or solving NP =?= P.

Btw, caffeine is an anticholinergic; too many or too much of this class of
compounds leads to dementia and other permanent problems. Anecdotal example:
ex-stepfather abused diphenhydramine, had a personality change and acted
erratically... he eventually gave up, left my semi-disabled mom without any
notice, just an email.

[https://www.healthline.com/health/anticholinergics](https://www.healthline.com/health/anticholinergics)

~~~
ComputerGuru
Let’s not compare apples and oranges. Caffeine has been studied much more than
diphenhydramine, and diphenhydramine’s senility-inducing behavior is now
pretty strongly documented while there’s absolutely no such indication of the
same for caffeine.

------
TACIXAT
I wonder how they establish a control group. Most people regularly consume
caffeine, so this is most likely measuring the effects of caffeine withdrawal,
since the control isn't necessarily people who never consume caffeine. I guess
you could test on Mormons for this.

------
aganame
Someone oughta research the differences between coffee and other caffeinated
drinks. My experience says that there are huge differences there.

~~~
travisjungroth
It’s the different caffeine dose plus all the other chemicals. L-theanine in
green tea, for example. I think I’ve seen some research on the difference
between green tea and coffee somewhere.

~~~
aganame
Sure, but the effects of coffee against the digestive system are entirely
different from tea. That supposedly has some psychological effects.

~~~
travisjungroth
Oh good point.

------
k__
What boosts creativity?

I sometimes used alcohol for song writing purposes. Are there healthier
methods?

~~~
52-6F-62
Some writer and artists would use the following:

Hold a key in one of your hands and hang your hand down by your side while you
let yourself fall asleep while sitting in a chair (honestly this first part
sounds the most difficult).

When you fall asleep—or rather the trance-like borderlands between awake and
sleep— you should naturally drop the key (or whatever metallic, noise-making
object) which should spring you back awake retaining some of that state you
just fell into, or any insights sprung into mind during that state.

I'm sure everyone's had mornings where they woke up after dreaming but without
feeling quite awake—it's related to that feeling that they'd chase.

Maybe someone has a link on hand to a better write-up about it. I don't.

~~~
jordan314
Didn't Benjamin Franklin sleep at his desk with a stick propped under his
elbow, so when the stick fell out he would invent stuff? I remember hearing
that somewhere but now I can't find it

~~~
2snakes
Maybe but IIRC Tesla would hold a ball in his hand before dozing and dropping.

------
Uhhrrr
Looking at Table 3, it seems like there is a consistent improvement in
divergent problem solving, but it's well within the standard deviation for
each row. So it may actually help with that and we just need many more data
points.

The other thing is, for me caffeine results in more ideas bubbling out of my
subconscious. This can be great for brainstorming-type creativity or getting
unstuck while working on a creative project - but it's like operations
research where you're solving the problem by adding another variable. It's not
useful for more specific, constrained problems like the "divergent" tasks in
the paper.

------
flyGuyOnTheSly
I would have thought that problem solving abilities necessitated creativity?

If the solution was obvious, where's the problem?

~~~
throwsprtsdy
Anecdotally, I was recently cramming a lot of "Leetcode medium" questions to
prepare for job interviews, and after a couple of weeks, I was drinking
Starbuck's coffee and solving those problems like a machine... seriously,
_like a machine_.

I found I did get better (or at least much faster) at recognizing subproblems
and quickly composing an overall solution, even if none of the steps was
particularly creative.

After about 3 weeks I had to ditch the coffee, I was getting too addled.

(Not a controlled experiment, of course, just conveying my impression of the
experience).

~~~
Proziam
Another anecdote, but when prepping for any sort of competition I used to be a
hard-core caffeine consumer (measurable in grams, instead of mg) and it
sometimes led to some weird effects.

After a day or two of that level of caffeine intake, I go into an almost
trance of productivity and performance. It feels like I'm watching myself do
what I need to do, not that I have to 'do it' myself. It's a very strange
sensation. It's the same sensation I get when I'm 'in the zone' and competing
in something with 100% of my focus on it (emotionally engaged, you might say).

I don't get into that state anywhere close to as easy without caffeine. I've
been off caffeine for about 4-5 months now and I've noticed a change. My
productivity isn't _worse_ in any measurable way, but it _feels_ different. I
wish I could describe it in more relatable terms but I have nothing I can
really relate it to.

~~~
strikelaserclaw
I know exactly what you mean. My theory is that getting amped up on caffeine
keeps you from getting decent sleep, which means your cortisol/whatever
hormones are still kinda high when you wake up, so when you take even more
caffeine upon awakening, your body seems to move forwards from a different
baseline than when you drink coffee after completely resting. This along with
the fact that for me personally, being tired makes me more focused in a very
one dimensional way, i can be very immersed in what im doing without ever
really questioning if what im doing is even worth doing in the first place.

~~~
Proziam
I think there's a kind of 'loading' period where your body absorbs caffeine
and normalizes into a caffeinated state. I don't know if the sleep cycle has
much to do with it though. In my case, I sleep _much_ better after I have
caffeine. I've been sleeping poorly for several months now because of my
decision to cut it out.

I might be abnormal (people I live and work with certainly think so!), but I
basically never feel 'tired.' I go from feeling 100% to "I need to sleep."
This has remained true even after I cut out caffeine, so I can't really relate
to how you describe working while tired.

~~~
strikelaserclaw
No kidding huh, sleep better after grams of caffeine? Yea, i guess my
experience wouldn't apply to you.

~~~
Proziam
Definitely not a healthy habit, but I used to take an energy drink to bed at
night because without the caffeine it would take forever to fall asleep. I'd
believed it was an addiction, except now I have been 'clean' of caffeine for
so long (without any urges to consume it) and still suffer the same difficulty
of falling asleep.

------
bookofjoe
Excerpts from Balzac's 1839 essay 'Traité des Excitants Modernes'('Treatise on
Modern Stimulants')": [https://www.bookofjoe.com/2020/01/experts-expert-
honor%C3%A9...](https://www.bookofjoe.com/2020/01/experts-expert-
honor%C3%A9-de-balzac-on-how-to-prepare-coffee.html)

------
csours
This is why I drink Irish coffee when I want to solve problems creatively.

------
jeyraof
Caffeine accumulate tiredness continuously. It booms after something small
leak happened. It is not "boost" problem solving, but "carry on" from future.

------
xenonite
I find the headline misleading regarding the effect on creativity. In fact, no
effect was found. Hence:

Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability and shows no sign of altered
creativity.

------
rafaelvasco
Of course. Creativity is not a matter of more brain activity, more synapses
etc. It comes from elsewhere. One could say we have two brains, the one that
is active while we're awake and the one which activates when we sleep and
dream. It is known that some painters deliberately entered in a dream like
consciousness state, and from there they took the creativity and inspiration
to paint out of the box things;

------
yalogin
How reliable are these double blind studies? How do they know they are
guaranteeing that only caffeine is impacting their abilities at that moment?
There could be a ton of other factors that could be playing a part here. Can
we be sure that x number of users is enough to remove those extraneous
factors? These kind of studies feel very odd.

------
8bitsrule
Some definitions of these terms are in order, because many aspects of
creativity certainly involve problem-solving on a massive scale. 'Inspiration'
may not be boosted, but without execution the inspiration isn't realized.

Consider e.g. a concert pianist (interpreting a score) or a visual artist
(choosing paint, brushstrokes).

------
adrianmonk
I guess I never assumed it did. For me, the experience of caffeine is more or
less that it just wakes up my brain. Whatever type of thinking I was already
capable of or inclined toward when my brain is engaged, it just enables me to
actually do it.

It is nice to have a more scientific basis to back that up, though.

------
Razengan
Personally, I prefer slowly sipping tea when thinking about _how_ to solve a
problem that I haven't figured out yet, and burning through Red Bull when I
already know how to do it and it's time to put that solution down in code etc.

------
bookofjoe
[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S10538...](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1053810019303435?via%3Dihub)

------
tus88
Why would it? It would be like saying caffeine boosts your personality or
social skills.

------
burtonator
Duh. Marijuana AND caffeine!

------
sitkack
THC boosts creativity but not problem-solving ability, stoner indicates.

------
blackrock
Then smoke some weed, or eat some ‘shrooms with your latte.

That seems to randomize and reorganize your brain cells, that you start to
think of weird things that you would’ve never thought of otherwise.

------
bright-augura
So caffeine doesn't improve creativity, but it boosts problem-solving and
focus. Wouldn't someone who wants to improve their creativity want both of
these?

------
rkagerer
How do studies like this purport to quantify creativity?

------
ecoled_ame
you gotta smoke a joint with your coffee before work too

~~~
rhombocombus
In college we called that the "hippie speedball"

~~~
threauxawei
We would take adderall to work and study, and then smoke weed at 3am to go to
sleep. Very fun but not very effective (for academic success)

------
alexfromapex
Weirdly enough, being tired boosts creativity for me

~~~
annoyingnoob
For me, its being relaxed but not necessarily tired. I tend to get a second
wind after dinner, at a time when there is no pressure just my personal
interest, and I'm more creative during that time.

------
nwsm
Interesting study. I wonder what "enhanced problem solving significantly"
means?

Also first time seeing my alma mater on HN :)

------
chiefalchemist
Stimulants increase focus; it triggers leaning in. Creativity is about de-
focusing; leaning back and away.

------
dghughes
Caffeine combined with L-theanine is supposed to increase focus but I'm not
sure about creativity.

------
ozguroz
TIL , use caffeine to solve the problems and weeds to create new ones :)

------
dartdartdart
What other common ways are there to improve problem solving or creativity?

~~~
dontparticipate
Marijuana

~~~
fourmyle
Maybe creativity but at least for me definitely not problem solving. Modafinil
on the other hand...

~~~
snvzz
>modafinil

Has an interesting side effect of screwing with threshold of movement,
particularly finger movement.

I play rhythm games (sifac, llsif, deresute, mirishita...) regularly and tried
modafinil. My fingers wouldn't auto-move anymore, and furthermore even if I
moved them consciously, it took more effort to do so.

At everything else, it puts caffeine to shame, with no tolerance buildup or
withdrawal symptoms.

------
freerootkit
Trying to problem solve my lack of creativity, guess I need more coffee

------
notananthem
Caffeine: brute force.

------
angel_j
Why can't problem-solving be a part of creativity?

~~~
vraivroo
Did you read the article? Convergent vs divergent thinking.

------
durpleDrank
Carbs > Caffeine

~~~
annoyingnoob
Consuming copious carbs creates correct code.

Though I still prefer caffeine. Hey, why not have both?

------
Antoninus
I agree.

