
Ask HN: Do you talk out-loud to yourself when you program? - superplussed
I remember in the late 90s when I got my first job as a web programmer at my University.  I walked in to this basement-cave with several of out of central casting uber-nerds sitting deep in thought in front of their monitors.  I remember getting myself set up and being really surprised at the cacophony of mutterings, celebrations, and chuckles that these guys emitted for no-one in particular.<p>I worked there for several years, but never really joined in with this behavior, maybe I didn&#x27;t see myself as being uber enough to warrant this (what I thought of at the time as) autistic-like behavior.<p>Fast forward almost 20 years, and I do this all of the time (though admittedly not in the company of others).  I&#x27;m not sure when I got into the habit of it, I think it&#x27;s been the thousands of hours of development I&#x27;ve done by myself, where it seems to serve as a way to keep myself motivated, on-task, and in flow.<p>Is this something you do, and is this a unique behavior trait to developers?  I can&#x27;t think of any other profession where it would be socially acceptable..
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zitterbewegung
Yes, I constantly talk to myself when I'm programming. If you want you could
buy a rubber duck and try this debugging technique
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging)
.

~~~
tedmiston
> Many programmers have had the experience of explaining a programming problem
> to someone else, possibly even to someone who knows nothing about
> programming, and then hitting upon the solution in the process of explaining
> the problem.

I've definitely experienced this countless times either in trying to describe
the problem to a person or in writing a question for Stack Overflow.

~~~
coralreef
It works! You make so many assumptions with your internal thought dialogue, it
just becomes clear what you missed when you try to verbalize it.

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auganov
There's actually plenty of research on the relationship between self-talk and
performance in a variety of domains.

[https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=self-
talk+performance&b...](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=self-
talk+performance&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5)

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RickS
At home, yes, often. At work (in an open office) absolutely not, it would be
exceptionally rude and distracting for my coworkers.

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jbredeche
I curse a lot at the computer when things aren't working the way I want...

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nodesocket
Yes, and lately I've found myself even narrating everyday tasks a little. I do
catch myself, and try to keep my inner-dialogue in my head.

I think spending hours on computers isolated daily is probably not good for
long term mental health.

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alashley
No, for some reason people talking to themselves is irritating to me,
generally speaking.

I've also had roommates and people that do it loudly and constantly so I'm a
bit more sensitive to it.

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camhenlin
No, I talk to my cat.

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mattbgates
Sometimes I will talk to myself as I write code allowed, but more often, I
listen to music and I rock back and forth. It calms me and keeps me focused.
Probably weird to everyone around me and may be a form of autism, but I was
never diagnosed, and function even better when I'm rocking in my chair to the
music.

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mindcrime
Yep, I do it all the time. And that's true whether or not I'm in the company
of others. But then again, I also talk to myself while changing brake pads on
my car, wiring circuits on breadboards at the hackerspace, cooking, etc.

At least the list doesn't (yet) include "posting on HN".

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Mz
I don't think this is in any way peculiar to programmers. I am not a
programmer. I used to spend a lot of time on gifted discussion lists and a
phrase I used a lot back then was something like "I don't know what I think
until I run it through my mouth."

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mrmondo
Not a programmer but I write plenty of puppet DSL and scripts and if I'm on a
roll I find myself regularly talking through elements / relationships within
the code all the time, I think I sound like a madman to those near by.

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rajasuba
Yeah, I too do most of the times.. Stumbling the problem or the code flow in
mind may be a difficult one but it becomes a lot easier when we narrate it
orally!

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wizzerking
Of course I talk to my computer, there is no one else to talk to around here.

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dasmoth
Yes, if I'm alone. Definitely helps with flow, sometimes.

It's one of the bigger factors in my hatred of open offices.

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bjourne
Yes. And it is not unique to developers. Mathematicians do it all the time
too.

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BoysenberryPi
I talk to an inanimate object or the bird on the window.

