Yeah I recognize a bit more of myself in that than I would like. I’m in my 7th-ish year of university for computer science because I dropped out one semester to get a job because the classes seemed pretty pointless and I wanted to move off campus and to do that, one needed money. Fortunately, I’m working for the university (and ended up with a job as a sysadmin which is a pretty good gig) and i get to keep taking classes (slowly) so i’m actually getting closer to graduating.
It sounds like you’re in a good place. I was in a similar position, but I recently graduated. You can do it, and it’s not a race, so taking a few classes at a time is a totally valid strategy (and the one I used to finish my degree).
The kind of behavior he describes is a textbook match for an executive dysfunction such as ADHD. I was diagnosed with it when I was very young. The disorder is unfortunately named: it’s a problem with the brain generating intent to complete actions or seeing the rewards of doing them. A form of time-nearsightedness, if you will. Dr. Russell Barkley has an excellent lecture that explains it in a bit more depth.
If this does sound like you, I would recommend speaking to your physician about it. Medication for ADHD is one of the most effective treatments in all of psychology, and for me, it’s a lifesaver.
I’m confused. The entire article seems to say that there is a connection between this type of person and Lisp. Then it ends by saying that actually, Lisp is just what you make of it. So what is the actual observation here? That such a person exists and that the author has observed that some of these people write Lisp code? I’ve also met people like this who write JavaScript and Ruby. I’ve known even more people like that who don’t write code at all. And I’ve observed that highly productive people like Paul Graham and Rich Hickey do write Lisp code. So I’m lost!
Yeah I recognize a bit more of myself in that than I would like. I’m in my 7th-ish year of university for computer science because I dropped out one semester to get a job because the classes seemed pretty pointless and I wanted to move off campus and to do that, one needed money. Fortunately, I’m working for the university (and ended up with a job as a sysadmin which is a pretty good gig) and i get to keep taking classes (slowly) so i’m actually getting closer to graduating.
It sounds like you’re in a good place. I was in a similar position, but I recently graduated. You can do it, and it’s not a race, so taking a few classes at a time is a totally valid strategy (and the one I used to finish my degree).
The kind of behavior he describes is a textbook match for an executive dysfunction such as ADHD. I was diagnosed with it when I was very young. The disorder is unfortunately named: it’s a problem with the brain generating intent to complete actions or seeing the rewards of doing them. A form of time-nearsightedness, if you will. Dr. Russell Barkley has an excellent lecture that explains it in a bit more depth.
If this does sound like you, I would recommend speaking to your physician about it. Medication for ADHD is one of the most effective treatments in all of psychology, and for me, it’s a lifesaver.
I’m confused. The entire article seems to say that there is a connection between this type of person and Lisp. Then it ends by saying that actually, Lisp is just what you make of it. So what is the actual observation here? That such a person exists and that the author has observed that some of these people write Lisp code? I’ve also met people like this who write JavaScript and Ruby. I’ve known even more people like that who don’t write code at all. And I’ve observed that highly productive people like Paul Graham and Rich Hickey do write Lisp code. So I’m lost!