You might have just figured out an excellent tool to fight addictions and poor habits, at least until they become too strong. I am impressed. Quite literally this may save lives if systematized properly.
TylerJay’s example is excellent, provided that it is REPL style dynamic exploratory programming, not entering 500 lines into C++ and then banging your head against a wall because why doesn’t the damn thing compile. And it is no surprise that when I am bored at work that is what I do.
When I used to drive to work and back that was high feedback enough, driving is mostly fun in the short run, now commuting with the subway made my average alcohol intake worse, I down a beer or two even before starting out for home. Alcohol and drugs are addictive not simply because they make one feel good, but because they are also high feedback, every gulp, every hit has a predictable result. When I am at home, it is usual family stuff, and it is too predictable, we just talk about what happened today, play with our child etc. it is a bit boring, because there is nothing unexpected happening.
Unpredictability must be part of the equation. While dropping a nickel into a bubble gum vending machine and reliably getting a bubble gum is high feedback, it gets boring after 4. Too predictable.
Gambling research suggests that the most addictive are those processes that are less reliable—they provide a reward only in some of the time. Thus they cause excitement, that dopamine related “excited expectation and hope” thing that is so addictive.
Exploratory programming also sometimes doesn’t work and that is what it makes it interesting. Without unexpected exceptions, bugs to fix it would be boring.
Basically it suggests one way to fight addictions would be to replace them with high feedback activities appropriate to the situation. Perhaps taking the subway home would be less bad if acquiring a phone of the kind games better than tetris can be played on (so some kind of a smartphone), or trying to discuss with the fam at home what happened today when nothing ever really happens, it was just a day at work / day at babycare should be replaced by taking turns in playing poker with each other and playing child games with the child when she becomes bigger and can.
You might have just figured out an excellent tool to fight addictions and poor habits, at least until they become too strong. I am impressed. Quite literally this may save lives if systematized properly.
TylerJay’s example is excellent, provided that it is REPL style dynamic exploratory programming, not entering 500 lines into C++ and then banging your head against a wall because why doesn’t the damn thing compile. And it is no surprise that when I am bored at work that is what I do.
When I used to drive to work and back that was high feedback enough, driving is mostly fun in the short run, now commuting with the subway made my average alcohol intake worse, I down a beer or two even before starting out for home. Alcohol and drugs are addictive not simply because they make one feel good, but because they are also high feedback, every gulp, every hit has a predictable result. When I am at home, it is usual family stuff, and it is too predictable, we just talk about what happened today, play with our child etc. it is a bit boring, because there is nothing unexpected happening.
Unpredictability must be part of the equation. While dropping a nickel into a bubble gum vending machine and reliably getting a bubble gum is high feedback, it gets boring after 4. Too predictable.
Gambling research suggests that the most addictive are those processes that are less reliable—they provide a reward only in some of the time. Thus they cause excitement, that dopamine related “excited expectation and hope” thing that is so addictive.
Exploratory programming also sometimes doesn’t work and that is what it makes it interesting. Without unexpected exceptions, bugs to fix it would be boring.
Basically it suggests one way to fight addictions would be to replace them with high feedback activities appropriate to the situation. Perhaps taking the subway home would be less bad if acquiring a phone of the kind games better than tetris can be played on (so some kind of a smartphone), or trying to discuss with the fam at home what happened today when nothing ever really happens, it was just a day at work / day at babycare should be replaced by taking turns in playing poker with each other and playing child games with the child when she becomes bigger and can.