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Comment by hollerith | Hacker News Reader

IMHO there is already too much acceptance of obsessive thinking and addictive habits in Silicon Valley culture (and in American society as a whole).

Although not all obsession or addiction is bad, anything that encourages or pulls a signficant fraction of the population (of Silicon Valley or America) even more in that direction is.

I wish I knew of a well-written book or article explaining how addiction damages communities, but I do not, so here is a badly-written book: Bruce K. Alexander's Globalization of Addiction.

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Obsessiveness, when channeled correctly, unharnesses practically superhuman capabilities. It can be used for good. Its how I learned computers (and many other invaluable skills).

Yes, and math addict Paul Erdos proved many theorems, physics addict JJ Thomson moved science forward a lot, and religion addicts (i.e., saints of the middle ages) were a positive influence on the Christian Church and consequently on the West. Life looks easy when you notice only the positive effects of your actions!

Nobody see's only the positive in what they do, no matter how obsessed. Obsession isn't about blindness or having a "one track mind". It's about building momentum until you become unstoppable and finding joy in the work. It's about being fully committed and achieving mastery.

It's not the obsessed whose I am saying are insufficiently aware of the negative effects of obsession -- it is anyone who thinks members of the Silicon-Valley subculture can benefit from even more encouragement to obsession.

We should be encouraging movement in the opposite direction. We should be pointing out that the two most accomplished physicists of the 20th Century (Einstein and Feynman) always had at least one wife or girlfriend. And that setting out to try to become the next Einstein or Feynman is a long game that will take decades. And that life will throw up all sorts of challenges during those decades. And that maintaining an obsession or an addictive habit for a few years will weaken you and make you less able to handle those challenges (and that weakness will tend to last for many years even after you give up the obsession or addictive habit) whereas in contrast a balanced life including regular sexual intimacy, exercise, attention to any special dietary or health needs a person might have, non-specialized non-obsessive learning and (most important) close human attachments will make you more able to handle the inevitable challenges.

I don't disagree with you. You make a lot of sense. Sometimes though, you got to switch into overdrive to get things done. That's what INDOCTRINATOR is for.

Well, ok then. Feel free BTW to re-use any of my words above in INDOCTRINATOR's instructional materials.

Additionally, I'm willing to help you write or edit passages that advise on the potential negative effects of the product and on how to decide when to use it. (Email in profile. No charge for this help of course.)

Thanks Richard. I appreciate it. I'll contact you as I get close to launch.

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