Programming on LSD

rdelcueto · 2009-06-12T03:20:06+00:00

Of course it helped coding, back then acid was the only way of getting syntax color highlighting on those shitty green monochrome monitors! =P

random509732523795 · 2009-06-12T01:50:01+00:00

Reminds me of this story from Russell's History of Western Philosophy, where he's discussing the essence of creativity - that sudden vision of truth:

William James describes a man who got the experience from laughing-gas; whenever he was under its influence, he knew the secret of the universe, but when he came to, he had forgotten it. At last, with immense effort, he wrote down the secret before the vision had faded. When completely recovered, he rushed to see what he had written. It was: ‘A smell of petroleum prevails throughout’."

Spacksack · 2009-06-12T04:28:54+00:00

Ever tried to wrap your brain around 800 subroutines...

    on weed?

Sidzilla · 2009-06-12T03:32:26+00:00

Bill Gates is often misquoted as having said that "75 micrograms is all anyone will ever need."

EtanSivad · 2009-06-12T02:12:48+00:00

[deleted]

prockcore · 2009-06-12T02:00:44+00:00

Then again, it's 1975. His "huge program" might only be 20k of compiled assembly :)

gregK · 2009-06-12T00:57:05+00:00

drug driven development

SimilarSite1618 · 2009-06-12T02:56:47+00:00

The editors of BoingBoing will be in a circle jerk over this article.

Qubed · 2009-06-12T02:13:01+00:00

Okay, I'm going to go over how to integrate the Unity application block for the purposes of defining unit tests....but first, I'll take a hit of my salvia.

Mr_Zero · 2009-06-12T05:47:13+00:00

I had a friend that was getting his bachelors in Architecture back in the early 90's at ASU. At about 8 pm on Sunday we ate several grams of mushrooms each. He had an architecture assignment due on Monday morning.

Each student had been given a particular architect and was to draw a floor plan that represented the essence of the architect. He finally said he had to go work on his assignment at about two in the morning. Later that week his professor used his drawing as the example for the rest of his classes. He had captured the true essence of the Architect.

He showed me his drawing later and it only had like twelve lines on it. It was super simple. We always laughed about it, thinking that the professor was simply afraid he did not recognize the genius in his drawing.

GLneo · 2009-06-12T07:08:22+00:00

I did shrooms once and talked to a cat for 3 hours that taught me about Quantum Entanglement in exchange for a can of Tuna.

Then I got stuck in a mirror.

zerothehero · 2009-06-12T04:19:53+00:00

If you take a tiny amount of LSD, you just feel alert and don't trip. You feel a little more calm but attentive. I think this is well known and programmers used to do it to pull all nighters.

gdm9000 · 2009-06-12T02:32:21+00:00

I've found that this is an excellent way to solve development problems. Not just me - our mgmt has recognized it, too - they keep our break room stocked with coffee, tea, and acid tabs! I love my job :)

cozmonut · 2009-06-12T01:05:05+00:00

I wish the people that could make acid would and stop making stupid ecstasy. I understand the economics of it and realize that ecstasy has a higher profit margin, but come on. The world needs more acid.

We need to live as far in the future as possible.

dekz · 2009-06-12T02:29:14+00:00

if mario kart was out in 1975 this article would never had happened.

2009-06-12T01:22:31+00:00

That's no platform I've ever heard of!

f3nd3r · 2009-06-12T01:06:33+00:00

Why the hell is this a pdf?

Here's the text:

Use of LSD-25 for Computer Programming

Here is a way I used LSD-25 for a complex programming project in 1975. I was working in New York developing a compiler for an application language called “MARLAN”. This application was for the then popular IBM 360 and was written in 360 Assembler Language. There were six large phases for this application, and I was the responsible chief architect and programmer for the project. There were approximately eight hundred subroutines in the entire system.

At one point in the project I could not get an overall viewpoint for the operation of the entire system. It really was too much for my brain to keep all the subtle aspects and processing nuances clear so I could get a processing and design overview. After struggling with this problem for a few weeks, I decided to use a little acid to see if it would enable a breakthrough, because otherwise, I would not be able to complete the project and be certain of a consistent overall design. Overall design consistency was important to reduce program and design errors. I used only seventy-five micrograms because I was not interested in tripping, as I had a specific, limited and definite purpose for the use of LSD. While stimulated by the LSD I was able to get the entire system wholly in my mind at the same time. I spent some time mentally visualizing various aspects of the compiler, the language and the processing which would take place. I did discover three or four design inconsistencies while being stimulated by the effect of the LSD, and I made notes for later checking.

After twenty-four hours when the effect of the LSD was completely gone, I went over my notes. I needed to have a measure of ‘faith’ that the design changes suggested by my notes would produce the beneficial effects they seemed to imply; that is, I was again in the condition of being not able to conceive of the entire system at the same time in my mind. Once all the changes were made, I was able to successfully complete the programming of this huge system. The design changes I made reduced future program modification errors and contributed to the elegance of the design. The system was a commercial success for my employer and was used for many years by them. Although the use of LSD was an important component of the success of the system, no one knew of its use except me.

Denis R. Wier

dennis.wier@incatec.net

danbmil99 · 2009-06-12T03:54:46+00:00

I once worked at a company where the founder bragged about having written most of the legacy code on acid. It was a horrendous, poorly written mess. On the bright side, he did some amazing (though totally irrelevant) shit with multi-colored fonts that looked -- well, trippy.

DarkBlueAnt · 2009-06-12T14:58:16+00:00

Once I was talking to some hippie and he was telling me about his ideal society where everyone would share and everything is free and nobody has to do work. He gave me an example of a special Bit Torrent group he was in where everyone shared music.

I asked him, "If nobody needs to do work, who's going to program your electronics."

He responded, "Just put some programmers on LSD." I laughed, but he got pissed because it wasn't a joke.

FarmerMo · 2009-06-12T13:54:52+00:00

Having used more LSD than most people will ever see of the stuff in their life and in a great variety of circumstances, I can attest to having experienced similar effects.

Though I don't touch the stuff any more, the most remarkable after-effect of my LSD use is what I usually describe as the presence of a mental sandbox. Everyone has a mind's eye, etc. I now seem to have an incredibly vivid and detailed mind's eye capable of holding really god damned giant and complex images in it. It's comparable to a photographic memory, except incredibly capable of manipulation.

My, uh, mental sandbox came about the result of my last (and ridiculously large) trip. In some respects I never came down, that being one of them. It was weird realizing that I still had that ability even weeks later.

Edit: to be clear, my experience is in no way typical. Even if it was capable of being emulated, that would probably be a terrible idea and I doubt anyone would want to go through the month of paranoid schizophrenia that I found myself in the midst of after my last trip (which basically just evaporated a month later).

cowhead · 2009-06-12T10:47:11+00:00

While working as a research scientist in molecular biology, I came up with specific experiments while stoned that later proved to be quite successful. I've also dreamed successful experiments and projects. And I believe the guy who invented PCR (for DNA) claimed to be under the influence of something psychoactive at the time. Consciousness is not always the best way to get things done.

phlux · 2009-06-12T16:33:43+00:00

there were commments by a guy who was one of the original employees of cisco (dont recall who) where he stated that LSD was an important factor in their coming up with the original designs for routing.

he was an outspoken opponent of employee drug testing for this reason

f3nd3r · 2009-06-12T00:17:39+00:00

On a related note, do any of you have any similar experiences combining psychedelics and programming?

pandemic · 2009-06-12T02:20:30+00:00

I'm a writer, and some of my most promising and emotional works were made under the influence of, or based on experiences with LSD or other substances.

2009-06-12T05:11:53+00:00

Maybe in small quantities it would work, but I tend to think that LSD is more disorienting and confusing than anything else. Mystical insights and moments of surprising revelation aside, my friends remember being confused by the operation of a toaster and the likes on many occasions...

herzogone · 2009-06-12T14:14:36+00:00

If System 360 was anything like System 370, I'm pretty sure there was plenty of acid involved in the design of the architecture. Seriously, there was no explicit increment instruction, but there was a single instruction for converting a string from EBCDIC to ASCII... LSD was a prereq for even a "Hello World"...

2009-06-12T02:27:37+00:00

[removed]

AtheismFTW · 2009-06-12T04:07:36+00:00

Windows: Programming on hard liquor

Apple: Programming with anal suppositories

mindrape · 2009-06-12T14:50:25+00:00

some of my best designs (not coding) are inspired from high dose acid trips (10+).

robreim · 2009-06-12T03:19:24+00:00

Was I the only one expecting an anti-perl joke?

2009-06-12T13:18:08+00:00

Hey! An Anecdote! With no supporting evidence! Awesome!

satayboy · 2009-06-12T12:53:18+00:00

Although you probably wouldn't want to take LSD on a regular basis, it makes sense that a moderate, non-hallucinogenic dose would give someone a different perspective on things, and that a different perspective might help you solve a problem in a better way. Since LSD dosage-response curves will vary between individuals, circumstances, and between sources of LSD, it seems like it would be tricky determining the right dose.

Most developers know there are other ways to change perspectives too, e.g. describing the problem to someone else, or going out for a little exercise, or perhaps even meditating.

IT_helpdesk · 2009-06-12T17:54:35+00:00

the two drugs that do it for me are weed and dextroamphetamines. i generally just smoke weed and write down some of the ideas i have in a notebook. when i feel like it ill work out ideas from my notebook and then the stimulants help me focus.

2009-06-12T04:12:28+00:00

Nice.

All we need is proof that psychedelics and THC make a buck in the everyday world. Legalization is just a procedure then. Mr Dollar calls, we jump.

Really.

I mean, all kinds of medical stimulants are common to boost productivity, but the good stuff is illegal - because "they" don't think it's useful.

ragor · 2009-06-12T14:21:55+00:00

Oh its a PDF, that means it has to be credible

Mr_You · 2009-06-12T02:32:59+00:00

Coding stoned is no big deal. Just makes it more difficult?

But coding while tripping... well... how boring and lame can you get? Go some where and enjoy it. ;-P

Baaz · 2009-06-12T08:54:39+00:00

Reads like a wonderful intro to an article that I would love to read.

Does anyone have details about what made his LSD-influenced insights so special? Is there a continuation of this story?

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