Hacker News Reader

Comment by yantrams | Hacker News Reader

As a kid, I used to frequently do things in a pattern that I discovered much later to be the [0]Thue Morse sequence. 1001-0110-0110-1001 and so on. For example, "1" would be snapping fingers and "0" touching my nose. Never had it diagnosed clinically so I'm not really sure if I even have OCD but some symptoms tick the boxes. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thue%E2%80%93Morse_sequence

View on HN

Hello I had the exact same affliction as a kid. I would always do things in ABBA sequence, up to your 1001-0110-0110-1001 pattern. I remember it made things "balanced" to finalize that sequence. It went off around when I was 7 I think?

Wow: http://linkdot.link/thue-morse-prouhet-sequence.html => explain it very well

Awesome :) It stuck around till I was 7-8 years old in my case too I think. I still do it every now and then. Counting syllables and interchanging vowel sounds is another thing I indulge in frequently.

Vibrant looks really cool btw. Will check it out. I recently started dabbling with graphics and generative art.

Hey thanks! The ABBA thing is gone entirely. I have difficulty remembering the mental process that generated that, it scares me a lot I must say. It was quite, uh, compulsive.

I did the same thing, with that same sequence. Discovering it had a name was a bit surreal.

I wonder how common it is. These are other accounts I've found:

http://linkdot.link/thue-morse-prouhet-sequence.html

https://trapezzoid.livejournal.com/82863.html

I know right! This sequence actually has a history of being discovered by people over and over again through out history. I am the linkdot chap btw :)

I worked out that sequence while ignoring my assignments in elementary school, and I've been mildly obsessed with it since.

I don't think I'm OCD, but this thread is kind of freaking me out.

[edit] I also use my fingers to count binary on each hand independently, starting from different numbers and moving them forward in lock step.

Neat. We should start a club :) And I don't think OCD is a cause for concern unless it interferes with your daily functions. I personally feel it is a plus point when it comes to problem solving and research. Apart from this, I also have intrusive thoughts mentioned somewhere else on this page but they have become less intense with time. Stuff like worrying about accidents when travelling, worrying about your loved ones etc. Fret not as long as it doesn't affect your functioning.

" I don't think OCD is a cause for concern unless it interferes with your daily functions"

When I ran into the formal definition of disease in University, that definition let me discard a whole load of thoughts and worries.

It's like that pipe of nirvana and heavenly thoughts that I was basking in and drinking up heavily? Well that's a sewer pipe now. Shut your mouth and let it pass.

I did the same for a time, except the pattern was simply number 5. If I snapped my fingers for some reason, I had to snap them 5 times, or anxiety would chip in, in the beginning not so much, but towards when it got worse, I had some bad times: imagine I snapped my fingers 5 times, and then once again. I had to snap the 5 times again, but then I had snapped them 5 times only 2 times... You can guess what happened next.

At some point I had an anxiety attack, realised it was not normal, and fortunately managed to, on my own, push through the anxiety of not giving in to the repetitions. Eventually it disappeared and if it ever comes back, it's easy for me to detect it early and quickly kill it before developing habit.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com