Scott Adams: Crazy Eyes | Hacker News Reader

Scott Adams: Crazy Eyes

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77 pointsdennisgorelik20 comments

My wife always tells me when I'm "programming with my eyes". She says my eyes get this look and she can tell that, even though we are having dinner or a discussion, that in my head I'm looking at code. She's almost always right.

I joke many programmers switch to an "autistic mode", when they shut off everything around them and focus completely on the computer in front of them and the code they are writing. Myself included.

aka. "flow" or "in the zone". Mentioned widely as early as 2000: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000068.html

2000? Csíkszentmihályi’s book (Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play) which introduced the term flow was published in 1975.

Here’s a TED talk by Csíkszentmihályi (2004): http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.htm...

Also worth reading: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert Pirsig, 1974), The Birth of Tragedy (Nietzsche, 1872)

Probably older, as "hack mode" in the Jargon File: http://people.kldp.org/~eunjea/jargon/index.php?idx=hack-mod...

Probably older as the Tao in the Tao etc.

I got a kick out of this passage:

> Everybody in Silicon Valley seems to be talking about Charlie, the gourmet cook at Google who used to work for Jerry Garcia.

In 2000, Spolsky still felt the need to make the word "Google" a hyperlink to the (then-nascent) search company's website.

I get this way when I'm writing. Earlier today I was sat in my in-laws back yard and I'm guessing I was staring at a coffee cup, but I was working out a part of my story in my head. I had character associations messed up, and in about 5-minutes of being zoned I sorted a bunch of it out.

I think she said something along the lines of "you just had such an evil look, what was you staring at?" I didn't know I was staring, because to be honest my concentration had receded from the visual. Similarly when I write I can completely zone out audibly to the point I get pissed off and people around me can, because I'll have a playlist going and I miss my favorite song so I'll skip back to play through it again and I'll zone out and miss it. I think in one day I put the play-count of a dozen songs up by like 5 points on iTunes via this.

I think 'crazy eyes' is when you zone out visually, and I guess 'crazy ears' is when you zone out audibly. It's like there's a lack of processing power in the brain and its CtrlAltDel'ing a wasted function.

> Then you cropped out everything but the eyes and showed the films to a group of volunteer subjects. Could the volunteers distinguish the skeptics from the believers just by their eyes?

Tangentially related -

There was a study done some time ago when they took a black and white photograph of an old man, sort of looking off camera and smoking a cigarette. Then, they told to different study groups that the person was (1) a mass murderer (2) a scientist (3) a farmer (4) a blind person and many things else, and asked what gave him away. The answer - invariably - was "his eyes".

So while I see what Scott Adams is saying and it makes sense, I still doubt it'd be possible to tell the skeptics from the believers the way he suggests.

Probably depends on how far the believers drift from "normal" mental state.

While working for long periods with poly sleep schedule, and getting into that hypomanic idea-spewing region, I'll scare myself by looking in the mirror: my eyes are WIDE, with eyelids not touching iris. Is that how I really look to everyone? Yep. But my eyes feel normal at the time, if a bit cold. If I force them to look like a normal person's eyes, they feel warm and half-closed as if I'm sleepy. That's it! In high creativity "flow" mode, I'm really really awake and I'm paying attention to my entire visual field. Perhaps it's akin to looking frightened. In order to see possible approaching dangers, you pull your eyelids back so they don't block peripheral vision as much. You don't necessarily roll your eyes, but when your eyelids are so wide open, any glancing to the side exposes the whites of your eyes. Very noticeable to onlookers. (So then when I go out in public, I have to make sure to squint and pretend to look sleepy!)

Sheer speculation: ancient tribes might survive better if their members evolved to display certain unconscious instinctual facial expressions. The look of feverish sickness says "stay away, infection danger." But the wide-eyed crazed/fearful expression also gives the community warning to back off and avoid unexpected behavior. When I've put myself into an extreme creative state, I'll notice that my eyes feel cold w/wide open lids exposing more surface. I think to myself "Yep, automatic craziness-warning system been triggered."

Imagine what might happen if heavily-armed and mentally unstable tribe members DIDN'T display any signs that they'd consumed alkaloid plants or mushrooms or alcohol ...or had just gone without sleep for two weeks!

I always thought they were just rolling their eyes at me, but now I know they're deeply engaged in imagining that they're somewhere else.

If pupils really will widen when you look at someone you love, then that's a cool idea for mobile app "Love detector".

"Hold still, baby, hold still. This won't take more than two seconds."

(Version for people on iOS with an iPhone 3G: "Holy still, baby, hold still. This won't take more than forty five seconds.")

"You're in a desert, walking along the sand, when all of a sudden you look down and see a tortoise crawling toward you. You reach over and flip the tortoise on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can't. Not without your help. But you're not helping. Why is that?"

Can someone link to some pictures or videos as an example of what this looks like?

I can tell you one form.

I'd never met Maoris (native New Zealanders) until a few years ago. When I first did, I was quite freaked out because I'd be having friendly conversations about common topics with people who were smiling, yet their eyes made them look like they want to kill me.

Look in the mirror and say something in whatever tone you like.

Then repeat, exactly, but:

* tilt you head back

* open your eyes a little further.

Suddenly you're insane, even though you're saying something quite normal.

My understanding is that Maoris, being a tribal culture, have a certain threatening, warrior body language. They're not actually threatening you, they're just being a normal guy in Maori society, and part of being a man is looking tough. I validated this a few years later when my next door neighbor in Australia ended up becoming a close friend, and used the behavior to my own advantage to avoid being attacked without saying anything to escalate the situation when I lived in the UK.

Oh boy when I get those I'm generally also completely zoned out of my mind. It's like everything else shuts down.

I've had a friend describe my 'crazy eyes' as 'watching an eagle soar', which really caught me off guard because I had no idea that I looked any different. Since then I have made a conscious effort to give my full attention to people. It's not easy though - ideas erupt.

When I zone out, basically day dreaming I tend to get "1000 yard stare" eyes, where I freak people out :)

Meth / Coke heads tend to get glassy eyes..not many studies on those effects and the appearance of eyes.

I hate looking at people when I have crazy eyes...I get incredibly self conscious, because I'm sure that they think I look completely nuts. Squinting and claiming I'm really tired helps.

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