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Comment by userbinator | Hacker News Reader

This is sad and a bit disturbing because it suggests that average people seem to dislike thinking. I'm quite the opposite, and 15 minutes of pure thinking for me would pass by quite easily - I feel like I can't get enough time to think more carefully about all the ideas that I have for the things I do, or want to. Then again, I'm introverted and definitely not representative of the average population.

(Of course, I'm assuming here that their test subjects weren't secretly masochists who enjoyed shocking themselves, and ignoring some of the other biases that might be present - e.g. if their participants were self-selected, most of them might be those who are bored with nothing else to do.)

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I read somewhere that they used device with 9V battery. We used to lick both 4.5V and 9V batteries as kids. I found 4.5V hit to be quite pleasant and I would repeat the "experiment" a lot. Licking 9V battery was less pleasant, but not really too uncomfortable. I did that multiple times too even through my room was full of toys.

Their device could generate less pleasant feelings, sure. But I am kind of skeptical of big conclusions people take out of this study.

I don't think you can conclude too much from it being a 9V battery. It depends how it is connected up. The shock from an implantable cardio defibrillator which comes from a small lithium battery hurts more than 240V through your fingers.

I went from licking 9V batteries to charging a 4700μF capacitor with a 9V battery and discharging that through two audio output transformers used "backwards" (so 8Ω primary/1kΩ secondary) using a momentary SPDT switch. Felt just a bit different, that did.

I find it quite pleasant to be alone with my thoughts. I've always liked taking long showers and walks for exactly this reason. Sometimes, when I'm working on an interesting problem, I can pass entire days mostly just thinking and pacing.

Exactly! Plenty of people like to think; not many people like to sit in a room with nothing interesting happening. Given the choice between sitting in a room with nothing to do but shock myself or stare at a wall, I'd probably play with the button. Given a choice between shocking myself and going for a walk in the woods, I'd absolutely choose to go walk in the woods every time.

I'm TERRIBLE at thinking when I'm sitting. I have to be moving or doing something, even if it's something mindless like walking.

You should try it, might not be as easy as you thought!

Does this study have any bearing on "hammock-driven development" vs. the compulsion to start writing code (with or without TDD)?

Don't know why you're being downvoted, this actually came to my mind as well - I'm a big fan of HDD (thanks Rich!). I don't think this study has much bearing on it though; the study focused on "the average person", who arguably does not share the same propensity for deep thought as a developer who'd be attracted to HDD.

> Don't know why you're being downvoted

Perhaps because someone who downvotes without replying is the sort of person who would rather click than think.

Ironically.

^ Q.E.D.

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