https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.10002
Abstract (emphasis mine):
The concept of a ‘Ballmer Peak’ was first proposed in 2007, postulating that there exists a very specific blood alcohol content which confers superhuman programming ability. More generally, there is a commonly held belief among software engineers that coding is easier and more productive after a few drinks. Using the industry standard for assessment of coding ability, we conducted a search for such a peak and more generally investigated the effect of different amounts of alcohol on performance. We conclusively refute the existence of a specific peak with large magnitude, but with p < 0.001 find that there was a significant positive effect to a low amount of alcohol - slightly less than two drinks - on programming ability.
There’s obviously an xkcd for this
The concept of a ‘Ballmer Peak’ was first proposed in 2007
where do you thnk it was proposed?
I’d argue that this is for the XKCD, not the other way around.
The centre is .1337
p < .0001337
You have way too many zeroes.
Would you say that it’s a very significant amount of zeros?
Lol that is Fig 1. In the paper :)
Posted Oct. 1 2007.
“first proposed in 2007”
I wonder if Randall has seen this?
The Inebriati strike again.
I’ve found that the best way to utilize alcohol when programming is to code sober and comment drunk. It’s a wonderful way to make commenting both fun to write and to read later.
I have tried coding under the influence, but I can’t do it. Even small amounts of alcohol makes it really hard to do anything complex. But if it works for you, good on ya.
Also works for customer service. Have a ridiculously minor issue that really doesn’t matter but still irks a small part of you and you’re too much of a wimp to speak up about? Check your sent folder in the morning after a night of drinking.
Protip: support@company.com.
I did some of my best problem solving on Vicodin.
Two beers and I’m fully functional.
deleted by creator
Also, https://xkcd.com/323/
Welcome to the Knights Tipplar.
I came to post this, but I’m happier to see that it’s already here!
I once worked in IT for an MSP that kept beer on tap in the office for this exact reason. Techs were encouraged to have a beer or two when stumped on an issue. It worked surprisingly well.
This did result in a few years of struggling with alcohol issues tho.
#1544 - I can no longer code without drinking at least 3 glasses of beer, am I becoming an alcoholic? - [Duplicate] [Won’t fix]
“Ancient Persians reportedly debated big decisions twice: once drunk and once sober.”
deleted by creator
Knew a guy in university that looked like a young Prince Charles that would pop half a tab of LSD whenever he ran into an issue he couldn’t solve. Somehow that worked.
This was in the late 90s early 00s, well before Randall made the comic about The Ballmer Peak
Microdosing LSD is a common thing nowadays in the tech world. It definitely increases your creativity and mental energy, so it makes sense. Your friend was probably ahead of the curve. I’m not sure if the idea was as popular back then.
The rest of use were tending towards macro dosing. He may have known about it, but he didn’t really talk about it that much. Certainly wasn’t encouraging other to try it.
Maybe his dose wasn’t small enough to be considered micro. I’d wager half a tab would give a light trip instead of a full
The idea that drinking helps has been around a lot longer than 2007. Since basically the discovery of alcohol. Yes, it can help with nerves a little bit, but none of your skills are improved, and most are impaired.
Maybe it depends upon the person.
I have difficulty programming properly while listening to music so maybe I’d find it hard to do so with alcohol too.In my case, it’s probably because I tend to keep as much of the context as possible into my current memory, which gets reduced if I’m distracted by sounds (whether music or noise). The ADHD Relief music tracks tend to work well though, since they aren’t very distracting and help get rid of other peoples’ noise.
Alcohol is considered a performance-enhancing drug in darts.
For programming, it works the same way as playing music: your focus narrows. Your brain can’t do other stuff, either because it’s busy moving your neck in time with Meshuggah, or because it’s been lightly poisoned by delicious ethanol.
Surely that’s work worthy of an IG Nobel prize?
I cannot code unless sober from all stimulants except coffee.
Alcohol is not a stimulant.
Fine, depressant or stimulant.
Depressant or stimulant (except that one stimulant)
In my experience I can write more code after a few drinks. However I usually find that the code is of low quality when I check it the next day…
Really? I’ve written code so advanced while drunk that I couldn’t even understand it the next day, but it did what it was supposed to do and solved complex issues.
If you can’t understand it, is it high quality?
I have no idea! But it looked very complicated and advanced, and did what it was supposed to do. LOL
I mean maybe that just means you were bad at naming which is the hardest part! When I’m sober I spend a lot of thought on naming things, and when it gets skipped over while drunk I’m just like wtf did I write?
So you’re saying you can’t write readable code while drunk
I have written brilliant code while drunk that I didn’t understand the next day. I doubt I could have even solved the problem sober.
The Unity office in Bellevue used to have beer on tap in the cafeteria. Idk if it still does what with all the fuckery going on… Maybe one day I’ll actually go into the office and I can report back
Humblebrag
This applies to a lot of physical activities as well. I have a friend who’s a really good bowler, and every one of his 300 games (perfect score for you non-bowlers) has been when he’s had exactly 2 drinks. He can’t do it with less because he gets too nervous - and more means he gets too sloppy and loses his edge.
We joke and call beer “bowling juice”.
I’ve also found another peak somewhere after 6, I lost count. I couldn’t stand straight but I went like 34 kills to 6 deaths in a vr shooter.
