Programmer steroids?

NogDog

With all the uproar in the US sports news, I just wondered how the issue would look to us if we put it in terms of something that more closely relates to our lives.

If someone said they could hook you up with a prescription drug that, while not approved for this, would allow you to write code more effectively and for longer each day, such that you could reasonably expect to increase your yearly earnings by 50 to 100%, how tempted would you be to take this offer if you thought you had a reasonable chance of not getting caught?

(Note: I have selected that the poll results not show who voted for what, so please be honest.)

rulian

Short answer: Starbucks....

Long answer: It would probably not just be accepted but probably demanded.
Its been my experience that, unlike sports, cheating and shortcuts are sought after in the business world.

Employers would look at it as a way to increase productivity and reduce operating costs.
If you work for yourself the tradeoff i think is not good because your added operating time is in tradeoff to your actual free time. Its only a good tradeoff when you code 50% in the same operating time as before.

I think that is the thing about sports that is not like any other industry be it business or music or hollywood.
You can suck any anything in business, science, medicine, music & arts and so fourth... and still fake your way to the top (ex. ashley simpson)
However when you ranked the #1 soccer player in the world by fifa, odds are pretty good that you are. Of course they may be a handful of people in the world that could take your crown, but you probably can kick the ass of 99.9% of people in it. Which is why cheating in sports like that is often intolerable.

NogDog

I was moved to ask this just because I was sitting here wondering how many of the non-athletes who are bashing A-Rod for his steroid use are free of similar sins. How many of them ever lied about something at a job interview because they felt it was necessary to get the job, and they were pretty sure the lie would never be revealed? How many of them have ever failed to report all their taxable income on their tax forms simply because they were fairly sure they would never get caught? (We already know several congressmen who have. :rolleyes: ) How many of them have ever downloaded copyrighted material from the web simply because they were pretty sure they could get away with it?

I'm not trying in any way to condone performance-enhancing substances for anything. I just wonder how the rest of us would have acted in a similar situation -- not that I can truly ever imagine or empathize with what it must be like to have that much talent at anything or get paid so much more in one year than I'll probably ever make in my lifetime. 🙁

laserlight

NogDog wrote:
How many of them have ever downloaded copyrighted material from the web simply because they were pretty sure they could get away with it?

I do that every day, and I am absolutely sure that I can get away with it in a court of law 🙂

NogDog wrote:
I just wonder how the rest of us would have acted in a similar situation -- not that I can truly ever imagine or empathize with what it must be like to have that much talent at anything or get paid so much more in one year than I'll probably ever make in my lifetime.

I think that that is part of why there is such outrage when sportsmen cheat. They are perceived as having it better than the rest of us, so they are expected to be role models for lesser mortals.

NogDog

laserlight;10902595 wrote:
I do that every day, and I am absolutely sure that I can get away with it in a court of law 🙂

OK, smarty-pants, let me re-word that: "...downloaded illegally copied copyrighted material..." :p

And why is no one responding to the survey: afraid they'll be "outed" to Sports Illustrated?

rulian

haha so far I'm the only douchebag that voted hell yes I would

Bunkermaster

Caffeine + Nicotine + Ritaline! The mix of champions!

Weedpacket

"Yes indeed; both stimulants work the same way but the caffeine tastes nicer of course both together they make me a bit jumpy so the nicotine is to bring me back down again..."

low

eh .. i wouldn't want to push my mind artificially to its limits. and most of all not if it was "controlled"

Kudose

Absence of the mind yields unthinkable new inventions.

dalecosp

I'm stuck here. Generally, I'm anti-drug. However, the older I get, the more I find myself slipping into shades of grey.

So, in principle. I wouldn't. But, if offered, I'm not as sure of myself as I used to be.

NogDog

dalecosp;10905193 wrote:
I'm stuck here. Generally, I'm anti-drug. However, the older I get, the more I find myself slipping into shades of grey.

So, in principle. I wouldn't. But, if offered, I'm not as sure of myself as I used to be.

"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are c_o_c_k_sure and the intelligent are full of doubt." ~ Bertrand Russell [stupid censorship algorithm!]

"Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in their readiness to doubt." ~ H. L. Mencken

"To every complex question there is a simple answer and it is wrong…" ~ H.L. Mencken

And this one doesn't really apply, but is one of my favorite quotes from the same source:

"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." ~ George Bernard Shaw

Weedpacket

My word, that's a slow site ... oh, wait, ColdFusion.

Here's a couple from my own collection.

"I'm not young enough to know everything." ~ J.M. Barrie

"Everything is vague to a degree you do not realise till you have tried to make it precise." ~ Betrand Russell

George Bernard Shaw wrote:
Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it.

But my country is superior to all other countries because I was born in it!

Still waiting.

cretaceous

I clicked 'yes' - yay its a buzz whoo..

of course you have to consider the health effects - dropping dead of a heart attack might be more likely - (what was her name , the sprinter with the fingernails..?)

I used to work many years ago for someone who couldn't get by without her dose of amphetamines - man it made her cranky but she'd get the work done and happily work all night

I just want a Vulcan mind-meld transfer
hmmm, think I'll get me the Japanese module tonight...

NogDog

Quite a few years ago now (I don't remember exactly when, probably some time in the '90s, maybe earlier) I remember someone doing a survey of athletes who were competing in various Olympics-eligible sports and asked something like, "If you could take a drug that would guarantee you would win a Gold medal but would also be guaranteed to kill you in 20 years [or take 20 years off your life-span or something like that], would you use it?" The overwhelming majority said yes. I guess it just goes to show that, at least with top athletes, Vince Lombari was right: "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."

Weedpacket

Odd; why did this thread come up in my search?

Anyhoo - while I'm here I must mention reports that "Silicon Valley" programmers have admitted to dropping acid before beginning work - apparently to make it easier to think outside the box.

dalecosp

Weedpacket;11053563 wrote:
Odd; why did this thread come up in my search?

Anyhoo - while I'm here I must mention reports that "Silicon Valley" programmers have admitted to dropping acid before beginning work - apparently to make it easier to think outside the box.

I dropped acid once ... unfortunately, it was still inside the battery case. My foot hurt for a month ... :p

cluelessPHP

Drugs are bad, cake is good

Derokorian

The cake is a lie.

laserlight

That is why I never bothered with CakePHP.