[sdiy] Re: Help! Fatman problems!

[jbv]

Grant Richter :

> I don't claim any factual scientific basis for any of this speculation, I
> have just noticed I troubleshoot most efficiently when my body is
> comfortable.

IMHO it's based on the well-known concept (at least in psychology &
ergonomics) of workload : the human body & brain can only handle a
limited workload in a time unit (expressed in bits by seconds in case of
a "mental" work); therefore, one can suppose that making your body
comfortable allows more bandwidth (sorry for the metaphor) to your
brain...

And speaking of troubleshooting, I also noticed along the years (and
other software coders I spoke with seemed to share the same experience)
that when it comes to debug a piece of software, if your mind stumbles
on a specific bug that you can't explain, instead of wasting hours (and
often nights) on it, it's often better to switch to a totally different
activity, like going to a restaurant or a movie theater for a couple of hours...
Then the solution to your problem pops up in your mind, while you're
thinking / talking about a totally different topic... As if your mind was unable
to solve the problem when it focuses on it...
Very often, after spending a whole evening on a hidden bug, I just gave up,
took my car and drove home. And 15 to 45 min later, still in my car, as my
mind was wandering on completely different issues, suddenly the origin of
the bug appeared clearly in my mind...

And finally, at the risk of drifting off-topic, I'd like to point out that for
years
psychologists have demonstrated that the simple fact of explaining your
problem to someone else (like ppl on a milaing list) is often a big help and a
giant foot step to finding yourself the solution to your problem...

JB