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I've noticed that consciousness recedes when I'm deep in a coding phase, many back-to-back days in flow. My mind narrows to tunnel-vision, fixated on the software and its issues. My sense of self shrinks; non-code ideas cease to arise; I get less curious; writing yields little.

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David Holz

@DavidSHolz

Oct 18, 2020

In Vernor Vinge's book "A Deepness in the Sky" there is a neuro-technology called "Focus". It gives a person total concentration, obsession, over their greatest passion, at the expense of their humanity (and everything else in their lives).

Andy Matuschak

@andy_matuschak

Replying to

@DavidSHolz

Ah, I loved that book—hadn’t made the connection. Oh, dear, I’m dipping into “Focus”!! 😬

5:49 PM · Oct 18, 2020TweetDeck

Replying to

and

Greg Eagan’s book Quarantine explores some similar territory