Why being sleepy and drunk are great for creativity
February 24, 2012 9:04 PM Subscribe
It's somehow worse than just ruining the question right from the start. You have just enough time to get all LEMME THINK ABOUT THIS I GOT THIS ONE FOR SURE and then accidentally read on.
posted by Earthtopus at 9:16 PM on February 24, 2012
posted by Earthtopus at 9:16 PM on February 24, 2012
I physically covered the rest of the article with my hand while I figured out the puzzles. Relevant: I am a little buzzed.
posted by liamcampbell at 9:17 PM on February 24, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by liamcampbell at 9:17 PM on February 24, 2012 [3 favorites]
I know I do my best work after a shot of Jameson with a crushed Valium in it. What were we talking about again?
posted by Ad hominem at 9:25 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Ad hominem at 9:25 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
There's at least one additional answer to each of the first two questions which is just as correct as the ones given. Just sayin'.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:28 PM on February 24, 2012 [8 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:28 PM on February 24, 2012 [8 favorites]
In fact, the two answers given could, at least in concept, be "swapped".
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:30 PM on February 24, 2012
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:30 PM on February 24, 2012
Warning: Link Goes to full Frontal Cortex!
posted by cjorgensen at 9:32 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by cjorgensen at 9:32 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
Being. sleepy and drunk is all I've ever been since like ...1997 so I hope that's super cool for making things and being great, yeah and things,
posted by The Whelk at 9:43 PM on February 24, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 9:43 PM on February 24, 2012 [2 favorites]
I don't trust Jonah Lehrer to get science right.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:44 PM on February 24, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by benito.strauss at 9:44 PM on February 24, 2012 [5 favorites]
Coming up with either the given or the alternative answers doesn't rely on what the article claims it does. I'm neither drunk nor sleepy, nor brain damaged, despite what some people may be eager to claim about me; nor, despite what I may be eager to claim about myself, am I especially bright. I just chose not to assume that there was only one possible answer. In other words, I've merely developed a mental habit of considering the potential for more than one answer to a question...all it takes is a little focused (a-haha) practice.
Oh, and - the third and fourth questions? Cliché old "brain teasers". They were old when *I* was a boy. Feh.
The real answer: the article is silly, and I'm off to bed with a large tumbler of scotch now.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:46 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
Oh, and - the third and fourth questions? Cliché old "brain teasers". They were old when *I* was a boy. Feh.
The real answer: the article is silly, and I'm off to bed with a large tumbler of scotch now.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:46 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
I learned early on that being hung over is great for job interviews. Being tired and ambivalent about being there means you don't care enough to be anxious about it, and you consequently interview well.
posted by headnsouth at 9:46 PM on February 24, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by headnsouth at 9:46 PM on February 24, 2012 [4 favorites]
The first one has a much easier answer than that.
Just make
IV = III + III
into
V ≠ III + III
posted by lumensimus at 9:52 PM on February 24, 2012 [13 favorites]
Just make
IV = III + III
into
V ≠ III + III
posted by lumensimus at 9:52 PM on February 24, 2012 [13 favorites]
When I first started taking opiates, the story about Coleridge's famous poem became much more believable to me. And I have unusually creative dreams, anyway.
I'm a lot more funny when I'm very sleepy. Not that I think I'm more funny, I genuinely am. My sense of humor is mainly absurdist, so the way that sideways thinking is greatly enhanced by being tired and sleepy and also slightly hypomanic really makes that humor much more possible for me.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:13 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
I'm a lot more funny when I'm very sleepy. Not that I think I'm more funny, I genuinely am. My sense of humor is mainly absurdist, so the way that sideways thinking is greatly enhanced by being tired and sleepy and also slightly hypomanic really makes that humor much more possible for me.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:13 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
lumensimus, or tilt the first I:
posted by en forme de poire at 10:22 PM on February 24, 2012 [7 favorites]
III = III + III(i.e.)
\|| = III + III
VI = III + IIIThis is admittedly kinda chimpy, but so is the real solution, so.
posted by en forme de poire at 10:22 PM on February 24, 2012 [7 favorites]
I'm sleepy and tipsy and I still couldn't solve the III + III = III one.
the best I did was III + III + III which is not an equation, but also not an incorrect equation
posted by insectosaurus at 10:59 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
the best I did was III + III + III which is not an equation, but also not an incorrect equation
posted by insectosaurus at 10:59 PM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
The III + III = III one is pretty lame. Changing only one of the lines of the + leaves it annoyingly high on the page.
≠ FTW
posted by iotic at 11:04 PM on February 24, 2012 [5 favorites]
≠ FTW
posted by iotic at 11:04 PM on February 24, 2012 [5 favorites]
Your creative word problems. They are cute. Tomorrow, come in hungover and help me write software. I will make you cry.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:45 PM on February 24, 2012 [9 favorites]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:45 PM on February 24, 2012 [9 favorites]
I am a little concerned in that I got them all correct. It is only 3:28 am here on a Friday evening Saturday morning. I can't be tired or drunk yet. I just started drinking 6 hours ago.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:27 AM on February 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:27 AM on February 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Do you how many tires it took me to drunkenly log into 1password to log in to tell you how aweesome I solved that puzzle with the roman numerals? Also, I tried to drunkenly solve that one tith the word associations FOR SCEINCE. And. I was all, WAIT, the answers are on the puzzle. So, I put my arm up over them, but when I took my arm away, I was all, wait what was I doing? So, then, I realized I may have had more rye whiskey than was statistically significant. EXCEPT, one of the questions was all "PARTY LINE." And then I was like, NOBODY these days would EVER say "party line". And at that moment, I knew I was sober enough to realize that the quiz was dated. And like that, I was sober. So, I had another beer.
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 1:20 AM on February 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 1:20 AM on February 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
A brand-new study by scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago compared performance on insight puzzles between sober and drunk students. (They were aiming for real intoxication, giving students enough booze to achieve a blood alcohol level of 0.075.)
What is that aphorism about it being better to aim too high and miss? You call that "real intoxication"? I was drunker than that when I got a 5 on the AP Physics exam at 14 yea....
You know what? Fuck it. This would be the dial-in-iest article I've ever seen out of Wired if it weren't at the same time the stupidest. Thankfully it was posted on a Friday evening so everyone here has a great opportunity to talk about how drunk they are instead of the vanishing merits of the link.
posted by 7segment at 1:26 AM on February 25, 2012
What is that aphorism about it being better to aim too high and miss? You call that "real intoxication"? I was drunker than that when I got a 5 on the AP Physics exam at 14 yea....
You know what? Fuck it. This would be the dial-in-iest article I've ever seen out of Wired if it weren't at the same time the stupidest. Thankfully it was posted on a Friday evening so everyone here has a great opportunity to talk about how drunk they are instead of the vanishing merits of the link.
posted by 7segment at 1:26 AM on February 25, 2012
V ≠ III + III
Also useful: ±
IV = III ± II
III = III ± II
Victory!
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 1:51 AM on February 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
Also useful: ±
IV = III ± II
III = III ± II
Victory!
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 1:51 AM on February 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
I solved it: just take the horizontal bar of the plus and turn it vertically, to make
III = IIIIIIII
What, you weren't working mod 5? I was. My kids woke me up really early today.
posted by escabeche at 5:13 AM on February 25, 2012 [5 favorites]
III = IIIIIIII
What, you weren't working mod 5? I was. My kids woke me up really early today.
posted by escabeche at 5:13 AM on February 25, 2012 [5 favorites]
I got the inequality answer too. The inequality itself is "true." Let's not try to define true though, as it might be turtles all the way done. Perhaps the true is the good, and good is god, solving any messiness.
As for the rest of the article, well I'm sure it's cracking good. Maybe I'll read it.
posted by Yowser at 5:28 AM on February 25, 2012
As for the rest of the article, well I'm sure it's cracking good. Maybe I'll read it.
posted by Yowser at 5:28 AM on February 25, 2012
Oh, and as someone else mentioned, there's nothing better for me for interviewing than being completely sleep deprived ( as in, one or two hours sleep). It seems to turn off the anxiety circuit in my brain.
posted by Yowser at 5:31 AM on February 25, 2012
posted by Yowser at 5:31 AM on February 25, 2012
Also: surely "creativity" and "insight" are bad names for whatever is measured by ability to solve puzzles of this kind.
posted by escabeche at 5:42 AM on February 25, 2012
posted by escabeche at 5:42 AM on February 25, 2012
Marsha and Marjorie are dogs. They are part of the same litter.
posted by ymgve at 5:55 AM on February 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by ymgve at 5:55 AM on February 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
Hahaha, yeah! I tot-*head thunks on table*
posted by tumid dahlia at 6:05 AM on February 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by tumid dahlia at 6:05 AM on February 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Then I am the world creative person in history
posted by The Whelk at 7:20 AM on February 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 7:20 AM on February 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
Marsha and Marjorie are dogs. They are part of the same litter.
I thought maybe they were fruit flies or ants or something along those lines that could easily reproduce multiple times in one day, without necessarily being twins or quadruplets or anything of that sort.
Instead of "priest," I thought maybe Solomon (hey, Jerusalem is a small town, right?).
posted by flug at 7:49 AM on February 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
I thought maybe they were fruit flies or ants or something along those lines that could easily reproduce multiple times in one day, without necessarily being twins or quadruplets or anything of that sort.
Instead of "priest," I thought maybe Solomon (hey, Jerusalem is a small town, right?).
posted by flug at 7:49 AM on February 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Your creative word problems. They are cute. Tomorrow, come in hungover and help me write software.
I once came home blotto and had to fix a problem with mail, and in my drunken state, somehow sendmail.cf all made sense, for the first time ever. My changes still worked the next morning, too!
Moving to Postfix was a good thing for my liver.
posted by hattifattener at 11:08 AM on February 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
I once came home blotto and had to fix a problem with mail, and in my drunken state, somehow sendmail.cf all made sense, for the first time ever. My changes still worked the next morning, too!
Moving to Postfix was a good thing for my liver.
posted by hattifattener at 11:08 AM on February 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
I can tell he was neither sleepy nor drunk when he wrote the article. The lack of creativity gives it away, unless he was one or both of the above and a non-sleepy sober editor intervened.
posted by Obscure Reference at 11:42 AM on February 25, 2012
posted by Obscure Reference at 11:42 AM on February 25, 2012
Yeah, if you're a sleepy, drunken writer, you'd better be awake and sober the next day to revise what you've written, or your editor will hate you. It should not be the job of editors to clean up after writers like mothers picking up their children's toys.
--angry editor revising drunken writer
posted by bad grammar at 11:53 AM on February 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
--angry editor revising drunken writer
posted by bad grammar at 11:53 AM on February 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Being sleepy and drunk is just great, period. Who cares about that creativity shit?
posted by Decani at 3:28 PM on February 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Decani at 3:28 PM on February 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
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posted by empath at 9:10 PM on February 24, 2012 [3 favorites]