Brain Meth

Brain Meth is distinct from Brain Crack because it is productive. Not in the sense that it enables you to work logically towards your goals, or towards completing a project, but in the sense that you are doing stuff when you’re high on Brain Meth, while Brain Crack is all about daydreaming how great it’ll be once you start doing stuff.

Brain Meth is distinct from being busy or working hard in that it is compulsive, and at its core indifferent to accomplishment. The point is motion. The experience of Brain Meth is a tight circle.

┌──────────┐         
│  lets    |         
│ do stuff |         
└────┬─────┘         
     │               
╔════▼══════╗         
║           ║        
║  eYeaGH   ║◄──────┐
║   I WORKE ║       │
╚════╤══════╝       │
     │              │
┌────▼─────┐        │
│  METTTTH ├────────┘
└──────────┘

Just as Frankfort’s definition of “bullshit” is indifferent to the truth, and may sometimes overlap it, this cycle is indifferent to whether or not it produces useful work or results. Accordingly, it should not be evaluated on those results.

Unsurprisingly, Martha and I coined the term Brain Meth to describe the experience of “getting a lot done with AI” that people in orbit have been describing to us. I needed this to check myself, as I am no saint. Martha, however, is, and never touches the stuff.

(chart generated by Claude o m g)