Drinking a Glass of Wine While Studying

[jim hardy]

Ballmer effect?


http://xkcd.com/323/

 

[chiro]

See, this is why sciences like biology make me incredibly angry soemtimes. Red wine is a cotentious issue in terms of its health benefits. When you see a study that says 'red wine reduces cancer' it doesn't mean that they gave wine to a test groups and followed their progress, in most cases. It's 'we dribbled this chemical, extracted from the skin of red grapes, onto a clump of cells in a laboratory and found that it did some small thing that may be construed as a benefit'. Also there are studies that also say that red wine does not have health benefits and may actually contribute to cancer. If you want to be a scientist, you should at least read these studies briefly instead of espousing weird stuff that you hear on the news. The studies are far, far from conclusive.

If it pleases you to believe that drinking wine will help you with homework, go ahead but I don't see the point of this question.

This is something that is going to exist in science for quite a long time.

Apart from issues like trying to isolate the actual 'causes' for a particular process being a source of constant debate providing criticism in both 'positive' and 'negative' ways, the other important to thing to realize is that pretty much most of science is inductive.

When people do an experiment to test something, usually what happens is that an inductive theory is generated from the results of that. It might work and it has in great ways for people like Isaac Newton on different levels and for this reason people will keep doing this because of the successes of people like this.

If you think about though, with its shortcomings I can see that this is a good mindset to have despite the humongous possibility of getting it even mostly wrong because it allows us to have those moments like Newton and Maxwell, even if they are only a handful of the total population.

If we didn't have this mindset, I can't see us really getting much done or anywhere nearly as much done as what we have accomplished so far.

 

[Office_Shredder]

It should also be noted the guy who did all that red wine research might have just made it up

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/12/us-red-wine-heart-idUSTRE80B0BH20120112

 

[ThomasT]

Has anyone tried it? Do you feel that it helps you relax and focus or does it get in the way?

For others who may not know, red wine has many health benefits and it is recommended to drink a glass or two a day.

Wine (or beer or a cocktail) won't help you study or learn, imho. The best condition for learning is to be totally sober. Maybe a little coffee or tea. Better is just water and some sort of snack for energy. This might not be the best recipe for you, but it's what I've come to believe is best for me via years of ... experimenting.

 

[Dembadon]

A glass of wine is enough to inhibit my reasoning ability, making it difficult for me to work through tough problems.

Talking about mathematics/physics/engineering while buzzed is one thing; actually doing it is another matter, so I don't drink while studying.

 

[Pythagorean]

I often found during my freshman and sophomore years that a bit of a buzz helped immensely with my english classes. It increases my ability to bs 10-fold. Otherwise, I was in a permanent state of writer's block.

 

[netgypsy]

No everything in moderation is NOT fine. Ethanol is not good for you even in moderation. (Yes I'll have a beer or a glass of wine on occasion) The study I posted was done on alcohol consumed in moderation. Increased the risks for several cancers and so on.

Eating during studying is also not a good idea. Eat, get over being sleepy and sluggish, then study. You absolutely can't concentrate when you're hungry either. When I taught a 7am class I used to send one student to get food for all the ones who wanted it because most hadn't bothered to eat and were starving. And when I had evening tutoring sessions I did the same thing. You just can't learn when you're really hungry.

You wonder just how many people do badly in courses because they just haven't figured out their optimum study needs?

 

[Loren Booda]

Alcohol and thinking don't mix.

 

[mathwonk]

I agree. It only helps if you are too stressed out to work at all when sober. If you are able to work, you will probably work much more effectively sober. In the first 50 years at least of my life, the one thing that I had to be careful about, was not to take a single drink while trying to do mathematics. If I broke that rule, it always guaranteed that I would soon lose concentration and even fall asleep. It definitely put a short limit on the time I could spend working.

 

[Pythagorean]

I think Christopher Hitchens did wonderful work on scotch.

 

[mangaroosh]

Has anyone tried it? Do you feel that it helps you relax and focus or does it get in the way?

For others who may not know, red wine has many health benefits and it is recommended to drink a glass or two a day.

Just purely going on the logic that we learn a lot by association, I would think that if you can't drink a glass of wine in an exam, then it might affect your ability to recall.

 

[BobG]

Has anyone tried it? Do you feel that it helps you relax and focus or does it get in the way?

For others who may not know, red wine has many health benefits and it is recommended to drink a glass or two a day.

Depends what you're studying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VZcY1B8iPM

That just shows a stationary wineglass. Rotating the wineglass is more interesting.

http://www.es.northropgrumman.com/solutions/hrg/assets/hrg.pdf

 

[genericusrnme]

Personally, I chug down a glass of cod liver oil before I study - dem omega-3's

.. Not really, I usually just have a cup of green tea before I study
Not a clue if it helps or not though.

 

[deluks917]

Even 2 shots/glasses and I can't focus on math the rest of he day.

 

[nitsuj]

It raises the question doesn't it? Which drug would be helpfull for studying something as logical as math / engineering / physics ect.

I wonder if there is ginsing and other herbs marketed as "studying aids".

 

[Loren Booda]

Too much Ritalin can make one psychotic.

 

[vorcil]

http://xkcd.com/323/

Ballmer peak is real

Drinking alcohol proven to help

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Just purely going on the logic that we learn a lot by association, I would think that if you can't drink a glass of wine in an exam, then it might affect your ability to recall.

My friend was working in CogSci and found studies indicating that one's mental state can affect recall. Theoretically if you do your homework while intoxicated and then go to class sober you may not remember it as well. Of course the effects of intoxication may well hinder recall in the first place.

 

[netgypsy]

My friend was working in CogSci and found studies indicating that one's mental state can affect recall. Theoretically if you do your homework while intoxicated and then go to class sober you may not remember it as well. Of course the effects of intoxication may well hinder recall in the first place.

I have some good friends who are fairly functional alcoholics. They work hard and are good people but I pretty much ignore anything they say after dinner because they won't remember it the next day. They are also quicker to anger, more emotional and quite prone to saying things that they would never say without the alcohol. They've tried repeatedly to stop drinking but since they have no idea what they are like after imbibing, they don't think they change at all, but they do - a LOT. It's impacting their health and nearly destroyed one of their businesses as it requires them to be normal for about 18 hours a day and they can't do that. And friends can do nothing because it's LEGAL.

 

[Nano-Passion]

It raises the question doesn't it? Which drug would be helpfull for studying something as logical as math / engineering / physics ect.

I wonder if there is ginsing and other herbs marketed as "studying aids".

My psychology professor used to vow for Ginga Biloba aiding your thinking processes. For one he said that it helps lower stress and thins the blood, allowing for better blood flow to the brain.

Can anyone confirm this?

 

[Nano-Passion]

Too much Ritalin can make one psychotic.

Really? And how much is too much?

 

[lisab]

Really? And how much is too much?

See that sandworm coming through your wall? OK then, you've had too much.

 

[Nano-Passion]

See that sandworm coming through your wall? OK then, you've had too much.

lmao! Well I've never tried it , though a couple of my friends who took it (adderall) on occasion make it sound as a magic pill. I wonder how it really affects the chemistry of the brain and to what extent it impacts your study.

 

[netgypsy]

the "drugs of choice" for academics are caffeine which does work unless you're really stressed out, ritalin and provigil (modofinil). An ADHD adult family member says provigil is totally amazing. There is no UP or DOWN with it which there is with caffeine.

Caffeine also makes many people very very irritable and short tempered. I had a student do a study on it and he took 1 no doz which is supposed to be 1 cup of coffee, every 4 hours during the day and he said by the end of the week he was ready to bite everyone's head off or hit them. He was really astonished by just how short tempered he was when he took it.

There seems to be none of this with provigil (which is related chemically to the amphetamines) , no hyperactivity, and no "down" effect which there is also from caffeine. Again many people I know will get depressed after an all day caffeine intake wears off. The family member who took provigil said for the first time in his life, now in early middle age, he was able to sit down and write a paper with no delay, no flitting around doing everything but the work he needed to do. He wrote 55 3 page papers in a couple of days, had no trouble sleeping, took the prescribed amount from his doctor and noticed no problems when he stopped taking them after all his work was turned in for his masters. (He doesn't need it for the normal work he does and it's a bit pricey)

The ONE MAJOR CAVEAT with provigil is you DO NOT TAKE IT IF YOU ARE SLEEP DEPRIVED. It will give you hallucinations like the sandworm coming out of the wall. So it's great to help you concentrate IF you've had enough sleep. it's expensive and if you can tolerate the bad temper and possible depression, caffeine does work well for many people. The same family member used it to get through college but had the bad side effects of ill temper and depression from caffeine. Plus of course if you take caffeine in the afternoon or evening it will generally interfere with your sleep unless you are really relaxed with no worries. Then it doesn't.

If you're ADD/ADHD or do shift work or have jet lag you can get a prescription for provigil but you won't get it to study for a physics test

The same ADHD family member did try ritalin and several other drugs used for ADHD but said the side effects were not worth taking them as caffeine worked better with side effects not being any worse.

Ginko is interesting and my uncle took it regularly until he died at 98 still in complete control of his faculties. He died from melanoma on his ear from too much golf/sun. So I'd be most interested in other experience with ginko.