Ask HN: How Newton did so much without tea or coffee?

5 pointsupxx4mo ago7 comments

How did Newton, lacking the stimulants that fueled the productivity of so many later great minds—from caffeine-driven mathematicians to nicotine-powered physicists—maintain the relentless intensity required to reshape mathematics and physics?

7 comments

seemaze4mo ago

You may find some insight into his methods and motives in the biography 'Issac Newton' by James Gleick. It's a wonderful and quick read.

https://inkwellmanagement.com/books/isaac-newton

razodactyl4mo ago

More flow-states, less distractions, pure intellectual drive to know the unknown.

You're all still capable of it.

austin-cheney4mo ago

For somebody substantially more productive checkout Leonhard Euler. Pronounced (oiler).

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonhard_Euler

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtkX18dU2_U

I don't know if he had access to, or consumed, tea or coffee. He lost his eye sight due to a progressive illness and the more his vision declined the more productive he became. He is commonly considered the most accomplished mathematician in human history.

smallerize4mo ago

Caffeine makes you feel more alert, but it's probably shrinking your working memory. Try being creative without it, for me it's much easier.

bigyabai4mo ago

Divine motivation is one possibility. A lot of his later life was particularly... driven, largely into secret societies and meaningless gematria studies.

dangus4mo ago

Isn’t caffeine pretty much proven to be a non-factor for daily consumers?

Is it proven that he didn’t consume tea or coffee? Both were available in his time. England had coffee houses in the 1600s. Ever heard of the East India Conpany? They traded tea.

Besides that, you really think humans didn’t have awareness of various stimulant drugs at that point?

Did you read his Wikipedia page? I mean, the guy never got married, he had time on his hands. His Wikipedia page also says that he prioritized work over his own well-being.

JojoFatsani4mo ago

He didn’t have social media distracting him

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