army1987 comments on Playing the student: attitudes to learning as social roles - Less Wrong

9 Post author: Swimmer963 23 November 2012 02:56AM

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Comment author: [deleted] 23 November 2012 10:42:18AM 5 points [-]

there’s a sort of counter-signalling involved in being a ‘lazy’ student–if you can still pull off good grades without doing any work, you must be smart, so people notice this and respect it.

IME getting hammered drunk the night before an exam and still getting the highest grade inspires even more awe than that.

Comment author: Tenoke 23 November 2012 12:42:27PM 9 points [-]

This is a prime example of self handicapping, we as a society should probably not encourage that kind of a behavior. Having said that, I am exactly the kind of person that does things like that and I even go further.

Comment author: [deleted] 23 November 2012 09:26:33PM *  2 points [-]

But... it... is... awesome...

Anyway, when I did that I was (and still am) very surprised by how little I was cognitively impaired, especially given that I had slept very little in the previous couple days. My hangovers usually last very short, but not when I'm sleep-deprived. (I did collapse on my bed as soon as I got home after the exam and not wake up until my mother phoned me five hours later, though.)

and I even go further.

Like what?

Comment author: Swimmer963 24 November 2012 12:41:34AM 3 points [-]

I did the same thing once (by accident, actually, in the sense that I hadn't yet explored the limits of my alcohol tolerance.) Passed out on my friend's stairs, had to be carried into a bedroom where I proceeded to vomit on myself, etc. Woke up the next morning at 7:30, left an apology note on the floor and wobbled out of my friend's house, did grocery shopping on the way home, studied for a few hours, wrote my programming exam (got 84%, which was bad for me but probably still one of the higher marks in the class), coached a kids' swim meet, and made it to dinner at my other friend's house.

I wouldn't do it again–it is self-handicapping–but telling the story does get reactions of awe.

Comment author: Tenoke 23 November 2012 10:00:39PM 3 points [-]

I study only the day before the exam, sometimes get high(would get drunk as well if I can find someone to do it with) immediately before an exam, I start my courseworks a few hours before they are due etc. I guess feeling like a badass is/was more important to me than slightly higher grades.