Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

I found this, very intresting article linked off of a blog, I'm sure at least one person maybe affected by this, if not its an intresting read anyway.

What I'm wondering is what everyone here thinks about these general characteristics and how much they apply to engineering. After all, there are many famous and successful people that are diagnosed with it. Here is a quick list:

• Alexander Graham Bell
• Andrew Carnegie
• Leonard DaVinci
• Thomas Edison
• Albert Einstein
• Michael Faraday
• Henry Ford
• Galileo Galilei
• Issac Newton
• John D. Rockefeller
• Werner von Braun
• The Wright Brothers

Imagine a world without ADD...
The full article can be found here

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

Yeah, I read that article - (digg.com or slashdot.org linked to it).

I don't know what to make of it... ...part of me agrees... ... part of me thinks they are off left field.

While I am very very conflicted, in the end, I think there is something to the idea that folks with ADD & ADHD are somehow important to the proper function of society.

It is this belief that makes me worry about the widespread medication of kids with the ADD or ADHD label on them.

Yet... ...I know examples of many kids that do much better in school with the meds. I also know teachers that swear by the meds.

Would I have been labeled ADD or ADHD had I grown up today? I suppose so. Would I have done better in school and perhaps avoided some painful experiences in my life had I been medicated? I suppose so. Would some important part of me been suppressed had I done so. I don't know but I think maybe yes...

As you can see, I am conflicted.

Joe J.

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

...Here is a quick list:

• ...
• Werner von Braun
• The Wright Brothers
• Ken Wittlief

Imagine a world without ADD...

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

Add me to that list too.

OH, and another list I read had Dean on a list of people experiencing ADD symptoms/behaviors - along with Einstein, and some other great names in history.
But, having it myself, I can see the validity in their claim.
More like.. able to attempt to take on 14 apps at once and not really focus on one and become good at any and get frustrated..

It's the whole.. Jack of all trades, master at none complex.

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

OMG, for the past 6 months or so I have seriously thought I had ADD. Now I am convinced! Wow, this is so cool I know ADD has advantages in technical stuff. There was a guy in my AP physics class with it and he understood everything really well the first time. Also, look at Tytus and all his crazy-awesome designs (except he has ADHD if I'm not mistaken).

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

I'm pretty sure I have ADD, or some form of it. For example, I'm usually in trouble in classes I don't enjoy (history/english) for talking/not paying attention. This never affects my test/quiz grades however. In classes I like (electronics/computers/math) I do great in both participation and tests.

Quick Note: I was just helping someone with some code and completely forgot about them to reply to this thread. Irony, anybody?

1. The Ability to Hyperfocus.
I've been known to start working on things at 11:30 PM and not finish until hours later. I totally shut anybody else out, all I need is me, my laptop and my caffeine.

2. Rapid Fire Mind.
Laggy programs annoy me, does that count?

3. Multitasking at Will.
I can work on seperate projects all within the same day/week, but not literally at the same time.

4. High Energy Level.
Yup. However, adrenaline may be his fuel source. Mine is caffeine, intravenous if I could.

5. Highly Creative.
Ehh... I try to be. Whenever I need a creativity spark, I ask myself
What would Chuck Norris do?
What would Vin Diesel do?
What would Steve Jobs do?
What would that kid from that movie do?

No really, I do. Gives me a different perspective of possible solutions (perspective of a crime fighter, of a mechanic, of a computer scientist, etc.)

6. Quick Learner.
I learned C during last years build season, we ended up capping the vision tetra.

7. Stimulus Seeking Brain.
Sometimes, when I'm bored, I read random datasheets.

8. Constantly Scanning your Environment.
I notice the weird things in pictures. Eg: An agenda in the back of a photo that looks similar to the ones we use at our school.

9. Great in a Crisis.
Not totally sure. I can't really remember a "crisis" situation.

10. Risk Taker.
I wanted to go skydiving for my 16th birthday, but all the CT dropzones require you be 18. I guess I'll have to wait two years :(

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

I notice small mistakes in paintings, if there is water and its not level, or if a tree is not vertical (all trees grow vertical and balanced), or if the perspective on a building is not painted right - once I notice something like that it drives me buggy, and I would not be able to sit in the same room with that painting.

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

Oh is that so? http://www.unc.edu/~smohanty/summer2005/DSCF0261.JPG

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

If everyone disagrees with me I'll shut up, but here's my opinion. I exhibit almost all of those character traits, and have never been diagnosed with ADD. I've always believed ADD is a personality trait that's treated as a disease. I mean, it has always struck me as weird when kids are like "I have ADD" like they're sick. Anyway, just my $0.02, was reading this thread and figured I'd see if anyone else shares my viewpoint.

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

I always knew people wiht ADD were smarter than people w/o add

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

I am 99.99% sure I have ADD. Everyone on my team can't stand the fact that I have to be doing every second of every minute whether it be productive, like saudering wires to some motors, or whether it is not productive, like when I am just tapping and trying to learn about different parts of the robot.

This is one small step for man, one giant leap for ADD'ers.

-Pavan

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

If you had ADD you would understand that people don't choose not to sit still and they literally cannot help it. I am not scolding you I am just letting you know that for most people like me it is just the hardest thing in the world.

I think the learning thing is right. In math I just look at something and I am good at it right away. So I spend the rest of the class counting ceiling tiles or calaculating the surface area of the floor in the school so can figure out how may tiles there is on it. I just HAVE to be busy with something.

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

ADD has been a huge bonus for me in FIRST. The ability to thrive on choas as opposed to dissolving into a blind panic has always worked out well for me. Also, being able to thread my brain works out because I can simultaneously focus on multiple aspects of the team, and keep track of multiple projects at once.

That being said ADD is also still a challenge sometimes. As a mentor, I still have issues with trying to keep records and keep track of paperwork, both of which are important.

~Allison

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

Thats what I'm saying. I can not sit still for my life... I would like to but it is the hardest task in the world. I feel as if I have to be doing something every nanosecond of every day doing something. I can do something if interested like math, I would rather do 100 qudratic equasions, (I'm in Algebra II), rather than write a two page essay on anything....

Can anyone relate?

-Pavan

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

I don't know if I have ADD or not, but i have often been called "fidgety" . as in I am bored or distracted extremely easily, and I cannot sit unoccupied... in my boring classes i am either asleep or madly scrawling drawings in notebooks... I do not take notes for any of my classes... i flipped through last years Calculus notebook and I had like 4-5 pages worth of actual NOTES for the whole year .. the rest was all drawings . I get anxious if i am unoccupied like i tap fingers start humming guitar solos or something... it annoys the crap out of people cuz i finish a test and if its after lunch and i'm not sleepy i make a lot of noise humming or tapping fingers.

is that ADD ... i don't know... i asked my doctor and he said if i get good grades i don't have ADD