A blog post titled “De-Brainrot Vacations” describes a break of two weeks spent by a software engineer trying to reverse what he calls “brain fog” by reading books and teaching himself calculus and physics.
The Trouble With Brain Fog
The author says his thinking has grown duller since he began work in Software Engineering. He says his thoughts are getting duller still, less profound, more idle. He points to several causes: ordinary daily work, heavy use of AI tools, and constant reach for quick video, games, comics and TV shows.
He uses his reading habits as a measure of the change. During his History degree, he read more than 1200 pages a week. Once he began his first Software Engineering job, that dropped off. He says he was too tired to read after work, and that most of his reading time went to reference material instead.
The Break Itself
He spent the break visiting family in the country, marking the anniversary of his wife’s birth one weekend and his wife’s mother’s the next. He describes the trip as calm: time in nature with his dog, time with family over mate, and games of board games, football and Roblox with his nephews.
He also mentions an odd sight during the trip: horses fighting off vultures that were trying to eat matter left behind from the birth of a young horse.
The Reading List
He brought two books on the break and finished both within the first week: a book by Mary Beard on the history of ancient Rome, which he read to recall his time at university, and a book by Francisco Claro on physics, meant to satisfy his curiosity about the subject.
He enjoyed them enough that he had to buy more reading material for the second week, adding a collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald short stories and “Atomic Habits” to the list. Both went fast, he says, which left him time to come across what turned into a new interest.
From Reading to Numbers Again
The proofs in Claro’s book left him wanting more, so he started working through Stewart’s “Calculus: Early Trascendentals.” He found weak spots in his grasp of numbers and shapes, so he went through the book’s own appendix on the study of figures and measuring, and the book’s own resources online covering the plain rules of numbers.
He also changed his study tools later on, after finding that working through the book on a laptop or phone was a poor experience, which led him to seek out resources designed for online study instead.
| Resource | Subject |
|---|---|
| Stewart’s Calculus: Early Trascendentals | Calculus |
| Paul’s Notes | Calculus |
| Active Calculus | Calculus |
| University Physics | Physics |
He says he has not yet found a version built for online use of the physics book, but calls the setup good so far.
Why He’s Doing This
He compares the experience to when he first began writing software as an interest outside of work. He says it feels like learning for its own sake and enjoying the process. He admits that back then, learning to write software also carried the hope of landing paid work in the field — this time, he says, the reason is different.
He is not sure what the interest means for his future work, especially given how AI has changed the field. He says everything about a career in Software Engineering and Data Engineering is less clear than it was 8 years ago. His stated goal is to one day fully understand advanced physics ideas and eventually read new papers in a field he discovers through this interest.
Did It Work?
He says he does not know.
He says he is enjoying it, and that he has noticed he is less mentally dull during his daily activities.
The post ends with a Webmentions part, which asks readers to reply from their own sites.
Source: devz.cl
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.