[anotherhacker]

You're conflating knowledge work with manual work.

Knowledge work requires the brain to wonder...to explore a problem and possible solutions freely.

Michael Jordan wasn't trying to create anything new, he was trying to develop a physical skill. Physical skills are made via repetition.

Things like stress and distraction destroy knowledge workers. This is something every experienced engineer knows.

[ksk]

Creativity also applies to athletes. They have to come up with new solutions to solve problems all the time - such as coming up with a novel way to bypass the defense of the opposition and score, given a particular situation. Just because they combine their physicality with prior experience, knowledge and cognitive ability (which they can't use too much of given the "realtime" demand) doesn't make them any less creative. IMHO They're more creative than most people on here who are implementing CS ideas already explored decades ago.

[cocktailpeanuts]

i'm not conflating anything more than what this article is doing.

On the other hand, you are guilty of taking my words out of context. It's convenient to just take michael jordan and use it as an argument, isn't it? I also mentioned another "knowledge work" example.

I'm not saying scientists should be working 18 hours a day. In fact when it comes to scientists and researchers I do agree that you should NOT work too hard because you will burn out, and most creative ideas come when you're taking a break.

But it's not cool to take that example and tell the world you should "slack off" because it's "scientific". That's not how the world works. If you want to achieve something, you can't win against someone who go all in. Simple as that.

[megalodon]

You can't count productivity in hours. Someone who goes "all-in" 6 hours a day can certainly accomplish more than someone who says they go "all-in" 12 hours a day.