Hacker News Recap October 31st, 2025 | Attention lapses due to sleep deprivation due to flushing fluid from brain
Nov 1, 2025
Discover the impact of sleep deprivation on brain function and attention spans. John Carmack shares insights on the complexities of mutable variables in programming. Uncover how OpenAI's financial strategies have fueled its rise and raised concerns. Delve into AMD's potential entry into the ARM market with innovative technology. Explore local coding setups for open LLMs and a fascinating visual project on mathematical attractors. Finally, discuss the shift in Europe towards digital sovereignty and the ethical implications of tech-driven addiction markets.
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Sleep Clears Brain Waste For Attention
- Sleep supports the brain's glymphatic system that clears metabolic waste accumulated during wakefulness.
- Impaired glymphatic clearance from sleep deprivation correlates with attention lapses and reduced cognitive performance.
Prioritize Sleep In High-Stakes Work
- Prioritize sleep to preserve cognitive performance, especially in high-stakes environments like tech.
- Re-evaluate work-life balance and integrate well-being into fast-paced workflows to avoid attention lapses.
Mutable State Hinders Code Reasoning
- John Carmack discusses how mutable state complicates reasoning and debugging in large systems.
- He contrasts that with immutability, which simplifies reasoning and improves maintainability.