There is no funnier category of thing than “tech people life hacks.” From building underground bunkers to shield themselves from an apocalypse they’re actively causing to putting the blood of teens in their bodies to drinking raw poop-water, if there’s something dumb, impractical, or counterintuitive, there is someone in Silicon Valley who’s desperate enough for an edge to give it a shot.

And so, obviously, there is now a trend in Silicon Valley that involves making yourself feel horrible on purpose. A recent CNBC story highlights various proponents of “positive stress,” who believe, per the report, that “doing something uncomfortable every day makes everything else seem doable.” Inducing positive stress, it seems, mostly involves starving yourself and taking cold showers instead of hot ones, with increased productivity as the only reward.

At The Outline, we’ve long been suspicious of productivity for its own sake, and the premise that productivity is a natural reward for acting nuts only confirms our doubts.