From The Conversation:
Cognitive performance enhancers promise to deliver a better version of ourselves: smarter, more alert and more mentally agile. But what if such enhancement was no longer a personal choice but a socially and legally enforced responsibility? In the final installment of Biology and Blame, Nicole A Vincent and Emma A. Jane explore the risks of normalising this emerging trend.
In Australia and all around the world, students, academics and professionals of various stripes are increasingly experimenting with new cognitive enhancement technologies to boost their memory, attention, reflexes, clarity of thought and ability to function well with little sleep. In many cases, this involves the re-purposing of medications that have previously been used to help the sick become "normal", rather than to boost the well into some sort of superhuman sphere. These include controlled drugs such as Ritalin (a central nervous system stimulant usually prescribed for hyperactivity and impulse control), modafinil (a medication used for increasing wakefulness in patients with conditions such as narcolepsy) and donepezil (used to treat dementia).
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BBC presenter Benjamin Zand recently took what he believes was a nootropic, or smart drug. The reporter is uncertain since he ordered the tablets online. In this downbeat report, he recounts the effects of the presumed modafinil:
Many so-called smart drugs have conventional uses - a popular one, modafinil, is used to treat excessive need for sleep caused by narcolepsy or shift work. But they are also being taken, in growing numbers, by people looking to work more effectively. Modafinil was dubbed the "world's first safe smart drug" by researchers at Harvard and Oxford universities who suggested its effects were "low risk" when taken in the short term. But side effects can include insomnia, headaches and potentially dangerous skin rashes, and there is a lack of long-term data.
Nevertheless, having read such positive reviews online - some claiming smart drugs had drastically improved their university grades - I decided to take it as an experiment. While it is illegal to sell modafinil in the UK without a prescription, it is not illegal to buy. There are many websites, often based in India, which make it available to purchase.
[...] The following day, a train journey presented what I expected to be a perfect opportunity to get some work done with the aid of a smart pill. I was wrong. I became distracted - more so than normal. While the drug made me focus, it was on the wrong things - such as playing video games on my smartphone. As the time passed, I began to develop a very bad headache, I lost my appetite and I needed to use the bathroom - constantly. While my brain wasn't working any faster, my bladder certainly was.
That evening, I began to feel the effects of modafinil's "wakefulness promoting agent". When I tried to get to sleep, I found myself unable to switch off until the early hours of the morning. I also found an itchy lump on the back of my leg - one on my arm appeared too the following day.
My experiences seemed a far cry from those of others. Jason Auld - an athlete and entrepreneur from Edinburgh - says he feels like he can achieve virtually anything on modafinil. "It just makes you feel as if you're operating at 100%, you're putting in all you can put in. Usually you don't think that's possible, but modafinil allows me to do it."
Related:
Cognitive Enhancement is Ethically Risky Business
Drug Unlocks Malleable, Fast-Learning, Child-Like State In Adult Brain
Ethics and the Enhanced Soldier of the Near Future
Cognitive Enhancement May Not be All It's Cracked Up To Be.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by VLM on Monday June 16 2014, @09:53PM
"nobody should be expected to enhance themselves just to do their job"
Next thing you know they'll be expecting college diplomas! Not to mention the requirements for booth babes and hooters waitresses. They might even demand haircuts, or bathing. Best stop this slippery slope now.
"This risks dystopic scenarios where corporations use such medications to save money by demanding superhuman efforts from workers rather than simply employing more staff."
And we're already there, without medication, so not much will change.
We can juuuust barely get some mega corporations to pee test their employees for drug use at hiring time. The slippery slope has a ways to go. Wake me when companies demand dietary changes and forbid certain medical procedures from being insurance funded for religious reasons (whoops, forget about that one)
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 16 2014, @10:14PM
There was no meat in the Apple cafeteria until Jobs croaked.
(Score: 1) by redneckmother on Tuesday June 17 2014, @04:00AM
Please tell me that they didn't serve his corpse?
Mas cerveza por favor.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 16 2014, @10:47PM
And thank God there's a lot that don't. So fucking what if I use drugs besides alcohol during my downtime? So long as it doesn't impact my job performance, like say coming in to work regularly with a hangover, its nobody else's fucking business. If it does affect my performance, then that is the issue, and can already be dealt with in normal ways, ways which don't involve invading my privacy and dictating how I'm to spend my free time and what I'm allowed to put in my body.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 17 2014, @12:06AM
There are ways to avoid that hassle:
1) Be successfully self-employed such that you don't have
to worry when or where your next client will come from to
pay you for your products and/or services.
2) Win a fortune of money through some sport or gambling.
3) Marry/adopt into, (il)legally acquire somehow, or inherit a fortune of money.
4) Die and free yourself from the socioeconomic rat race.
I hope these four items cover anything and everything.
If not feel free to (seriously) post more as replies
to this post.
(Score: 1) by redneckmother on Tuesday June 17 2014, @04:07AM
Besides alcohol? I once had to explain to my boss why my supper was five cuba libres, and I didn't claim the ribeye dinner that followed.
Mas cerveza por favor.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 16 2014, @10:55PM
> We can juuuust barely get some mega corporations to pee test their employees for drug use at hiring time.
I think you would be surprised at how many actually do nowadays. Especially the mega corps. I walked away from a long-term contract gig with a mega-corp because they wanted to do a paperwork shuffle that would involve me pissing in a cup. I would have passed, I have literally never used an illegal drug, not even just once, but I felt that if I had the money in the bank to take a stand I had better damn well put my money where my mouth is.
Anyway, personal vignette aside, drug-testing is everywhere. Some states even permit random test of current employees rather than just pre-employment testing. The only place you are safe from it is with the smaller businesses that don't feel like they can afford to piss off the talent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 17 2014, @12:27AM
I have had a commercial driver's license for years. Being tested for drugs every few months is standard* practice. The real demeaning thing is the regular DOT physicals.
*well supposed to be. Places like UPS and Teamseter shops will fake the paperwork or 'forget' as long as you don't hit anything while you are high. GO UNION!
(Score: 2) by M. Baranczak on Tuesday June 17 2014, @04:08AM
I have a friend with several relatives in the music business. She told me a story about MTV; one April Fool's Day, some unknown employee at MTV headquarters circulated a memo announcing random drug tests for all employees. The whole office was in a state of panic. But once they realized that not a single person in the place could pass the test, they knew it was a joke and everything went back to normal.
It's not so much the size of the company - it's more dependent on what industry they're in. Arts/entertainment is obviously right out. The people in IT don't party quite as hard, but drug testing is still rare. Hell, I don't think even the big uptight corps like Microsoft or IBM do drug testing (correct me if I'm wrong).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 16 2014, @09:53PM
How about creatine and piracetam?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 17 2014, @06:55AM
Creatine is natural and "undetectable" - they might perhaps think you have a problem with kidneys or liver.
Piracetam though, hmmh. It's detectable reasonably easily. It's not super effective or has truly dangerous side effects, so it might get a pass.
The tests are usually after harder things, specifically things that can induce psychosis. Amphetamines generally.
Stimulant psychosis is "fun" to have in workspace.
(Methylphenidate = Ritalin *might or might not* be in the clear in this case, depending on dosage. Overdoses definitely are not.)
Abuse of stimulants is also a sign that said employee could burn out. Physically. Mostly by insomnia.
And of course for opiates, because that actually indeed degrades performance, even if very clean.
Fresh use of pot is not generally considered wise either, it tends to impair.
Of course communists will agree that all performance enhancement is evil, because not everyone can afford it.
That said, the best and cheap cognitive enhancement is a glass of water , a bit of regular exercise and a healthy diet, rich in vegetables.
(How glass of water helps: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/talking-back/2013/07/23/two-hydrogens-and-one-oxygen-a-recipe-for-a-cognitive-enhancement/ [scientificamerican.com])
(Score: 2, Funny) by q.kontinuum on Tuesday June 17 2014, @07:19AM
The horror!!! And the demands from big corp have already started!!!111eleven11! At our place, they are already putting fruit-baskets twice a week, a gym, free carbonated water, coffee etc.! So not only do they put us on cognitive enhancement, they are even being cheap on us, giving us only the cheap enhancers!
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Horse With Stripes on Monday June 16 2014, @09:58PM
How about we try to improve our cognitive abilities, memory, attention, reflexes, clarity of thought and ability to function well by eating right, exercising, breathing fresh air and getting enough sleep.
As a life-long insomniac (average is 2 - 3 hours of sleep a night) I can tell you that getting a few extra hours of sleep can really make a difference. So can eating a balanced diet, going for walks and getting some exercise. I'm 50, work like I'm 20 and feel like I'm 100. It's time to take my own advice.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 16 2014, @10:27PM
Whatever we did it's not working, we still appointed Abbott as top dog.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by mcgrew on Monday June 16 2014, @10:45PM
Well, I get plenty of sleep and don't always eat junk food but do consume my share. I usually have eggs, bacon, toast, and lots and lots of coffee for breakfast (caffeine is a brain booster), worked at a desk and the only exercise I got was walking (I like to take walks). And I like pot and beer. They had a health thing at work last year (I retired in February) and were amazed, they said that my heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels were those of a healthy 40 year old. I was 61 then, they were amazed that I didn't work out. I have noticed that my mental faculties aren't what they once were and I get tired easier than I used to, but I'm healthy.
Everyone forgets about genetics. Some people just age faster than others. My dad, an electrical lineman exposed to PCBs daily for his forty year career died of liver cancer last month a month short of his 83rd birthday. Everyone he had worked with had been dead from liver cancer for decades. His mother lived a hundred years, outliving five doctors who all told her if she didn't get her cholesterol down she'd die (she broke her hip at age 99 when she fell in the nursing home). My mom is a healthy 86. Most of her siblings are alive, and she's the baby of the family.
Just look at your family history. If your grandparents all died of heart disease, you might want to eat right and work out. If your family is prone to cancer you're a fool to paint your nails or spend time in an automotive garage.
Mad at your neighbors? Join ICE, $50,000 signing bonus and a LICENSE TO MURDER!
(Score: 1) by Horse With Stripes on Tuesday June 17 2014, @01:54AM
On my father's side going back to the 1600's many men have lived to be over 100 (I'm sure more would have made it if they weren't killed in wars). My father is 86 and healthy as a horse (even though he's smoked like a chimney since he was 10). I've had two aunts on my mother's side pass recently (both were in their 90's). Though genetics appear to be on my side I'm still not taking it for granted. A little bit of moderation is a pretty good baseline (with the occasional indulgence ;-)
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Tuesday June 17 2014, @02:39PM
It doesn't sound like you have much to worry about.
Mad at your neighbors? Join ICE, $50,000 signing bonus and a LICENSE TO MURDER!
(Score: 4, Funny) by skullz on Monday June 16 2014, @10:30PM
I can't imagine these folks, not being able to "function" without their drugs! I mean, man up, stop depending on chemicals!!
*sips coffee*
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 16 2014, @10:45PM
It's a helluva drug!
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 16 2014, @10:48PM
A while back someone explained to me why athletes take crazy drugs to up their performance even with all the known risks.
Money.
They choose to sacrifice their future health for a massively increased standard of living today. Sure there all kinds of other human factors like machismo involved, but fundamentally it is a basic risk-reward calculation.
So whenever I hear about nootropics and the like, I compare it to professional athletics. A million dollars ain't what it used to be, but I'd probably take some serious risks if it would get me $5M or more. However, it is hard to guarantee that you'll get that $5M. That is the rub.
(Score: 1) by idetuxs on Tuesday June 17 2014, @01:25PM
This.
It's not just money, a lot of people use steroids, nootropics and alike, because it's not such a risk for them. Even when there is no money in the middle. Have you visited your local gym? Professional athletes I think take even more risks because they need to, they have to be on the edge.
(Score: 1) by Hartree on Monday June 16 2014, @11:01PM
There's a good bit of hype about these, but I haven't really seen evidence of marked improvement without downsides. And we already have ones that we have lots of experience with (caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, food. Yes food. Many people eat to alter their mood and thus do better in some way)
Also, there's a huge variation in the way people react to any given drug. It may help someone perform better, but make others do worse.
So far, we've been much more successful at making up definite deficiencies with our pharmaceutical interventions than greatly enhancing ability (Yeah, I know about Paul Erdos and amphetamines, but he's hardly a case of enhancing someone "normal")
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday June 16 2014, @11:36PM
I expect it is because the human body, in young physically fit adults, is functioning at the limit of its sustainable capabilities. Yes you can enhance one aspect, and maybe run faster, bench press more, or stay awake longer, but in the long run its a self limiting endeavor.
These proposed new drugs will also prove to be the same. Take drug X for Y years and you will ultimately have to pay in some way or another. Almost no artificial enhancement comes without a price.
To that end they are probably a short lived fad, as companies suggesting (requiring) you take a drug to do your job will ultimately end up paying in court for any future impairment that you suffer as a result.
Government, on the other hand can send soldiers out in the worst environment in the world, hang a medal on them and forget about PTSD. I wouldn't worry about big business forcing enhancements, I'd worry about government.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 17 2014, @01:49PM
http://xkcd.com/1173/ [xkcd.com]
(Score: 2) by LookIntoTheFuture on Tuesday June 17 2014, @01:50PM
I would be interested to see the suicide rate of these "mentally enhanced" people. Make people too smart and they may see that life in this time and place is utterly pointless.
(Score: 2) by skullz on Tuesday June 17 2014, @02:06PM
Ssssssh! *puts fingers over LookIntoTheFuture's lips*
Don't give the sheep any ideas.
Seriously though I get what you are saying. Been there, will probably be back there (except for the smart bit) at some point. If you are feeling really REALLY down and are in the US give this guys (https://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/) a call.
(Score: 2) by LookIntoTheFuture on Tuesday June 17 2014, @03:02PM
You don't have to worry about me. I'm sufficiently delusional and not so smart, so I don't have the urge to leave the party early. :)