Well, there are recreational and performance-enhancing drugs. The attitudes about the two types are different. Coffee, alcohol, nicotine, and pot are all just normalized. Nobody cares. We chat about it in passing (e.g "so Friday I was high....blah blah rest of story"). Coffee is perf-enhancing but people treat it recreationally. The performance stuff is alluded to but not really in any detail. Cocaine, adderall, rita…
Ketamine AFAICT is used mostly for DIY anti-depression therapy. I might have a weird social circle that's unusually receptive to learning about and trying better living through chemistry.
This sounds kind of in line with the theory that drugs are kind of a zero-sum game. You got a lot of speed earlier on and achieved a ton, but then paid for it later on. Kind of like a, "no such thing as a free lunch" economic theory, but for drugs! Not to knock you or your methods, just an observation.
> a no such thing as a free lunch theory, but for drugs There's some reason to believe this is literally true - and true in the same sense as the economic rule! In this context, it's been nicknamed the Algernon argument. Gwern (of course) has the canonical writeup.[1] The short version is: "if some chemical change could make us smarter, why wouldn't it already been in place?" Or, framed differently, "why would the br…
Could it be that one reason we use chemicals to "enhance" our brains is because we are living in ways we aren't intended to live? Human beings aren't made to sit in front of a screen for 16 hours a day. We probably shouldn't be as isolated as we can get, we shouldn't be living the way we live (in crowded cities, say, disconnected from family or community, doing one thing--coding, for example--for 10 hours at a time, etc.)Does that makes sense to anyone?
It said to have characteristics of a holy grail stimulant: increased performance without the crash or heavy tolerance build.
No crash might be the problem with it: you try to go to sleep and end up just kind of laying there half the night.
Modafinil interferes with sleeping less than other drugs - it's only a problem if you rely on the "crash" of running out of energy over the day to fall asleep.
This sounds kind of in line with the theory that drugs are kind of a zero-sum game. You got a lot of speed earlier on and achieved a ton, but then paid for it later on. Kind of like a, "no such thing as a free lunch" economic theory, but for drugs! Not to knock you or your methods, just an observation.
> a no such thing as a free lunch theory, but for drugs There's some reason to believe this is literally true - and true in the same sense as the economic rule! In this context, it's been nicknamed the Algernon argument. Gwern (of course) has the canonical writeup.[1] The short version is: "if some chemical change could make us smarter, why wouldn't it already been in place?" Or, framed differently, "why would the br…
> why would the brain evolve to benefit from a chemical it doesn't normally have?
You could apply the same logic to Aspirin or any medicine - if reducing swelling was beneficial, why doesn't our body do it for us?
That seems like a misunderstanding of evolution. It's not a master plan driving toward perfection. Our biology is a bag of traits, some of which were useful and some of which just haven't been selected out yet.
I've been taking Adderall just about daily for 12 years. 15yrs old to 27yrs old. I've been looking for a way to contribute to a study, specifically on the productivity. My theory is that overall a life on amphetamines does result in increased productivity in your target areas and the downside is a serious dopamine problem in areas that people don't typically have problems with. I've quit cold turkey for periods of up to 3 months 5 times in the last 7 years. I NEEDed 3 days to sleep hard each time and then there were no noticeable side effects other than borderline zero productivity in the areas I used amphetamines to increase productivity the most. Amphetamines give me the ability to change my interests completely and when I get off of them my brain seems to reject what it was forced to care about while stimulated.
I generally agree except that it seems to be a huge migraine trigger for me, so Ive stopped using it.
In my experience that’s dehydration. Modafinil is a diuretic, and appetite suppressant. Not only are you taking on less water because you’re probably eating less but your body is expelling water at frightening rates.
It's that or I think a lack of choline can also cause it. Cheapest and easiest solution is to eat some eggs.
I'm a dev at a startup. I was a regular cannabis user in my younger days, mostly by smoking, but some edibles and quit years ago. In the past couple of years I've started to start using cannabis again. I now vape because I don't need all those combustion byproducts in my lungs, and it lasts much longer, and you can reuse the already vaped material (ABV).
It helps me relax after work at night, and get to sleep some days. I prefer indica rather than sativa for its relaxing and stoning effects. It helps me deal with the stress and makes sure I sleep and eat.
I would be careful of overestimating the amount of stimulant use based on comments and emails here. People who use a lot of stimulants tend to love talking about themselves and often have a belief that anyone successful must be taking stimulants secretly. It plays into the motivation of most stimulant users which is that the stimulants have given them a special cheat code in life. I worked in construction in my young…
I can totally see where you are coming from, but I hope you aren't directing your comments towards what I said above. I actually felt pretty vulnerable submitting my comment (as opposed to being someone who loves to talk about myself) It seems to be resonating with others now, so that feeling has warn off, but initially I was a little concerned to open up and be so candid in a public forum. Also, I did not intend to…
In college I worked as a waitress for 10 hour shifts with 8-10 tables at a time, and it was madness. (Mario Batali was a cook when I was there). And I remember thinking all the waitresses and cooks were just really fast and upbeat, the way I was. And then my boyfriend at the time, also a cook, laughed at my ignorance and told me that almost everyone else was doing coke or crank all night long. I had no idea.
I have to say I agree with 'stzup7. I work in finance in NYC; it's a high-money, high-tech, high-drinking environment. I have coworkers that work too hard. They're not taking anything more than coffee. I know a couple of people outside of my field who are taking stimulants and talking about it. I know a couple people within my field (and outside) who take drugs solely recreationally, not as a performance booster or a…
Your last point is a particularly interesting one. A lot of the most productive and skilled people I know are also very clean. But a good number of them are also using stimulants. I think we all inhabit a world of people who think they are productive - in the sense that many people optimise for the appearance of productivity as opposed to optimising for actual productivity or value generation. I can honestly say that…
>I can honestly say that stimulants make a vast, objective difference to my work output and quality
What objective measures are you using to evaluate yourself? are you in the top 1% of earners for your experience level, position, city?
There is a population of media developers that are fairly heavy marijuana users. By 'media developer' I mean animation, VFX, games, and other graphics & entertainment related type of software. We tend to be older, having been in graphics and media for 20 to 30 years for most of us pothead graphics junkies. We have bongs and all the typical pot smoking accessories out in the open at our offices, and they are in active…
Do you think that the pot is countering any depression or down feelings that may come from being isolated for so long each day? That sounds really hard, even if you really like the work.