81–90 of 99 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
With high doses every day you can develop an insane tolerance to amphetamines. 500mg in a day wouldn’t be that unusual.
Even at low, prescribed, dosages, I find myself needing to take a day or two off each week to avoid building a tolerance. I'm not sure if others experience the same thing, but I can absolutely feel the effects slipping away, even after just 10 days of continuous use.
Most people would think the government is responsible for all these drug epidemics: the DEA jailing minorities on minor infractions or the CIA hustling cocaine between countries (look it up). But really the true culprit is just the youth, and always has been. Ever since the early 1900s traditional family values and social community/cohesion has been seriously on decline. Say what you will about Ted Kaczynski, but his…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I tried to read it but didn't get the answer, I did get the good question: WTF happened in 1971? I have a dark suspicion that it has something to do with the rise of computers, of information economy. When some people can take advantage of computers and others can't that leads to income disparity.
Primarily the site implies moving off of the gold standard in 1971 was main trigger. This decouples the growth of money, value of assets, wages, productivity, etc. which all tracked together in the preceding thirty years.
For me the defining thing is the emergence of the USA from the postwar politics and policies and into more of an assumed administrator of the globalization project, a status that it retained until just recently.
Besides the information systems, international containerization standards were settled around this time and jet travel was becoming more affordable. A lot of pieces were in place to renegotiate trade and labor deals. And there was a break with numerous social policies; the calls from think-tanks to reinstate a stratified society started coming out at this time too. Big public infrastructure projects mostly died out in the 70's, and the narcotic drug trade from Mexico and the resulting "drug wars" picked up in the late 60's, conveniently just in time for amphetamenes to fall out of favor.
So, the move away from gold is just one of numerous things that changed in a surpisingly short time frame.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Primarily the site implies moving off of the gold standard in 1971 was main trigger. This decouples the growth of money, value of assets, wages, productivity, etc. which all tracked together in the preceding thirty years.
The years around 1970 are one of those inflection points that is a lot like the causes of the Industrial Revolution: it can't be summed into a few easy factors. For me the defining thing is the emergence of the USA from the postwar politics and policies and into more of an assumed administrator of the globalization project, a status that it retained until just recently. Besides the information systems, international…
When Ronald Graham, a concerned friend and fellow mathematician, bet him [Erdos] $500 that he couldn’t stay off his drug of choice for a month, Erdos accepted and easily won the challenge. When the 30 days was up, Erdos said to Graham, “You’ve showed me I’m not an addict. But I didn’t get any work done. I’d get up in the morning and stare at a blank piece of paper. I’d have no ideas, just like an ordinary person. You…
Do you want to reduce drug addiction? Make the world a better place. Everyone suffers so much. Loneliness, depression and anxiety and becoming more prevalent. These are increased risk factors for addiction.
Are you familiar with the rat park experiment? You’re making claims directly supported by its findings. One of the most interesting was that happy rats who had pleasant quarters and social interaction would choose not to take drugs (morphine, iirc) even if they had used them previously. Pretty interesting stuff.
Perhaps this is the answer to this question https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/
I tried to read it but didn't get the answer, I did get the good question: WTF happened in 1971? I have a dark suspicion that it has something to do with the rise of computers, of information economy. When some people can take advantage of computers and others can't that leads to income disparity.
The information economy has had a big effect - a silly amount of power is concentrated in US software houses. But it is more plausible that the major trends are slow financial decay as markets get further divorced from reality and truth. Tech has resulted in massive productivity gains; but productivity gains previously resulted in pay increases.
I hazard that sensible investment isn't being rewarded and wages are decaying because of that. In a world where WeWork and Uber are considered great ideas someone who is investing in boring-and-steady infrastructure or basic food & comfort services is not going to get the capital allocations they deserve. That is finance and politics, not tech.
Also the site thinks the answer is moving off the gold standard - I like the gold standard, but moving off it was probably a symptom and not a cause.
What's next, "America's caffeine epidemic"? Interspersed with all this pedantry is a smarmy judgement towards stimulants and COMPLETE LACK of context of the times, and a lack of any societal or species context that recognizes the BREATHTAKING ACHIEVEMENTS during said times of "Oh so bad bad we should be ashamed it's an epidemic!" There's an undercurrent here that is almost criminal. The sin is not excess, certainly a…
I was using a moderate, prescribed dose of Vyvanse/Adderall, I've always basically always had ADHD type symptoms and it was never a huge issue, but I never took any pills until I was an adult in an attempt to focus and get promoted at my big 4 job. It ended up backfiring as I had a manic/psychotic episode, which led to highly erratic behavior that led to me losing my job, burning all my career bridges, etc. Then I al…
What's next, "America's caffeine epidemic"? Interspersed with all this pedantry is a smarmy judgement towards stimulants and COMPLETE LACK of context of the times, and a lack of any societal or species context that recognizes the BREATHTAKING ACHIEVEMENTS during said times of "Oh so bad bad we should be ashamed it's an epidemic!" There's an undercurrent here that is almost criminal. The sin is not excess, certainly a…
Sleeping well, eating well, keeping fit and surrounding yourself with interesting people - those deliver many times more than caffeine and amphetamine without any of the side-effects or the risk of addiction.