Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Modafinil and Startups

swombat.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 134 posts

Re: Modafinil and Startups

#31

Post by markbao »

peter_l_downs wrote: post #7

What I found with more experimentation of days both with and without Modafinil was that actually, I was just as productive if I was well rested, healthy, well fed with healthy foods and working on something I cared about. This, I think, is the most interesting part of the entire piece. He talks at length about the benefits of Modafinil: On the good side, those tasks which I did line up got done, and with great energy…

It is incredible what the body can do on its own. On the other hand, it's a little disappointing that the body can do this under normal circumstances, but society today pushes it to a false sense of efficiency, and people start taking performance-enhancing medications to get back to the ability we already have.

Re: Modafinil and Startups

#32

Post by jakeonthemove »

w1ntermute wrote: post #3

Is it just me, or does using mind-altering substances to get through one's daily schedule seem like it crosses the line? I'm always a little baffled when people sacrifice their health for work - it's a very bad decision in the long term. You can always find another job, but once you damage your health, you may never get it back.

Doesn't seem like that to me... Taking psychoactives is like a shortcut if you don't want to (or more likely just can't!) do it the hard way (with willpower alone). Besides, there are people who smoke and drink and still live longer than their "health-freak" peers - I still find that interesting and somewhat unfair.

Also, using caffeine pills instead of coffee and recommending them to others leads to wide eyes and "you take drugs?" kind of questions - apparently, that is crossing the line, yet drinking two huge mugs of coffee in a row isn't. Human psychology, go figure :-)...

Re: Modafinil and Startups

#33

Post by jakeonthemove »

peter_l_downs wrote: post #7

What I found with more experimentation of days both with and without Modafinil was that actually, I was just as productive if I was well rested, healthy, well fed with healthy foods and working on something I cared about. This, I think, is the most interesting part of the entire piece. He talks at length about the benefits of Modafinil: On the good side, those tasks which I did line up got done, and with great energy…

Taking a pill, however, is much easier than keeping a proper diet and sleep schedule and working only on what you like...

Re: Modafinil and Startups

#34

Post by the_cat_kittles »

Thank you for writing this, it articulates everything i have felt about it perfectly! Eerily similar to my experiences. It has always bothered me that people think these drugs make you smarter, because they dont. I think of them more like shots athletes get in hurt muscles- the shot didn't make you stronger, you just dont feel the pain anymore, at the expense of long term health. Only in very special circumstances is that worth it.

Re: Modafinil and Startups

#35

Post by amirf »

The music also made a big difference. Listening to Infected Mushroom while high on Modafinil and coding up a storm made me feel like I was some kind of insane coding machine that could complete pretty much any coding task in record time.

Hilarious :)

On a more serious note - this sounds a lot like taking Ritalin. I was just as productive if I was well rested, ...and working on something I cared about. - this isn't always an option. Sure, heavy use of anything isn't good. Lest we forget it's a drug after all, even regular use might be too much for some.

I really liked the article and the approach on things.

Thanks

Re: Modafinil and Startups

#36

Post by [deleted] »

jakeonthemove wrote: post #33
peter_l_downs wrote: post #7

What I found with more experimentation of days both with and without Modafinil was that actually, I was just as productive if I was well rested, healthy, well fed with healthy foods and working on something I cared about. This, I think, is the most interesting part of the entire piece. He talks at length about the benefits of Modafinil: On the good side, those tasks which I did line up got done, and with great energy…

Taking a pill, however, is much easier than keeping a proper diet and sleep schedule and working only on what you like...

[deleted]

Re: Modafinil and Startups

#38

Post by dsrguru »

Your description of the subjective effects of modafinil sound almost identical to those of Adderall (d-amphetamine). Adderall has a very well established short-term safety profile in therapeutic doses, but long-term use, especially at moderate to high doses, can lead to severe dependency and a host of health problems, in a very similar manner to cocaine. If what you say is true that Modafinil doesn't have the high addictive potential of amphetamines and cocaine, that sounds very appealing, but taking any drug even once if it's too new to know if there are long-term side effects from short-term use really scares me. I'm glad you conclude that sleep, nutrition, and exercise are preferable.

P.S. Wikipedia says Modafinil is Schedule IV in the U.S., which means that, like cocaine and morphine (Schedule II), Modafinil is illegal unless you have a prescription.

Re: Modafinil and Startups

#39

Post by polyfractal »

kcima wrote: post #22

Modafinil is also compared to amphetamines (which are often used either for recreation or to treat ADHD), since its effect is somewhat similar. Generally, the comparison states that amphetamines are bad for you and that Modafinil is not as bad because it "works differently", but there is probably more overlap than the proponents of Modafinil would like you to think. There is one massively huge difference between amph…

Furthermore, the article author is really stretching it with this statement:

"Generally, the comparison states that amphetamines are bad for you and that Modafinil is not as bad because it "works differently", but there is probably more overlap than the proponents of Modafinil would like you to think."

This has nothing to do with "proponents of Modafinil" - they work in different ways on the pharmacological level. The mechanism of modafinil is still being analyzed but it has been shown fairly conclusively that they operate differently.

Post reply on HN