Aldous Huxley predicts Adderall and champions alternative therapies

I think untreated attention issues (if not the rather narrowly defined condition labeled "ADHD") are rather widespread. And society doesn't help, just look at the checklist of things you need to do on an ongoing basis to just keep a vehicle running for transport in the US, which pretty much everybody outside a city needs, and even many city dwellers elect to procure as well.

One is supposed to feel good doing "normal" things. Completing tasks should feel good.

There can be many variables at play: maybe your dosage could be lowered, maybe Adderall isn't ideal for you, or maybe you're simply adjusting to the medication the first few times you take it, and it won't feel the way afterwards.

But most importantly: yes, you're absolutely going to feel like you've got a superpower the first time you take it. The euphoria you feel from being able to simply do things the way neurotypical people can just get up and do them is very much a part of the ADHD experience.

Also, neurotypical people don't do mundane things on Adderall. That's not what makes them feel particularly good. Because for them, doing things without friction and climbing the mental wall first is the normal experience.

They don't feel happiness experiencing it for the first time in their lives when they take Adderall. They've had that ability all along.

TL; DR: you feel that dopamine release from doing mundane things on Adderall because you have ADHD.

That suggestion is disproved by the research I linked, particularly when it comes to mental tasks.

>the answer is broadly “yes, for some tasks

For mindless tasks, like long-haul driving, where staying awake is pretty much all that's required ? Sure.

Anything else, citation needed.

>The historical and continued use by various militaries of stimulants seems to suggest that at least many very highly motivated big spenders seem to expect the same to apply to the general population.

Military use is more commonly to increase stamina (e.g. for pilots on 48 hour bombing missions), not efficiency.

And military scenarios simply don't transfer to civilian life.

Staying awake without sleep when you're a bomber pilot is a matter of life and death, so adverse health consequences and even decrease in mental capacity can be tolerated, because being dumb and awake is better than being smart and asleep in that context.

...to an extent. Until you end up shooting some Canadians dead [1].

Which is why the "historical" use by militaries is not continuous. It's been abandoned by militaries that tried it; particularly by the USAF after that incident.

As for use by the military in general, note that the average lifespan of a Russian soldier on the front line in the Ukraine war is measured in hours[2].

That's a very different context than anyone talking here is facing. And one where the ability to stay alert matters more than anything else.

That doesn't translate to efficient or productive in any normal sense. A solider is waiting most of the time. Then something happens, fast. Any delay in reaction, and you're dead.

We can discuss the effectiveness of amphetamines in such scenarios, but that has nothing to do with Huxley's description (or productivity, efficiency, etc).

As I said in my top comment: Adderall is for helping people act without delay. This translates well to military use.

Sometimes.

A delay would've saved those Canadians.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jan/04/afghanistan.ri...

[2] https://www.yahoo.com/news/average-life-expectancy-front-lin...

The only thing that changed is the environment. The person is fine.

So all this "winter clothing" scam exists only to enrich clothes makers.

The world simply should be warm everywhere, then none of that stuff would be necessary.

Winter clothes aren't a solution to feeling cold, because they don't address the root problem of Finland being on the map.

People simply shouldn't be subjected to such conditions.

...see how you sound like?

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>societal amphetamines are about as supportive as me handing you a set of crutches after i broke your legs

Well, the common ground here is that the crutches would indeed be helpful in this scenario.

>if you took an adhd cunt and threw him in the bush he would be fine

I get your point, but nobody would be fine like that. People are social animals.

Sure, the society sucks. But we literally can't live without it.

And while we're fixing it, well, we better have the meds.

> eg. maybe if we didn't get forced into a 9-5 schedule and instead had a bit more freedom , people would be more happy to devote energy to their work ...

100%.

> "here, take this speed and wreck your heart so that you fit better into the box we designed for you"

Counterpoint: stimulants are still useful and helpful even when you take the society away.

I can be living on my own and on my own terms, and still be upset that it took me literally 11 (eleven) years to mail a gift to a friend [1].

Sure, there could be ways mailing a package could be easier. But I really can't blame the 11 year delay on society trying to fit me in a box.

>the only way forward is to through honest questioning as to why adhd diagnoses are thousands of times greater in the west,

Citation needed. But availability and quality of mental healthcare is one big factor here in any cases.

Saying this as some born in the USSR.

My mother got an ADHD diagnosis in her 50s, long after moving to the US.

It's not like she didn't struggle with ADHD in the USSR, it just wasn't an option to get an ADHD diagnosis there.

[1] https://romankogan.net/adhd/#Eleven%20Years%20To%20Mail%20A%...