21–30 of 72 posts
As I read this, I can't help but be reminded of the old adage, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
Slightly OT: I am surprised to hear this sentiment on HN as often as I do. It seems to imply a somewhat Luddite-like fear of technological advancement, versus the generally positive interest I would expect from hackers. Am I off base? I'm not talking about modafinil specifically (no opinion there) but more generally.
Gwern has an amazing writeup of Modafinil, including his own (DIY "double" blind-trial) experience, effects, etc: http://www.gwern.net/Modafinil Highly recommended for anyone even slightly interested in the workings of Modafinil. His own experiences are described in the most detail on this page: http://www.gwern.net/Nootropics#modafinil
There goes my night. That site is like a black hole.
Gwern seems to be an awesomely motivated person. It really inspired me to take what I consider to be "interests" more fully.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There goes my night. That site is like a black hole.
It's not just a black hole, it's a well researched and cited black hole. Gwern seems to be an awesomely motivated person. It really inspired me to take what I consider to be "interests" more fully.
As I read this, I can't help but be reminded of the old adage, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
I am very interested of opinions on these boards for it. My intuition is there is no free lunch - if this were the optimal brain wiring, we'd be there already. Is it the inevitable crash or sleep deprivation? I haven't done any hard research on the topic, so I am interested in first hand observations. We are the target audience of the article, even if the link title doesn't suggest it.
Depression for me. I've used it multiple times in law school and afterwards. I stopped because for a couple days afterwards I would get seriously depressed.
Congratulations HN for upvoting Big Pharma propaganda nonsense.
As I read this, I can't help but be reminded of the old adage, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
In this case, you end up paying for the tolerance that builds up extremely quickly when you take Modafinil multiple times.
I wonder if repeated use simply makes the user feel that the changes are normal, when in effect, they are in a high functioning state.
I use it between a few times a week and a few times a month (my desire to take it at all fluctuates quite a bit). I'll take 10-25mg in the morning and get on with my day. I generally don't really notice it, but looking back in the evening, realize I was a bit more productive.
For me, it's less euphoric than coffee. I'll feel happy and energized after a cup of coffee, but after taking modafinil, just a bit more alert.
What it does seem to do is raise overall energy levels during the day, and increases short term memory (useful for programming).
I think many news stories about it, like this one, blow it vastly out of proportion. Cumulatively, it could make the difference that pushes your work to the next level, but sleep and exercise are a way bigger factor. Still, I am very happy to have it.
For those worried about giving money to big pharma, buy it online from one of the many sites that import from India.
Good job publicly endorsing a pharmaceutical drug NY Mag. I have a feeling as word spreads, the abuse will make it harder for legitimate suffers of narcolepsy (and other cases treated by Modafinil) to get access to the pills.