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Nootropics

gwern.net

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Re: Nootropics

#351

Post by nhaliday »

dajohnson89 wrote: post #331
nhaliday wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a source for the first assertion? I can't find any studies on google. I'm skeptical because people so often attribute many of the negative effects of other chemicals in tobacco to nicotine with no evidence (a point the OP hammers home at https://www.gwern.net/Nicotine ). Even the FDA seems comfortable with this conflation, as evidenced by their disposition toward e-cigs.

Academic studies? No, sorry, I can't find any either. Here's a a source of anecdotal evidence, FWIW. http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=18612&name=NI...

It would be pretty hard to separate the effects of nicotine from the effects of a lifetime of smoking + potentially poor dental hygiene (gum disease is rampant https://www.perio.org/consumer/cdc-study.htm) + aging.

Per wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine) the general medical consensus is that nicotine poses few risks on its own for nonpregnant adults, besides vasoconstriction and dependence.

Re: Nootropics

#352

Post by TrevorJ »

mettamage wrote: post #94
HalfwayToDice wrote: post #74

The best nootropic is getting a good nights sleep. It takes effort! Preparing for bed early and disciplining yourself to put the light out is not easy. Not nearly as easy as popping a pill. But it's so much more effective than any drug listed here. And for a safe and provable quick cognitive boost, take some caffeine, preferable green tea with theanine.

It's hard for me to fall asleep. I haven't cracked it yet how to do it perfectly. What helps: view the problem as improving your likelihood to sleep. Before I viewed the problem as falling asleep 100% of the time, which is a really defeating view to have when I can't fall asleep. Sleep tips that help me: 1. meditation: still experimenting with body-scan vs. breath meditation, they both help but have different effects…

I started listening to some history podcasts in bed with my eyes closed. The podcast app I use (podcast addict) has a timer feature so I set it to 15 or 20 minutes and by the time the podcast stops I'm ready to sleep. I also know a lot more history than I used to :)

I recommend:

The History of Rome by Mike Duncan

Revolutions (also by Mike)

The History of Philosophy without any Gaps

The British History Podcast

Re: Nootropics

#353

Post by beachstartup »

jonathankoren wrote: post #70
marodox wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He probably has tried drug free, exercise and sleep over a month.

Where's the write up? Many people, including myself, find exercise to be mind numbingly boring, and intellectually insulting. (Pick up a weight and put it down? That is quantitatively zero work, buddy. No thanks.) Never underestimate the motivation to find a quick fix.

> That is quantitatively zero work, buddy

this statement is both technically wrong, and stupid because of your inane try-hard elitism. with google you can calculate down to several sig figs how many joules of work was done by picking up a weight, and putting it down.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_(physics)

maybe you meant 'qualitatively'? even then, still wrong. moving heavy shit around is work, even if it ends up in the same spot.

Re: Nootropics

#354

Post by PeterisP »

smelterdemon wrote: post #312
PeterisP wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a problem with all these website-blocking tools that I want them to behave differently than they do, perhaps you can suggest something? The issue is that I want to block only the main , 'browsing' pages while allowing deep links to that same site. For example, I want to block reddit, when googling some question turns out an answer that's on a niche subreddit I've never seen, I need to be able to read it. Howev…

With StayFocusd at least, you can whitelist subreddits while blocking the main site.

I want to blacklist only the main site - Stayfocusd was a particular example, I got some google results on subreddits that I never knew existed and couldn't have been in a whitelist.

I'm rather going for the reading vs scanning distinction - even there I would want the particular subreddit main page to remain blocked to prevent the procrastinating pattern of checking an interesting place to see if there's something new interesting. Similarly, the main news.ycombinator.com should be blocked but visiting particular pages from e.g. a weekly digest email would be useful.

Re: Nootropics

#355

Post by nommm-nommm »

camelNotation wrote: post #265
mettamage wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard for me to fall asleep. I haven't cracked it yet how to do it perfectly. What helps: view the problem as improving your likelihood to sleep. Before I viewed the problem as falling asleep 100% of the time, which is a really defeating view to have when I can't fall asleep. Sleep tips that help me: 1. meditation: still experimenting with body-scan vs. breath meditation, they both help but have different effects…

Sex is a good option too. My wife and I both fall asleep earlier and sleep longer after we've had a good romp and roll.

Sex does the opposite for me - it wakes me up.

Re: Nootropics

#356

Post by nommm-nommm »

mettamage wrote: post #215
hawski wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read again what he wrote - he relies on open windows :)

Yes open windows indeed! I do have a 'mosquito screen' (no clue how to call it in English).

Usually called 'window screen' in American English or just 'screen' if the context is clear.

I doubt 'mosquito screen' would be unclear to any English speaker so it's fine to say.

If a screen is on a door you call it a 'screen door' if you have a full enclosurer to protect you from bugs it's a 'screen house.'

Re: Nootropics

#357

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

theonething wrote: post #347
mettamage wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard for me to fall asleep. I haven't cracked it yet how to do it perfectly. What helps: view the problem as improving your likelihood to sleep. Before I viewed the problem as falling asleep 100% of the time, which is a really defeating view to have when I can't fall asleep. Sleep tips that help me: 1. meditation: still experimenting with body-scan vs. breath meditation, they both help but have different effects…

I've tried lots of different things and the most effective has been forcing myself to get up early (~6am for me). It was really difficult when I first started, but then I got into a routine. It's the only thing that consistently causes me to be feel tired earlier at night and be able to fall asleep more easily. I also combine that with reading in bed (with a orange filtered light bulb) until I nod off (~20 minutes).…

I'm a tradesman, at my work we always start at 7am for an 8hr day. If we're busy and doing overtime we start at 6am for a 10hr day. Im at a computer for a third to a half of my day, otherwise I'm walking and packing and on a forklift.

I'm at the gym by 5am for an hour or so for weights abd running.

There are no cool white fluoros or CFLs in my house, nor outside.

I find this regime thoroughly exhausts me physically and mentally, and I have no trouble falling asleep and staying alseep unless I get cold.

Re: Nootropics

#358

Post by nommm-nommm »

forloop wrote: post #233
aninhumer wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Sleep isn't a nootropic. This happens quite a lot with noobs. It's a figurative usage. The OP is not suggesting sleep is literally a nootropic, but that it is something that performs the same function. Like "the best defence is a good offence". And I don't think it's derailing the topic to talk about relevant alternatives.

> The best nootropic is getting a good nights sleep. The above is a direct quote from OP. Where's the metaphor? You're grossly mistaken! > but that it is something that performs the same function Can sleep gives one supranormal cognition? No. Does sleep perform the same function as modafinil (a drug which gives you more time to work since you need less sleep)? They're nearly opposites. Does sleep perform the same fun…

It's like a well known expression "Love Is One Hell Of A Drug." It's not meant to be taken literally.

Re: Nootropics

#359

Post by sctb »

forloop wrote: post #349
scriptkiddy wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure the person you were arguing with is trolling. There's no way someone could be so socially inept to take the op's point so literally.

The best thing about code is you don't have to convince idiots that you're correct. Investing has the same property. What if I'm not a troll? Then I guess that would make you inept!

We've banned this account for repeatedly posting personal attacks after we've asked you to stop. We're happy to unban accounts if you email us at hn@ycombinator.com and we believe you'll comment only civilly and substantively in the future.

Re: Nootropics

#360

Post by Jubjubz »

throwaway__123 wrote: post #117

Zoloft I am afraid of sounding like a shill, but the fact is I'm 30 engineer, who has been trying to feel better my whole life through experiments with: ketamine, CBD, various nutrients, various dietary changes, exercise, being more social, meditation. None of them made lasting improvement like sertraline has, I wish I had been open-minded enough to try it years ago. In retrospect, maybe it was ridiculous to try to f…

The problem with SSRIs is that they can have wildly different effects on different people. Compounding that issue is clinicians misdiagnosing patients quite frequently because it's all subjective. You take a few questionnaires and they score them and say "this number means you're mildly/moderately/severely depressed."

In my case, as with many others with bipolar, Zoloft sent me into a hypomanic episode where I didn't sleep for 3 days and was severely agitated. I had never been diagnosed with bipolar in the ~15 years I had been in treatment. A change in my medication resulted in serious complications.

Recommending specific medications without experience is dangerous. Even doctors with years of experience can't get it right. It turns out for me SSRIs are a poor choice. I was prescribed lamotrigine and it changed my life. I no longer feel depressed for months at time, I sleep well, my libido is normal and I can ejaculate whenever I want.

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