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High IQ linked to drug use

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61–70 of 85 posts

Re: High IQ linked to drug use

#61
post #60
post #53

As someone who suffers from ADHD-PI, I can't help but wonder a possible co-relation here. Before my occasional marijuana use a few years ago, I wasn't aware of my concentration issues. Like many others, I thought I was just lazy or unmotivated. When smoking marijuana for the first time, my friends lay around unmotivated and relaxed while I couldn't stop thinking about working on one of my many "one day" projects. Thi…

What medication gave you the same benefits as weed, if you don't mind me asking? My experiences very closely match yours, fwiw. I tried Ritalin but wasn't satisfied at all, and am 'back on' weed.

My experience with pharma was similar to the GP sans the weed. I take Adderall.

Re: High IQ linked to drug use

#62
post #53

As someone who suffers from ADHD-PI, I can't help but wonder a possible co-relation here. Before my occasional marijuana use a few years ago, I wasn't aware of my concentration issues. Like many others, I thought I was just lazy or unmotivated. When smoking marijuana for the first time, my friends lay around unmotivated and relaxed while I couldn't stop thinking about working on one of my many "one day" projects. Thi…

I've noted that those who experience drugs as a depressant tend to have normal dopamine activity whereas those who experience drugs as a stimulant appear to have low dopamine activity I think in general you are going to find depressants will act like depressants, and stimulants will act as stimulants. In your theory, focus on the inflection point where (e.g. alcohol) a depressant acts as a stimulant. It is a stimulan…

> I think in general you are going to find depressants will act like depressants, and stimulants will act as stimulants.

I believe this to be true, although, I am talking about those who suffer with ADHD or other dopamine-related disorder.

> It is a stimulant for all people when consumed in the right amount, though it also depends on other factors. Some days alcohol will make me stay up all night, some days it will put me to sleep in 15 minutes.

My theory is, a substance is a stimulant or depressant relative to your dopamine (or brain wave activity). Too much dopamine reception? Depressant. Too little dopamine reception? Stimulant. It has been reported that average people taking methylphenidate (ADHD medication) experience drowsiness (too much dopamine reception) as oppose to those who have dopamine receptor deficiencies, find the drug as a stimulant (too little dopamine reception).

Also, dopamine levels often vary throughout a day for most people, so your perspective would hold true with regard to this theory.

Re: High IQ linked to drug use

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they ultimately don't believe IQ is highly heritable, which it is I don't think anybody sane questions that, but what people are saying and that studies so far have confirmed ... 1) small variations in IQ tests don't matter, like for example the difference between 120 and 140 being negligible and depends a lot on external factors, like rest, vitamins in your blood-stream and mood ... give a person several IQ tests ov…

A Scottish study found that IQ is stable, over a 66 year period. http://homepages.ed.ac.uk/ijdeary/papers/SMS32_98.pdf Also, just because one can game the test, or make its result less accurate, it doesn't mean the population level data is much less accurate. I'm reminded of the Body Mass Index - men, by strength training, can put on lots of muscle mass and become classified as "overweight" or even (rarely) "obese" w…

it's spectacularly unstable for comparisons between cohorts though, most notably in the case of the Flynn effect. I find it highly unconvincing the average person in the 1930s had the same fundamental level of intelligence as those people scoring 80 on the same tests today.

Re: High IQ linked to drug use

#65
post #60
post #53

As someone who suffers from ADHD-PI, I can't help but wonder a possible co-relation here. Before my occasional marijuana use a few years ago, I wasn't aware of my concentration issues. Like many others, I thought I was just lazy or unmotivated. When smoking marijuana for the first time, my friends lay around unmotivated and relaxed while I couldn't stop thinking about working on one of my many "one day" projects. Thi…

What medication gave you the same benefits as weed, if you don't mind me asking? My experiences very closely match yours, fwiw. I tried Ritalin but wasn't satisfied at all, and am 'back on' weed.

Right now I am on Concerta, 54mg. I have tried higher dosages, but the drowsiness and inattentiveness came back. This is what originally lead me to believe that the effects (stimulant or depressant) of substances are relative to the person's dopamine reception. At a higher dose of Concerta, 72mg, I figured I'd end up being superhuman, but, surprisingly I ended up back where I started - inattentive and unmotivated. At Concerta 54mg, I've noticed marijuana will often push me over this threshold as well, causing the marijuana to act as a depressant where it was otherwise a stimulant.

Ritalin, while chemically similar, doesn't seem to provide the same benefits from those who've disclosed their experience (again, anecdotal). Concerta is once-a-day release-controlled dosage.

Re: High IQ linked to drug use

#66
post #53

As someone who suffers from ADHD-PI, I can't help but wonder a possible co-relation here. Before my occasional marijuana use a few years ago, I wasn't aware of my concentration issues. Like many others, I thought I was just lazy or unmotivated. When smoking marijuana for the first time, my friends lay around unmotivated and relaxed while I couldn't stop thinking about working on one of my many "one day" projects. Thi…

There is some evidence that methylphenidate (ritalin) effects wave activity (synchronization/latency) see eg (not paywalled): http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v21/n2/full/1395347a.html

For some background see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P200

Re: High IQ linked to drug use

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"IQ is heritable, but the catch is that it may, in fact, only be heritable through the mother's half of the genes contributed to the child [1]." Do you have a source for this that isn't, um, from the Simpsons? Geneticists have an equation for estimating the response to selection, the change in IQ from parent to offspring, and it uses an average of both parents' IQ. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritability#Respon…

"Do you have a source for this that isn't, um, from the Simpsons?" My Simpsons reference was meant to be a colorful analogy, and not a "source." Sheesh. The source for my statement was journal article I read a few months back. I can't seem to track it down online, but here's a blog that summarizes the studies: http://flatrock.org.nz/topics/men/thank_mom_for_brains.htm Like I said, the jury is still out on this. This…

this so called 'new hypothesis' has been around for more than 50 years. It was just not written about because people couldn't accept the consequences have accepting that it was a possibility.

Re: High IQ linked to drug use

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Indeed the idea that only stupid people do drugs is part of this propaganda." That's not propaganda. It's numbers. Doing drugs = high risk. And it's stupid to take high risks with your body, unless you don't mind dying young. I've never understood why many 'tech' people are so pro drugs. Why do you need it?

"Why do you need it?" No one needs it. I doubt anyone will argue they need it unless they're addicted to something that has produced withdrawl in which case they really do need it. But the problem with this kind of mentality is that it lumps all drugs in as "bad". This is part of the failure of our current prevention and education system. Telling the kids all drugs are bad leads to more use. They'll try some pot firs…

"Telling the kids all drugs are bad leads to more use. They'll try some pot first"

Sorry, but I disagree. Some kids are brought up well, to respect authority, the law and to respect their bodies. Not everyone tries drugs. Blame the parents...

"First, we need to put marijuana in the same class as alcohol and cigarettes. A little weed doesn't hurt anyone."

I'd go for that as long as cigarettes and marijuana are both illegal to use outside your own private property. Breathing in drug addicts smoke is not something the public should have to do. Thankfully we're moving the right direction making smoking tobacco in public places illegal.

Re: High IQ linked to drug use

#69
post #51

You guys are full of shi*t. You actually believe that high IQ means more intelligent. And now you find an excuse to your drug use and say, "see, I use drugs because I'm smart". why don't you guys just admit that you guys are too weak minded and the only reason you use drugs is because you are too weak to a avoid peer presure.

I meant to say that IQ is a bad measurement of intelligence. If you want to get high and legally try epazote. It has many uses but few know that it can also be smoked. You can even plant it on your back yard and it will grow back every year.

Re: High IQ linked to drug use

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Indeed the idea that only stupid people do drugs is part of this propaganda." That's not propaganda. It's numbers. Doing drugs = high risk. And it's stupid to take high risks with your body, unless you don't mind dying young. I've never understood why many 'tech' people are so pro drugs. Why do you need it?

"Why do you need it?" No one needs it. I doubt anyone will argue they need it unless they're addicted to something that has produced withdrawl in which case they really do need it. But the problem with this kind of mentality is that it lumps all drugs in as "bad". This is part of the failure of our current prevention and education system. Telling the kids all drugs are bad leads to more use. They'll try some pot firs…

Two points.

First, I believe the parlance is recovering addict. If you choose to subscribe to the 12 step method of recovery, you are never fully "recovered" from addiction.

Second, marijuana, alcohol, and cigarettes are all gateway substances. The dangers of these mood altering drugs are self-evident. It seems to me that we should be doing everything possible to educate people before they get hooked, not try and deal with a drug addict after they become addicted.

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