'Mind Doping' Becoming More Common

runamock writes "The Los Angeles Times is running a story on the growing use of 'mind drugs': 'Forget sports doping. The next frontier is brain doping. ... Despite the potential side effects, academics, classical musicians, corporate executives, students and even professional poker players have embraced the drugs to clarify their minds, improve their concentration or control their emotions. Unlike the anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and blood-oxygen boosters that plague athletic competitions, the brain drugs haven't provoked similar outrage. People who take them say the drugs aren't giving them an unfair advantage but merely allow them to make the most of their hard-earned skills.'" There's an interesting comment on this topic in Fresh Air's top cultural trends of 2007 broadcast.

Flashback!

[grub]

People who take them say the drugs aren't giving them an unfair advantage but merely allow them to make the most of their hard-earned skills.

That sounds like what I used to say when I was dropping lots of acid and eating oodles of mushrooms in the '80s! Worked for me and never affect me in any way... gotta run, the xmas tree is breathing again.

Mind doping

[SamP2]

I've been taking a mind doping drug every morning for decades. It's called coffee.

Re:Mind doping

[aussie_a]

Thankfully your safe from coffee being outlawed as it isn't a threat to the rope industry.

Re:Good to be dumb

[dilute]

The jobs they offer only require a small amount of training which doesn't require much intelligence or academic ability, and doesn't offer much other than tedium. . . .I'm in my final year of university now and at the beginning of the year I got a part-time (and damn well-paid, for a student at least) job as a PHP developer . . . .

Come, on, PHP isn't THAT bad!

Re:Flashback!

[pushing-robot]

A hundred comments and no Sapho/Mentat/Dune references? Who are you people, and what have you done with the real Slashdot?

Re:Not really new

[cyber-vandal]

but there is foundational material in computer science that derives from his findings

That explains a lot.

Re:Flashback!

[jollyreaper]

A hundred comments and no Sapho/Mentat/Dune references? Who are you people, and what have you done with the real Slashdot?

What if we took a legendary Danish king, made some clones of him, then gave 'em all a dose of the drug, would that count as a Beowulf cluster?

See, the Dune references were too easy. We dotters like a challenge, we want to work for our lame jokes.

Re:Flashback!

[TubeSteak]

A hundred comments and no Sapho/Mentat/Dune references? Who are you people, and what have you done with the real Slashdot?

They've all crashed and burned after "mind doping" for the last 4 days straight.
 
/hard & perscription stimulants are a nasty habit to have

Re:Awesome

[Kristopher Johnson]

"...during the two hours before bed drink three or four full glasses of water. Pee before climbing into bed."

And then pee every half hour for the rest of the night. Or maybe you're still in your twenties.

It IS ceating

[gweihir]

Taking drugst to improve your performance is cheating. Of course the ones doing it allways deny this. Befere that they deny taking anyting. It is typical for the mid-set of the cheater to allways believe they are justifed and not doing anything wrong. Even most common pick-pockets believe that "circumstances drive me to do it".

These people are scum. They lower standards. They try to create the impression of talent, were there is none. However, typcally, these people do serios and often irreperable damage to themselves and gets their punishment automatically. Of course then they claim they "dod not know" or that "they are not responsible for what happened to them". Of course they are.

Dishonesty is one of the ugliest possible human characteristics. Being dishonest and proud about is is about the only possible way to make it worse.

Re:incorrect underlying assumption

[Naturalis Philosopho]

George W. Bush

Re:Slashdotters Are Not Using the Drugs

[Walt Dismal]

I have a most excellent elixir made from the blood of young virgins (you know, the ones under 12, the only ones left) and it sharpens my mind and clarifies my vision. Except for the times when I black out and regain consciousness holding body parts that are not mine. On the other hand, it enabled me to write a lot of Windows code at Microsoft until the day Redmond security came to my cubicle and showed me the surveillance cam footage with the black plastic bags and the shovel and the dirt... Then they took away my badge and my honor. But I got even. Now I work for Google. I like their motto: "Do no evil at which you can get caught". Now pardon me. I must go. There are little children outside on the street here in Mountain View. This cannot be tolerated.

- Sweeney Torvalds, demon coder of Fleet Street

Re:Flashback!

[kalirion]

I sure hope you configure your "preferences" correctly for the sex scenes.

Re:Flashback!

[MorpheousMarty]

I bow down to your superior geekiness, and your low ID number humbles me.