Boosting Your Brain for Fun and Profit

A diverse assortment of legal, bioscience, psychology, and ethics academics argue for cognitive enhancement drugs in the pages of Nature.

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Posted by John Orrett  on  01/25  at  08:53 AM

I suspect that history demonstrates some (all, most?)people are "hard wired" to use anything that will give them a competitive edge against other species or members of their own species - caves, clubs, fire, inflence, spears, arrows, guns, nuclear weapons and that is is always "Science" analysis or the ability to make deductions that makes suce advantage available.

It also shows that people will do a think, no matter how many times they are told not to (drive to fast, smoke, drink too much) and only hard edged enforcement by the state (in a Hobbseian sense) stops them doing so. It follows therefor that these things will be used and even if suppressed will be used by some.

The debate should be around, therefore, how they can be used for the betterment of the individual and society. The answer is likely to invove dealing with side effectcs and minimising the bad ones and making them availible to those that cannot afford them. At the moment for example Modafini is available in the uk to educatied informed and well off people who understand the internet and have the finance to get access to it. In concsequence, therefore, the social divide probably widens but certainly social mobility is reduced.

In the UK social mobility and equity are issues. Are they issues for you? or is the approach in the US "tough, if you dont know about these things or can not afford them then it does not matter, you are a trailer trash looser".

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