[ExI] Which nootropics work best?

[Mike Dougherty]

2011/3/13 Will Steinberg <steinberg.will at gmail.com>:
> In the most serious manner possible, I recommend taking a dose of
> serotonin-pathway-affecting psychedelics.  The most commonly known of these
> are LSD and psilocybin-containing mushrooms.  The experiences I have had
> with these substances are the most profound form of cognitive enhancement I
> have ever encountered, and the positive aftereffect/takeaway is long-lasting
> and integrable into normal life.

Perhaps equally important:  Why are these substances illegal?  Sure,
they're "dangerous" but in a very different way than alcohol (for
example).   I ask who is threatened by mind-expanding substances -
even discounting those currently classified as schedule I.

Google caffeine+industrial+revolution.  Could this stimulus really be
responsible for a productivity enhancement that jumped humanity into a
new (current) age?  Might there be a similar jump if cognitive
enhancement were similar applied?

I see a considerable interest in keeping us not well-fed, but overfed
to the point of lethargy and carelessness.  We're so much easier to
control on the edge of carb/sugar coma and tuned-in to the TV (modern
opiate of the masses?)

Sorry Spike, I have to admit I don't feel very confident even
attempting to put more effort into expounding on these ideas - either
the reader will already have had similar thoughts or there is likely a
language/meme barrier that would precludes easily making the point.