[ExI] Which nootropics work best?

[Eugen Leitl]

On Thu, Mar 17, 2011 at 02:22:26PM +0100, Anders Sandberg wrote:

>> It's a fad.
>
> Like web surfing (a former Swedish minister of communications actually  
> said that in 1996).

A politician says something stupid, highly unusual.

The difference is that nootropics are basically just modulators
for what is in there, which has seen considerable fitness pressure
to operate well while under energy conservation constraints. 
It's a lot like tuning a modern car engine, only with far more 
blunt instruments (because the CNS has no API).

Same thing with SENS. Marginal utility, nothing mindblowing.

> I'm convinced we could make worthwhile nootropics that affect brain  
> health and growth, but we need a regulatory climate that makes R&D on  

I am already taking a small number of nootropics supplements which
have empirically shown some probability for them having a measurable 
impact, and that have high probability of being safe long-term. 

> them possible. As long as only therapeutic drugs are allowed, the useful  
> enhancers will not be developed.

It is possible to read primary literature and obtain pretty much
anything online. While that route is not available to most people,
it is open in principle. If the bleeding edge finds something with
a strong effect, the mainstream will be forced to adopt it.

Anything which enhances a function long-term must have therapeutic
potential.

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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