[ExI] 27 psychedelics??

[Will Steinberg]

On Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 1:36 PM spike jones via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

>
>
> There is exactly one chemical known to enhance chess ability, freely and
> nearly universally used: caffeine.
>

I assume this is hyperbolic since amphetamines are widely known to boost
problem-solving abilities and reaction time.  Caffeine sucks ass as a focus
drug compared to amphetamines, since caffeine is a much more general
stimulant instead of honing in on the motivation/action loci of the brain.
(Source: studied neuroscience, did a lot of drugs).  And there are plenty
of other nootropics ('smart drugs') known to enhance cognitive ability like
piracetam, vinpocetine, noopept, etc...also hormone precursor stuff like
DHEA or even straight up HGH can be beneficial for the mind.

To Henry: opiates certainly have nootropic aspects; I say this as someone
who was addicted to them (incl. heroin) for years.  Something like kratom
could be particularly interesting for chess-like sports as it is also a
stimulant in a more literal way than typical opiates, which are often
stimulating but I wouldn't classify as stimulants.  In any case I stay away
from all that stuff now, too addicting to me.
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