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<DIV></DIV>On 4/14/06, <B class=gmail_sendername>Neil H.</B> <<A
href="mailto:neuronexmachina@gmail.com">neuronexmachina@gmail.com</A>>
wrote:<BR>
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<DIV>Not necessarily. For example, one might imagine some sort of "tweak"
which would enhance intelligence at the cost of dramatically increased energy
consumption. Something like this would be selected against over the
millenia of human evolution, as energy/food was generally hard to come
by. In contemporary society however, energy/food is quite easy to get --
indeed, we have huge diet/exercise industries dedicated to trying to get
people to consume less food or use more energy. </DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<DIV><BR><SPAN class=406065312-15042006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2> I have read a good deal about many geniuses being manic
depressive or bipolar and producing their best work during their hypomania
phases.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=406065312-15042006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=406065312-15042006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Wikipedia States:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=406065312-15042006>
<P><SPAN class=406065312-15042006>"</SPAN>Hypomania is a less severe form of <A
title=Mania href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mania">mania</A> without
progression to <A title=Psychosis
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosis">psychosis</A>. Many of the
symptoms of mania are present, but to a lesser degree than in overt mania.
People with hypomania are generally perceived as being energetic, euphoric,
overflowing with new ideas, and sometimes highly confident and charismatic, yet
they are sufficiently capable of coherent thought and action to participate in
everyday life.</P>
<P>It is questionable whether hypomania occurs without being part of a cycle of
mania or depression. Patients rarely, if ever, seek out a psychiatrist
complaining of hypomania. Johns Hopkins psychologist John Gartner in <I>The
Hypomanic Edge</I> contends that many famous people including <A
title="Christopher Columbus"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus">Christopher
Columbus</A>, <A title="Alexander Hamilton"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton">Alexander Hamilton</A>,
<A title="Andrew Carnegie"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie">Andrew Carnegie</A>, <A
title="Louis B. Mayer" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_B._Mayer">Louis
B Mayer</A>, and <A title="Craig Venter"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Venter">Craig Venter</A> (who mapped
the human <A title=Genome href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genome">genome</A>)
owed their ideas and drive (and eccentricities) to their hypomanic temperaments
(it is called the <B>hyperthymic temperament</B> in clinical research). The
creativity and risky behavior associated with hypomania (and bipolar disorder in
general) may suggest why it has survived evolutionary pressures.</P>
<P>Although hypomania sounds in many ways like a desirable condition, it can
have significant downsides. Many of the negative symptoms of mania can be
present; the primary differentiating factor is the absence of <A title=Psychosis
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosis">psychosis</A>. Many hypomanic
patients have symptoms of disrupted sleep patterns, irritability, racing
thoughts, obsessional traits, and poor judgment. Hypomania, like mania, can be
associated with recklessness, excessive spending, risky hypersexual activity,
general lack of judgment and out-of-character behaviour that the patient may
later regret and may cause significant social, interpersonal, career and
financial problems.</P>
<P>Hypomania can also signal the beginning of a more severe manic episode, and
in people who know that they suffer from bipolar disorder, can be viewed as a
warning sign that a manic episode is on the way, allowing them to seek medical
treatment while they are still sufficiently self-aware before full-blown mania
occurs.<SPAN class=406065312-15042006>"</SPAN></P></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=406065312-15042006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Current drugs for manic depression tend to try and level you out
not maximize the happy hypomania side of the
disorder.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=406065312-15042006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=406065312-15042006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>My
thought is that a drug that could be closely regulated by dosage to control the
level of hypomania could be both pleasurable and of great positive benefit to
society.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
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