What is Digg?114 Comments
- alethes1973, on 06/19/2009, -1/+25Just curious...how much of it did you comprehend and retain?
- marytormey, on 06/19/2009, -7/+31Some people take steroids to enhance there performance in sports, it is even though it is illegal and considered to be cheating, but society has a very different view of mind enhancing drugs. Even very bright students can claim to have a disability. We might even think it is unfair to deny these drugs to anyone that requests them.
Too often we forget that there is a price to pay for using drugs to enhance performance. These drugs can cause death, psychosis or other health problems. You might argue that the people choose to take these drugs and are responsible for there decisions, but sometimes people feel like they don't have a choice. Perhaps we put to much value on personal success, and not enough value on the success of our society as a whole. We forget that good test grades and incredible feats of strength do little nothing to help our society. The people who really make our lives better are people who contribute to the success of others, not people who are too focused on there own success to worry about the way drugs can damage there health and there relasionships with others. - Muffinhunter, on 06/20/2009, -2/+21i know anecdotal evidence is worthless, but i'm gonna share anyways. my first two years at college i failed out. twice. my gpa was less than a 2.0 because i couldn't bring myself to do anything. i knew what i had to do; i just couldn't make myself actually DO it. and when i did, i would be flipping back to the interwebs or something else every 2 minutes, no matter what i tried.
i was then diagnosed with ADD, inattentive type. i realize that a lot of people dispute the validity of ADD as a disorder, but hear me out. i was initially put on focalin XR, and now i'm on a relatively low dose of concerta, which is an extended-release med similar to ritalin. the difference was mind-blowing. i didn't become some super-student or genius, but i could finally GET ***** DONE. it was amazing. my gpa after that was something like a 3.8.
that was 4 years ago. i'm now in law school and in the top 5% of my class. i've taken concerta nearly every day in those four years, and while it doesn't have the profound effect on me that it used to, i've noticed no negative side effects. for those who need them, these drugs are lifesavers.
as for those who DON'T need them...well, as long as you're safe about it, i see nothing wrong with using them sparingly. hell, the air force REQUIRES their pilots to take amphetamines for long flights. they can be an immense help. but like anything, i believe its best to use these drugs sparingly, lest you become (mentally) dependent on them. i know part of the reason the concerta doesn't effect me as much anymore is simply because i expect more out of myself. if i don't take it, i feel sluggish and out-of-whack. i don't like the idea of taking this every day for the rest of my life, but for now the benefits have FAR outweighed the drawbacks. - mjk340, on 06/20/2009, -1/+15I used dexedrine very sparingly in college. I found that taking it too many days in a row was very counterproductive. I would begin to lose weight and lose concentration. There are limitations on the ability of the human brain, and dexedrine will help burn yourself out.
Seeing these negative effects, I only used it when there was a real need. Most of the time the 'real' need was my own fault, e.g. I skipped class all semester or waited until the night before a research paper was due to get started. I would use maybe 10 or 20 milligrams to keep me awake and focused for the entire night in a way that caffeine or red bull could never accomplish. It most definitely is a performance enhancer in that respect, but it is not a magic bullet. The human brain learns through repetition, and pumping tons of information into your brain in one night is no way to retain information, speed or no speed. The best way to get smart is to work hard, go to class, and start that paper early. - dsmx, on 06/20/2009, -1/+15mentats?
- bradporto, on 06/20/2009, -1/+14This hits home for me as an air traffic controller. I don't trust drug companies. They have all the money they need to turn doctors into dealers, and push legislation that makes their stupid drugs nearly mandatory for individuals that require medical clearance for their jobs (pilots, controllers). The last thing I need in the middle of a war between FAA management and their line-controllers is a mandate for a drug like Donepezil. There are huge shortages of controllers right now in the FAA and the resulting delays are only vindicated by the more talented controllers who have a reputation for complex traffic congestion. They're going to turn ATC into body-building tournaments where the honest hard-working average Joe just can't compete with drug-enhanced mutants.
- inactive, on 06/20/2009, -5/+17In a few minutes someone will comment here, compare performance-enhancing effects of caffeine to amphetamines, and then try to justify that both are fair game. That person, like the overwhelming majority, is ridiculously uninformed on this matter.
The difference between the two is that the the neurophysiological changes from amphetamine use/abuse (include all DA agonist stimulants) are effectively permanent. Changes in dopamine transporter function can be detected two years following a 10 day period of low doses of amphetamine. Peter Breggin did publications on this throughout the 1990s. From heavier abuse you have the lovely consequence of Reward Deficiency Syndrome and behavioral consequences resembling ADD. So go ahead ***k yourself completely. The cognitive process you attempt to enhance now will become even worse in the future if you use this.
The only reason you can justify the use of amphetamines for treating ADHD is because of the profound increase in quality of life for people afflicted with that disorder.
There is no reason for healthy individuals to abuse it.
Also check out the Yerkes-Dodson law and you'll see that at the doses people take to "study", their memory actually performs worse than without the amphetamine. Essentially, people over-estimate the amount they need.
Caffeine on the other hand is excellent, there are many pathways in common between the two, the difference being that caffeine is less likely to over-stimulate and it will not leave any deficits in its abstinence. E.g. within two weeks of leaving caffeine everything is back to normal.
BOTTOM LINE: People, research this through academic search engines, read the studies on it, do not look to pop-psych sources. If you do all this and still choose to take amphetamine, you are a complete idiot and will only get worse. - dafragsta, on 06/20/2009, -0/+10I love that you say that "If you take a drug you don't need, it's abuse." as if there is some law of the universe that says "This person must take this drug." By your rationale, someone who was prescribed a different drug in place of a previous drug that wasn't working, they were abusing that previous drug the whole time because *OH NOES* someone was taking a drug they don't need.
While we're on the subject, virtually every thing you eat or drink, and technically, some things you absorb into your skin are processed no differently than drugs. So someone who is lactose intolerant that inadvertently eats something with a milk product is a lactose junkie. We'll see how you feel in a few years when our notion of what is and isn't a drug and what "unneeded" enhancements we will or won't abide, changes. Wait until nanobots are improving the efficiency of our brain and body by preventing damaged cells from living beyond their life expectancy or when we can have the ability to instantaneously keep a perfect record of events, instead of our flawed and skewed recollection of memories that we have now.
Your logic is flawed and antiquated. I personally feel that everyone needs a few psychoactive experiences every now and again, but I'm not going to state it as clandestine fact from a high horse as a prance about with my nose in the air thinking I have it all figured out. - vapn420, on 06/20/2009, -0/+9Good study habits will always trump drug induced learning. However, show me someone with the time to maintain good study habits in college, especially during finals.
- Feraldr00d, on 06/20/2009, -0/+8You could not be more wrong. It literally affects the way your brain responds to stimuli. Did you not read that? It helps you focus on tasks and ascertain and manipulate ideas. What do you have against calling it cognitive-enhancement? That's what it does!
- vapn420, on 06/20/2009, -2/+10After reading these comments it's clear that the majority of diggers who have commented so far have absolutely no idea what adderal is or what it's effects are and are just talking out their asses because they think it's the next new party drug. News flash, adderal is fairly easy to get from your doctor or psychologist and is extremely beneficial to the people who need it, but it just happens to be even more beneficial for people who don't need it.
- vapn420, on 06/20/2009, -7/+14How do you like it on your ivory tower? Your comment sounds nice if we lived in a fantasy world, but here in the real world people actually need to prove themselves in the academic arena before people will take them seriously in the professional one. If you've been to a college campus within the last 10 years you probably already know this issue exists.
- FirstOne1, on 06/20/2009, -0/+7it was a liberal education course about dinosaurs. i got an A on the test the following day. it was about 5 years ago, so i don't remember particulars of the book now, but at the time the pages were "turning themselves" i was so focused.
- t1n0m3n, on 06/20/2009, -0/+7When I was in college, I tried taking stimulants and I found that I did much better learning without them. However, when I took a test, I did much better with the stimulants. So for me, these drugs enhance output, but not input.
- scamper22, on 06/20/2009, -0/+7You are... and we care so much about you Jimmy.
/s - vapn420, on 06/20/2009, -0/+7Ritalin is not speed. If you've never taken any of these for studying you should probably keep your [inaccurate] comments to yourself.
- NewRezGirl, on 06/20/2009, -0/+6That's not true actually, considering grading curves, and more people getting higher grades affects the average which affects how your grade looks on your transcript. If you're going to a high competitive university these things affect your ability to get into grad school. I'm not saying whether I'm for or against study drugs, but m4rk0 is right in that it does put pressure on other students to follow suit.
- thinkb4utype, on 06/20/2009, -0/+6Good study habits don't require any additional effort for finals. If you have a routine that uses repeated review of material, then you will remember it. Having the will to study the necessary time everyday is the key. You will actually learn the material.
This strategy is easier in the long run, you will score higher, avoid all-nighters, and retain knowledge. Another benefit is that next semister's follow-on class will be easier, because you will still remember the prerequisite material. - vapn420, on 06/20/2009, -1/+7Maybe it's because you don't have an accurate definition of what exactly a drug is?
- FirstOne1, on 06/19/2009, -4/+10i once read an entire textbook in one night during college while on dexedrine. good *****.
- Rain12913, on 06/20/2009, -0/+5I don't think you understand what "drug abuse" is. Of course there are many definitions, but I prefer the DSM-IV's:
"A maladaptive pattern of substance use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress". - Renork, on 06/20/2009, -0/+5Yes, amphetamines should not be made legal for everyone because they are illegal. ***** you and your circular logic.
Slap a warning label on it and require the person purchasing to sign something stating they have read the potential dangers and understand that the long term effects are not well known yet and let them take what they want. If at some point in the future it becomes evident that there are significant negative long term effects then reevaluate the situation.
This nanny state ***** really bothers me, as long as a person is well informed as to the consequences and potential side effects anyone should be allowed to do anything to their own body provided they do not then go and hurt someone else. - StickWST, on 06/20/2009, -0/+5The entire structure of our school system is practically encouraging drug abuse and escapism. It's all a big "carrot on a stick" marathon to "success". The focus is on how to make yourself appear successful to your peers, and rarely on real mental/academic development. Meaning it's more about "new high score!" than "oh I understand things now".
Personally I'd like to see schools work on developing students maturity, with maturity they will eventually understand the actual importance of intelligence and comprehension of current events.
I am prescribed to Adderall for ADD, which unlike many of my peers, was actually interfering with my academic life very obviously. It's addictive. Very, very addictive. Not in the sense that you crave it, but in the sense that going to school/work without it makes you feel completely retarded (in the literal sense) and like you're running on half capacity. It helps a lot, but it changes your behavior in a way that only others can see, while giving you an illusion of infinite success and positivity, think about methamphetamine abusers.
Everyone can be competent, intelligent, even successful. Yes learning disabilities are very real for a lot of people, but a dynamic education system would help much more than stimulants for the vast majority of students.
side note: Haha! Notice how much I typed here for a Digg comment, that's not my normal behavior. All Adderall. - shrewduser, on 06/20/2009, -1/+6i abuse caffeine then, oh and all the other drugs present in my diet, paracetamol, i don't really need that.....
- dafragsta, on 06/20/2009, -2/+6This conversation always takes on a different tone when it's discussed in a Kurzwellian futurist context. When it's discussed in the present context, it's always a big Nancy Reagan/what baby Jesus wants circle-jerk. I keep waiting for the present to become the future and the conversation to take a serious turn toward acceptance of the fact that technology and biotechnology are increasing their power in exponential jumps, but there still seems to be this moral high ground issue that really doesn't help the conversation one bit. At the end of the day, the only thing that should be important are the long-term effects of using anything that could potentially enhance your quality of life.
If I could choose between pounding cup after cup of tea or coffee (the most popular mind-enhancing drug that nobody seems to mind, even the Dudley Dorights) and a pill that would make me feel alert, even tempered, rational, and calm, all the while using my brain its fullest potential, I'm gonna take the pill. I fail to see how liquid energy is somehow morally greater than a dirty stinky druggie pill. It's alll a subjective projection based on how you would like to compare yourself to other people based on pseudo morality. - stonebear, on 06/20/2009, -0/+4I recall when Arnold Schwarzenegger came clean about the steroids; he said it was not his style to use them, but it was just a reality of competitive bodybuilding at the time (still is BTW). If anybody is using them [and getting away with it], then everybody has to. And therein lies the danger. The steroids got him championships; but they damaged his heart, and would likely have killed him, had he not been a wealthy man on a platinum plan in middle age.
- Paranor01, on 06/20/2009, -4/+8Ivory tower ? my gods you are such an arrogant ass you just didn't get it did you?
marytormey was talking about the "issue" and made an honest response to it, and the reason why it's not the right way. grow up vapn420 and realize that "fantasy world" you mentioned, actually is a huge part of reality now... just without all the so-called peer pressure to push yourself into an early grave. - windowpane, on 06/20/2009, -2/+5I know some people who take these for fun. I worry about them because yes, it's addictive. But if you're aware of the adverse side-affects, it's possible to take it responsibly. I only ever take it if I'm cramming or if I have an exam, and I've never felt any withdrawal from it. Then again, I only ever take the lowest dose I can.
- Solkre, on 06/20/2009, -3/+6Nobody would take that just for school, they'd end up taking it for the rest of their lives.
- vapn420, on 06/20/2009, -1/+4most people tend to stop taking these drugs once they get out of school, unless they really need it.
- iceperson, on 06/20/2009, -0/+3Hmm. Not surprised diggers don't care that there's a difference between there, their, and they're.
Clearly some people need "mind-enhancing" drugs... - inactive, on 06/20/2009, -2/+5Also what is unfair is that those who abuse amphetamines blindly, without knowing anything about its long-term effects, put the rest of us in a situation where we are forced to choose between (1) whether we too will f*** ourselves to get even with the abusers or (2) will we preserve our most precious organ and do our best without it even if it means the potential of having lesser marks than our rivals.
I'd sooner look into nicotine than amphetamine if you are that desperate for making studying easier. - 68024, on 06/20/2009, -0/+3I think people who take these drugs are fooling themselves. These drugs may have short-term enhanced performance, but you can't keep taking them consistently over a longer period of time without negative consequences for your body. So while your performance may be enhanced while you're in school or college, once you get out in the real world and you get a job that expects you to continue your stellar performance, that might simply not be sustainable.
- vapn420, on 06/20/2009, -0/+3You're kidding right?
- vapn420, on 06/20/2009, -1/+4Yeah I'm sure employers are climbing over themselves to hire employees with the best character. Since you don't know what you're talking about I'll go ahead and make this easy for you:
Our economy is *****. There are more people looking for jobs than jobs available. Everyone can ***** in an interview so the thing they look for to distinguish their applicants is education and job experience. However if this is a candidates first job, it's very likely that they either have no work experience or internship experience they got because of their good grades in school. So either way, you need grades above all else, especially as a fresh graduate.
As for your grade inflation crap, not all of us went to a ***** college where you pay for your degree. - nyxerebos, on 06/20/2009, -0/+3*Drug use, drug abuse is rather different
- keegangrayson, on 06/20/2009, -2/+5I like to get up wicked early in the morning, take about 5 to 10mg of adderall, smoke some headies, then go on a 10 mile bike ride. Smoke a cigarette on the way home and have a cup of coffee. Then I don't eat until dinner, but right before dinner I'll take a pain killer and after dinner I'll smoke and take a Xanax. But I do all of this in moderation... like within a 24 hour time period, not all at once.
- vapn420, on 06/20/2009, -5/+8Have you even gone to college and gotten a job? School is MUCH more difficult than work.
- altgeeky1, on 06/20/2009, -0/+3It has the side effect of speed, on some people, but it's not speed.
At least Google before spouting something wrong as a fact. - inactive, on 06/20/2009, -1/+4Sounds like you need some cognitive enhancement.
- dazparkour, on 06/20/2009, -0/+3That sounds more like Ritalin ceased to effect you.
I think he is suggesting as long as the benefits are still their, people will still want them. - Paranor01, on 06/20/2009, -0/+2I'm not saying it doesn't happen... it happens all the time, and way too often. I'm saying people forget that this "striving for the best" goes beyond lunacy. Companies push people to be "better than they are" out of greed, which then gets into society that states "to succeed you must have A, B & C, or you're a failure".
Real success doesn't require any "enhancements" whatsoever! Take time to smell the roses and actually be aware of one's surroundings and personal limits on your own abilities. Improve where you can, but don't push beyond what you are actually capable of. That's the road to destruction.
I'm not saying that we should limit ourselves, just know our own limits and strive to be the best each of us can be. Reaching that goal is real success. - keegangrayson, on 06/21/2009, -1/+3No... and I don't care if you think I'm pathetic. It's my choice.
- m3arvk, on 06/20/2009, -0/+2I don't think anecdotal evidence is worthless and I'm glad you found something that helps you.
I'd like to share my thinking on the mind. Technically the mind may be described as a series of vectors in four dimensions; each vector is a consideration made by an individual as a point in space and time. Earlier considerations (vectors) take precedent over newer ones (are more heavily weighted). That is, if you decide you hate dogs when you are a child and 20 years later you decide you like dogs there is a conflict. If you are unaware that the original consideration is still in effect you are unable to stop it. Now imagine all the things which one might consider in the first ten years of life. Thus you get some idea of the source of mental problems; there are earlier considerations driving the individual along a course of being/doing/having. The individual wants to change but is tethered to his/her earlier notions.
Now that's interesting in and of itself but let's look at the problem at the root of ADHD/ADD. Here you have a person who lacks the ability to marshal his/her attention towards a task for a sufficient amount of time to get it completed. Now there could be two possible causes for this. The first is that the person does have an attention deficit and the second is that the subject being studied is a past source of pain, thus when one studies it the associated pain comes to the front.
But how does one get in a situation where one's attention is so dispersed that he cannot even concentrate? If you imagine a system of communication wherein the individual expends attention towards the attainment of answers. For example, if you go to the coffee shop you are asked by the barista what kind of coffee you'd like. The barista is expending attention towards the goal of discerning an answer: your desired type of coffee. For example, a student studies a subject with the goal of understanding it.
But what happens when the individual fails to get an answer? His attention may remain glued on the object of his/her attention. Now multiply this gluing effect by all the failed efforts the individual has made over his/her lifetime you can see that it might be fairly common for people to get their attention spread pretty thin.
So what is the remedy? A good starting point would be to go back and find the major periods of one's life where he/she failed to achieve an understanding where it was important that he/she do so. Introspectively reviewing those periods will allow one to extract the attention that was glued there and will create a better understanding in/for the individual. - Feraldr00d, on 06/20/2009, -1/+3What makes you think use requires abuse? I used Ritalin all throughout junior and high school and stopped immediately after I dropped out(Sadly, Ritalin had no affect on getting my dumbass out of bed at 6:30 every morning), as there was no longer an academic catalyst to encourage use.
- Rudegar, on 06/20/2009, -1/+3sure though I always found school easier
½arsed effort for the better part of the year
and heavy torture work load just before exams
and failing in the real world can lead to getting the boot
where in school all you have to do is to retake the exam
not that I ever failed
but grated in school there are a lot more balls in the air at the same time - vapn420, on 06/20/2009, -1/+3This is going to get downmodded? Up mod for truth
- keegangrayson, on 06/20/2009, -0/+2College is a joke. If you had to study you were doing it wrong, unless you want to be a doctor... then please study hard.
- ifallen, on 06/20/2009, -0/+2i am so glad you said this... i about rolled over laughing...
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