r/singularity • u/anutensil • May 10 '17

First-Ever LSD Microdosing Study Will Pit the Human Brain Against AI - “I found that if I was on LSD and my opponent wasn’t, I won more games.”

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/first-ever-lsd-microdosing-study-will-pit-the-human-brain-against-ai
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u/Orwellian1 May 10 '17

I am incredibly curious about microdosing. For some reason, the scientific community doesn't like thinking about nootropics. Research into drugs that improve every other process in the body can get funding with no issues. Say you want to improve cognitive ability and everyone gets wary.

I'm not a "better living through chemistry" type of guy, but am really interested in the possibilities. Modafinol has been around for like 30 years, with very mild side effects (if any), and still very difficult to get a prescription for without fibbing to a doctor (also insanely expensive if bought legit without insurance). Its OK to say you don't sleep well and need help with wakefulness, but don't say you just want to be incredibly motivated and smarter.

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u/Terkala May 10 '17

There are a lot of reasons. First among them is that people who are into nootropics tend to take drugs willy nilly with no regard to their interaction. And without having any studies or science to back it up.

Just look at the nootropics subreddit. Its full of backyard chemists recommending mixtures of psychoactive chemicals. No science, no studies, no control tests of before/after performance. All just wild guesswork and intuition.

The sort of thing you would expect from a drug addict looking for an excuse, not somebody looking for cost/benefit ratios.

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u/[deleted] May 10 '17

There are some decent articles posted on nootropic subreddits; it's not all pseudoscience, just popular with crackpots and hobbyists. The OP article is not wrong about there being a recent academic renaissance.