Right now, there are people in the nootropic community who are using experimental compounds that haven't yet passed clinical trials and in some cases have no pr

Right now, there are people in the nootropic community who are using experimental compounds that haven't yet passed clinical trials and in some cases have no prior history of human use at all. A large portion of the data used by communities like this (even "self-experimenters") -- use cargo cult pseudo-science to justify their drug use -- something that can go horribly wrong in inexperienced hands. The majority of these people aren't even testing their compounds. They take them blindly or rely on the reputation of other people to tell them that its safe - mostly because they're ignorant, lazy, cheap, impatient or some combination thereof. They also have very little understanding of pharmacology or basic science, and I've seen first hand accounts from drug enthusiasts who go on to describe how they can "feel" the actions at various receptors in their brains based on something they've poorly understood from reading Wikipedia for 5 minutes (which is just complete nonsense.) And what's worse, is that there’s no easy way for the average person to tell what information is good since so much of the Internet is written to seem authoritative. Suppose I Google a question and find a well-written blog post on serotonin interactions between various drugs that answers my question. Am I really going to know that the article is inaccurate, bias, or incomplete? Or am I going to walk away feeling like I've learned something, because I hate to say it but -- that's largely what the web is these days. None of the real information is on the surface because that would be far too boring for the average reader and boring content doesn't sell. Now combine this with drug use and you have a toxic mix of ignorance that can literally kill people. I could go on about this subject but I won't rant any more. Just keep in mind that a lot of what’s written about nootropics (and other drugs) is no where near as clean or as simple as the Internet makes it seem, and that most people aren't even in a position to use caffeine therapeutically - let alone safely negotiate complex, poorly understood, and potentially unknown compounds they bought from the Internet (so try not to take Gwern at face value.)