7 ms·

I try to be skeptical about these sorts of explanations, but that might just be to stave off paranoia. What will be the amphetamines/leaded glass/DDT of today?

• zokier 10y ago
  I'd point out that amphetamines and other drugs are still being used by military forces around the world.
  • ThrustVectoring 10y ago
    The US military, at least, has gotten smarter about it. They still need "go pills", but they've switched from the obviously problematic amphetamines to a more narrowly focused anti-narcoleptic - modafinil.
    • anexprogrammer 10y ago
      Though during Afghanistan no one knew how modafinil worked, or possible long term effects. British military were buying thousands of them at that period too.
      • ggreer 10y ago
        Regarding possible long-term effects: Modafinil was invented in the late 1970's. Some people in Europe have been taking it for over 30 years. People in the US have been taking it since 1998. No study of modafinil has found it to be neurotoxic. A few studies have found slight neuro-protective effects. In a review of modafinil studies[1], the authors really had to stretch to find disadvantages and dangers. In short: If this drug is bad for you, it's only slightly bad. And it's far safer than the drug it substitutes for: amphetamines. 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654794/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654794/
        • contingencies 10y ago
          Even in very occasional, very small half-doses I found it definitely creates overly intense focus (can be unpleasant/unsuitable depending upon your environment) and withdrawl issues (scatterbrained). I also have a friend who began taking it 5-6 days a week for work, who had issues weening himself. It's certainly a very interesting substance, but not something I would recommend as solely positive. I disagree that it replaces amphetamines, as its primary focus is to produce mental focus rather than physical energy, unlike amphetamines which produce the latter. I would argue instead that Modafinil is more like a long-term (10+ hour) auto-dispensing teapot, albeit perhaps slightly spiked with additional herbal stimulants, in a pill form.
          • anexprogrammer 10y ago
            As someone with ADHD, that's really interesting. You describe the effect I get from amphetamines - focus and ability to ignore some distractions - your withdrawal, scatterbrained, that sounds familiar! Maybe dopamine levels are taking a little while to reset to normal and you get a day experiencing temporary ADD. At ADHD amphetamine dosages I've never noticed withdrawal effects. So I went looking to see if it was being studied with ADHD. Despite showing effectiveness in several studies, it wasn't FDA licensed for ADHD because of "serious dermatological toxicity" {1]. That seems a bit odd. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18729534 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18729534
    • deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
  • joezydeco 10y ago
    And we give them to our kids as well.
  • krakensden 10y ago
    There has been some minor hysteria around Captagon, an amphetamine popular with ISIS.
• zinssmeister 10y ago
  I think humans when exposed to new technology tend to do stupid things for a while until they get smarter and figure out what to actually do. The early decades of the 20th century brought many new and powerful abilities, mostly fueled by the combo of war and technological advancements. It wasn't clear to leaders then that giving soldiers meth or even taking it yourself wasn't such a smart move. Humans are much smarter today (about substance abuse) and we are slowly walking down the list eliminating over-use of less damaging substances like sugar, caffeine. Products like coca cola are facing a huge consumption gap in certain, very developed areas.
  • semi-extrinsic 10y ago
    I'm with you on the sugar, but caffeine? From the (very thorough) Wikipedia page, it appears that there are as many good side effects of caffeine (such as lower risk of certain cancers, Alzheimers and diabetes) as there are bad ones.
    • zinssmeister 10y ago
      I think caffeine is great in the right dosage and setting (recreational). I don't advise using it at work if you are after high productivity http://www.trinity.edu/jdunn/spiderdrugs.htm http://www.trinity.edu/jdunn/spiderdrugs.htm
      • damienkatz 10y ago
        Really? A spiders reaction to caffeine is your reason? I just quit caffeine. I'm ready for some conformation bias to justify my decision, but this is pretty weak.
        • zinssmeister 10y ago
          I agree the spider-caffeine-thing is "weak". But it's a popular argument and I don't have anything more substantial at hand. Most people I know, that still drink coffee/caffeine do tell tales of feeling "wired" and "scattered" after consumption.
• trentnix 10y ago
  Birth control and antidepressants...?
  • droopyEyelids 10y ago
    It's gonna be something like DEET/pesticide/weedkiller and some mysterious brain condition like Alzheimers or autism.
  • heurist 10y ago
    Coffee, sugar, preservatives, absence of exercise, food/air/water pollution.
    • trentnix 10y ago
      We know, now, there are adverse side effects to everything you listed. I thought the game we were playing was, "what is accepted as healthy now that will be obviously dangerous to a future generation?" I just can't imagine tricking the body into perpetual pregnancy is without side effects. I can't imagine drugs that purposely alter the chemistry of the brain and that are used (abused?) by tens of millions each day is without dangerous side effects. I hope I'm wrong.
      • eivarv 10y ago
        > I can't imagine drugs that purposely alter the chemistry of the brain and that are used (abused?) by tens of millions each day is without dangerous side effects. Your broad strokes include any and all kinds of psychoactive substances, though. But to your point: wouldn't any dangerous side effects of SSRIs be pretty obvious by now?
• failrate 10y ago
  Sugar, meth, OxyContin, Xanax, etc.
• Spooky23 10y ago
  My guess would be SSRIs, Statins and the various smart drugs.
  • i80and 10y ago
    I don't know about SSRIs. They've been around for a long time, and I think it's generally understood that they're only useful as a fallback if therapy alone doesn't cut it.
    • anewhnaccount 10y ago
      And yet in many cases they're prescribed without even trying therapy because they're cheaper.
      • pavs 10y ago
        Because success rate of therapy is very low and takes a significant amount of time to work, if at all. I have had anxieties all my adult life, I have tried most things under the sun before starting taking meds. Frequent anxiety/panic attacks were affecting every single aspect of my life. I have pissed away years of life trying to manage it and nothing works. I wouldn't even call my anxiety an extreme case, I have seen people with far worse, It's a bit higher than mild anxiety, but I couldn't do anything when I was getting it. So I gave up trying "natural way" and start taking very small dose of benzo and boom and I have never been happier or productive in any other points in my life. Yes, I know benzo is highly addictive and has numerous side-effects, but for me, it was a gamble that was worth taking. I am still taking a very small dose (.5mg once a day) and I am a bit addicted to it, I can tell the difference when I missed a day, but for me (and countless other people who also suffered), its worthed. I have looked into SSRI and MAOIs and they seem to have much worse side effect so I didn't bother with them.
  • bogomipz 10y ago
    Statins are a class of drugs designed and prescribed to lower cholesterol. I don't think I have ever heard of them being used in any other context. Could you elaborate on their association as a "smart drug"? I have never heard this before.
• richsinn 10y ago
  plastics and phthalates used to manufacture plastics - * https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/undergoing-fertility-treatment-watch-your-plastics/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/undergoing-fertil... * https://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/text_version/chemicals.php?id=24 https://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/text_version/chemicals.php?id=24 * https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/10/phthalates-plastics-chemicals-research-analysis https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/10/phthala...
• TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago
  As someone who once stayed awake on amphetamine for six days, I'll testify that caffeine isn't that bad. But it probably does have some general overall affect leading to users being a bit more driven.
• dilap 10y ago
  caffeine is a pretty potent drug for sure; going from regularly drinking 5+ cups of coffee a day to nothing really drove this home for me. reality has a whole different feel. beyond that, there are tons of people on strong antiaxiety and antidepression drugs, 100% of the time. that's pretty crazy imo. & we give lots of kids amphetamine. which is extra-special-crazy. (no value judgements here if any drug at all works for a person, but i don't buy at all the "correcting a chemical imbalance" explanation for the drugs. it's just being on drugs, for better or for worse.)
  • seanp2k2 10y ago
    As a counter-point, there are tons of drugs already in your head from various activities and e.g. Food. Orgasms release tons of drugs, as does exercise in general. Though I agree with your overall sentiment, where does one draw the line w.r.t. being "on drugs"?
    • dilap 10y ago
      i draw the line at "is the substance itself acting as a neurotransmitter in your brain". definitely sex exercise diet &c are indirectly drugs, in that they inspire your body to adjust its own mix of chemicals in the brain, but it's a whole 'nother thing to directly inject substances into the mix yourself. i think where people tend to get into trouble with drugs is that since it is an external effect changing the brain's chemical balances contrary to its self-regularted levels, the brain tries to adapt, leading to tolerance – the user tries to counter-adapt, upping the dosages, "chasing the high", & often ending up in a no-fun place of dependence, addiction, side-effects... (obviously more true w/ some drugs & some people than others...)
      • ethanbond 10y ago
        No drug is just a cap of endorphins though. They're always signaling mechanisms, like an orgasm or running or hearing some good music.
    • tomcam 10y ago
      I have been everything from completely sedentary to riding a bike 14 miles, lifting weights, and running 5 miles, all every day. I have never felt any kind of lift from exercise. Junk food and caffeine, on the other hand, never failed to make me feel awesome.
• h4nkoslo 10y ago
  Plausibly also amphetamines. Any guess to the proportion of our elites pounding adderall and modafinil (yes I know, not technically a stimulant) at least at ages 15-30 or so as they grind their way through school / billable hours / medical residency / etc? For that matter I would be totally unsurprised if many of our political candidates had some chemical augmentation on the campaign trail as well.
• s_q_b 10y ago
  Alcohol (ethanol) will be considered insane to drink at some point. There are chemicals, including other alcohols, that induce the same effect but with far less toxicity. Smoking will also be seen as a stupendously bad idea. I'm sure nicotine and marijuana will still be around. But they will be packaged and vaporized. The idea of putting a raw leaf into a funnel and lighting it on fire will seem entirely barbaric.
  • labster 10y ago
    Well yeah, after the singularity chemical substances like these will be entirely barbaric. But there's a troubling new trend emerging with our kids experimenting with EMPs. Sure, it might alter the consciousness of our robot bodies, but EM radiation is dangerous!