6 ms·

So the premise of the article is to literally take mind-altering drugs in order to become more valuable to your employer. This is so fucked up.

by mdszy 7y ago

icandoit 7y ago
No, from the article: "In my view, the best methods to heighten creativity and increase your “out of the box” thinking are traditional, analog, and noninvasive. These methods can be found in John Dewey’s classic “How to Think” primer, first published in 1910 or even earlier from Rene’ Descartes’s Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One’s Reason and Seeking Truth in the Science." The opening few paragraphs are just setting the stage. Showing you what crazy people get up to. A juicy dystopic vision to capture reader attention.
beaconstudios 7y ago
you could also do it to become more valuable to yourself, as an entrepreneur.
- mdszy 7y ago
  So you could call that "so you can become more valuable to the capitalist machine." Still fucked up that the concept is that you have to do drugs in order to, apparently, avoid being out-competed by your drug-addled competition and suddenly being unable to provide for yourself/your family.
  - beaconstudios 7y ago
    you can be an entrepreneur to follow a passion as well as for pure capitalist greed. For example, sometimes I can't focus very well so I take modafinil. It's a short-stop fix for something I'm working to improve long-term. I do this in order to work on something I find intrinsically rewarding. Though I feel like you're not really complaining about cognitive enhancement, but more about capitalism. In which case, sure, capitalism is pretty flawed.
    - mdszy 7y ago
      At that point you're basically doing it for your own pleasure. If doing acid helped me enjoy doing an electronics project of my own, sure I might consider giving it a shot. But the general concept of being persuaded to do actual LSD in order to get ahead in a job is completely fucked.
      - beaconstudios 7y ago
        some people enjoy being productive. Some people try to be productive in order to be more successful at their job. The fact that capitalism is exploitative doesn't render either of these desires invalid - we still have to exist in the system, and some people like to succeed at their chosen role.
        diffeomorphism 7y ago
        Liking to != Being forced to As an analogy suppose that you are a professional cyclist. You are very good and train hard but your competition is doping. Your trainer offers you drugs that will make you faster but come with a significant risk of heart failure. If you decline you will be fired. Would you like to be more productive?
        beaconstudios 7y ago
        yeah there's an obvious issue with that. I'm not in that situation and I'm happy to take supplements that help me be productive voluntarily but reel at the idea of having them forced on me, especially if they came with health risks.
    - jacobwilliamroy 7y ago
      Distraction doesn't seem like something that requires medication, to me.
      - mdszy 7y ago
        Guess it's a good thing you're not a medical professional who prescribes medication to help with diagnosable issues, then.
fraktl 7y ago
But that's not the premise. It's your interpretation. I get the whole hate vs employer and capitalism, but then again - if you're after biohacking yourself for whatever reason - overclocking machines always comes with a cost, even if it's human body. Its equilibrium exists for a reason, disrupting the equilibrium in order to "overclock" a part of it (cognition) must come with backlash of some sort.
- jacobwilliamroy 7y ago
  Which makes it even more worthless in the workplace. We don't even let unpaid athletes "overclock" because of how dangerous it is.
- mdszy 7y ago
  "I think we are the verge of entering this brave new world of work, where enhancers are essentially mandatory." It literally is the premise.
- icandoit 7y ago
  I think this is a reasonable baseline for expectations: >Its equilibrium exists for a reason, disrupting the equilibrium in order to "overclock" a part of it (cognition) must come with backlash of some sort. But, maybe the reason was the limited caloric landscape of our ancestors. If I could turn a cup of olive oil into productive mental work my income and social group would approve. Where does sexual selection still favor physical strength exclusively? Doesn't income dominate among developed countries?
- scottlocklin 7y ago
  It was literally stated in the IEEE article "The potential for employer-mandated enhancers should force us to reflect deeply about the importance of work, the relative value of enhancers, and illusion of choice."
frankbreetz 7y ago
Yeah, It's crazy how much people drink coffee.
- leto_ii 7y ago
  Well, as long as your employer doesn't pressure you into drinking coffee in order to keep your job I think it's not such a big issue :D
- mdszy 7y ago
  Yep, all the days I abstain from drinking coffee I am constantly worried about getting piss-tested, finding out I don't have enough caffeine in my system, and being fired on the spot.

So the premise of the article is to literally take mind-altering drugs in order to become more valuable to your employer. This is so fucked up.

by mdszy 7y ago

So the premise of the article is to literally take mind-altering drugs in order to become more valuable to your employer. This is so fucked up.

icandoit 7y ago

No, from the article: "In my view, the best methods to heighten creativity and increase your “out of the box” thinking are traditional, analog, and noninvasive. These methods can be found in John Dewey’s classic “How to Think” primer, first published in 1910 or even earlier from Rene’ Descartes’s Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One’s Reason and Seeking Truth in the Science." The opening few paragraphs are just setting the stage. Showing you what crazy people get up to. A juicy dystopic vision to capture reader attention.

beaconstudios 7y ago

you could also do it to become more valuable to yourself, as an entrepreneur.

mdszy 7y ago
So you could call that "so you can become more valuable to the capitalist machine." Still fucked up that the concept is that you have to do drugs in order to, apparently, avoid being out-competed by your drug-addled competition and suddenly being unable to provide for yourself/your family.
- beaconstudios 7y ago
  you can be an entrepreneur to follow a passion as well as for pure capitalist greed. For example, sometimes I can't focus very well so I take modafinil. It's a short-stop fix for something I'm working to improve long-term. I do this in order to work on something I find intrinsically rewarding. Though I feel like you're not really complaining about cognitive enhancement, but more about capitalism. In which case, sure, capitalism is pretty flawed.
  - mdszy 7y ago
    At that point you're basically doing it for your own pleasure. If doing acid helped me enjoy doing an electronics project of my own, sure I might consider giving it a shot. But the general concept of being persuaded to do actual LSD in order to get ahead in a job is completely fucked.
    - beaconstudios 7y ago
      some people enjoy being productive. Some people try to be productive in order to be more successful at their job. The fact that capitalism is exploitative doesn't render either of these desires invalid - we still have to exist in the system, and some people like to succeed at their chosen role.
      - diffeomorphism 7y ago
        Liking to != Being forced to As an analogy suppose that you are a professional cyclist. You are very good and train hard but your competition is doping. Your trainer offers you drugs that will make you faster but come with a significant risk of heart failure. If you decline you will be fired. Would you like to be more productive?
        beaconstudios 7y ago
        yeah there's an obvious issue with that. I'm not in that situation and I'm happy to take supplements that help me be productive voluntarily but reel at the idea of having them forced on me, especially if they came with health risks.
  - jacobwilliamroy 7y ago
    Distraction doesn't seem like something that requires medication, to me.
    - mdszy 7y ago
      Guess it's a good thing you're not a medical professional who prescribes medication to help with diagnosable issues, then.

fraktl 7y ago

But that's not the premise. It's your interpretation. I get the whole hate vs employer and capitalism, but then again - if you're after biohacking yourself for whatever reason - overclocking machines always comes with a cost, even if it's human body. Its equilibrium exists for a reason, disrupting the equilibrium in order to "overclock" a part of it (cognition) must come with backlash of some sort.

jacobwilliamroy 7y ago
Which makes it even more worthless in the workplace. We don't even let unpaid athletes "overclock" because of how dangerous it is.
mdszy 7y ago
"I think we are the verge of entering this brave new world of work, where enhancers are essentially mandatory." It literally is the premise.
icandoit 7y ago
I think this is a reasonable baseline for expectations: >Its equilibrium exists for a reason, disrupting the equilibrium in order to "overclock" a part of it (cognition) must come with backlash of some sort. But, maybe the reason was the limited caloric landscape of our ancestors. If I could turn a cup of olive oil into productive mental work my income and social group would approve. Where does sexual selection still favor physical strength exclusively? Doesn't income dominate among developed countries?
scottlocklin 7y ago
It was literally stated in the IEEE article "The potential for employer-mandated enhancers should force us to reflect deeply about the importance of work, the relative value of enhancers, and illusion of choice."

frankbreetz 7y ago

Yeah, It's crazy how much people drink coffee.

leto_ii 7y ago
Well, as long as your employer doesn't pressure you into drinking coffee in order to keep your job I think it's not such a big issue :D
mdszy 7y ago
Yep, all the days I abstain from drinking coffee I am constantly worried about getting piss-tested, finding out I don't have enough caffeine in my system, and being fired on the spot.