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Calling coffee a mind-altering substance is pretty rich. I've heard this sentiment before and it's so flippant in it's lack of perspective (intentionally so) th

Calling coffee a mind-altering substance is pretty rich. I've heard this sentiment before and it's so flippant in it's lack of perspective (intentionally so) that its not worth discussing further. This is as far as I got because of the paywall anyway. I really wish HN would just outright reject submissions from domains known to have paywalls. Forget trying to fish it from Google or some archive/cache.

shawnz 6y ago
If you don't think so, try quitting caffeine use for a few weeks and then jump back to your regular dose. I find that stimulants in general are subtle drugs in the sense that it's not obvious to inexperienced users how affected they are by them.
badfrog 6y ago
> Calling coffee a mind-altering substance is pretty rich. What? Why? It literally is one. From wikipedia: > Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class.[10] It is the world's most widely consumed psychoactive drug.
- piyh 6y ago
  > everything is a drug except my drugs
GuiA 6y ago
What is rich about calling coffee a mind altering substance? Sensibility varies across people, but as an occasional drinker, if I drink a cup of coffee (especially on an empty stomach), I get a strong buzz going for a solid 30 minutes or so. Not so different from a hit of nicotine (which I do not consume with any regularity either). As far as my own body goes, I have no problem working and focusing while drinking a beer. For coffee, I may have to wait until the caffeine buzz subsided before I can really focus again.
wpietri 6y ago
It is absolutely mind-altering. If you'd like to hear more, you can just check out the work this is based on, Michael Pollan's Caffeine: https://michaelpollan.com/books/caffeine-how-coffee-and-tea-created-the-modern-world/ https://michaelpollan.com/books/caffeine-how-coffee-and-tea-... He was recently on Fresh Air discussing the book; the transcript is here: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/803394030 https://www.npr.org/transcripts/803394030
dang 6y ago
"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Paywall complaints are off topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=by%3Adang%20paywalls&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989 If there's a workaround, it's ok. Users usually post workarounds in the thread. There's one in this thread.

shawnz 6y ago

If you don't think so, try quitting caffeine use for a few weeks and then jump back to your regular dose. I find that stimulants in general are subtle drugs in the sense that it's not obvious to inexperienced users how affected they are by them.

badfrog 6y ago

> Calling coffee a mind-altering substance is pretty rich. What? Why? It literally is one. From wikipedia: > Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class.[10] It is the world's most widely consumed psychoactive drug.

piyh 6y ago
> everything is a drug except my drugs

GuiA 6y ago

What is rich about calling coffee a mind altering substance? Sensibility varies across people, but as an occasional drinker, if I drink a cup of coffee (especially on an empty stomach), I get a strong buzz going for a solid 30 minutes or so. Not so different from a hit of nicotine (which I do not consume with any regularity either). As far as my own body goes, I have no problem working and focusing while drinking a beer. For coffee, I may have to wait until the caffeine buzz subsided before I can really focus again.

wpietri 6y ago

It is absolutely mind-altering. If you'd like to hear more, you can just check out the work this is based on, Michael Pollan's Caffeine: https://michaelpollan.com/books/caffeine-how-coffee-and-tea-created-the-modern-world/ https://michaelpollan.com/books/caffeine-how-coffee-and-tea-... He was recently on Fresh Air discussing the book; the transcript is here: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/803394030 https://www.npr.org/transcripts/803394030

dang 6y ago

"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Paywall complaints are off topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=by%3Adang%20paywalls&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989 If there's a workaround, it's ok. Users usually post workarounds in the thread. There's one in this thread.