[Cheiron]

In todays world of highly competitive societies it is a known fact that drugs are used more and more to optimize your brain and/or body. We have the wellknown problems with doping for athletes, but a less known fact is that brain drugs are also on the rise. Students to get through an exam, projects on work... etc.. Students e.g. usually take ritalin to enhance their performance...

The Danish Council of Ethics have made a report on the exploding use of cognitive performance optimizing or central stimulating drugs and handed it over to the politicians. It raises a series of questions about what it implicates....

There are four major questions:

1) Do we at all know what we do to the individual persons biology? The brain is a very complicated network of chemical processes... neurotransmitters, as we call them... and the brain is FAR from charted out and understood... we are not even half way there actually. So, do we in the long run risk standing there with some totally unknown consequences? So that should give reason for caution for doctors to hand out drugs.. and should we perhaps tighten the laws about it?

2) If somebody starts to take those drugs during exams or on the job, it will sorta put other people under pressure to do the same...a contest will arise about using the best, the most advanced and sophisticated drugs, and those that choose not to use it, will get second in line and get lower grades... a social inequality arises.
Here at least we have a strong foundation and value in equality, the smart kid in class and the guy on last row that is a bit dense, well they get same treatment, and as society we have believed firmly in taking care of those that are not so strong and providing opportunities for all. That seems to change....and do we want such a socio-cultural change?

3) Question is also... if you take that exam or finish that major project at work using drugs or let's say an artist or musician creating splendid work or performance, do you feel ownership to it? Can you at all relate to your results if you are not actually present when you engage in learning or problem solving? Will you not get alienated?

4) If we in higher and higher degree rely on those drugs, we risk getting into a situation where it is expected that everybody is perfect.... and as a consequence maybe a much lower tolerance for those that are a bit... "not the sharpest knife in drawer", so to speak. And we already experience that in modern corporate jobs and management in the stance to those that are not good at adopting to change (and I think we all know how it is to work at a place where the leaders constantly come up with new ideas... seemingly just for the heck of it... Personal note: or just to show the top boss they have initiative, and legitimize that they get a salary.. lol)
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Cheiron
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"Any scientist with respect for himself should start
the day by rejecting his own pet hypotheses".
(Konrad Lorenz)

"Wir müssen wissen
Wir werden wissen"
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[Hank]

And if they hadn't been using Viagra for one thing, we'd never have it for erectile dysfunction, or the use of marijuana for glacoma. Another one of those endless circle arguements that gets us and the world in general nowhere fast.

[Flexie]

Certainly a lot of questions to ponder on Cheiron.

Students are now calling it the “smart drug”…. Has it become a trend for students to take drugs to get through an exam or project, etc? A smart drug that will most probably in the end fry your brain…now isn’t that smart??

In society today there is a pill for almost everything, look at the miracle diet pill all you have to do is pop one a day for 2 weeks and voila, you shed pounds quick and easy (uhuh), those advertisements are a real joke and people fall for it…. Where does it end?

As for Ritalin, when my son was in elementary school I heard a lot of parents complaining that their child was recommended to be put on Ritalin. I blame the teachers for that as it comes from their recommendation, teachers are not doctors. If they can’t handle dealing with children in elementary schools then they shouldn’t be teaching at all and how dare they give such a recommendation, very selfish on their part. Putting a child on Ritalin is not the answer to their issues.

There have been no clinical studies performed on the long-term effects on the brains of adults or children who use safe doses of Ritalin. However, there have been plenty of studies on the effects of long-term stimulant abuse on the brain Studies done by the National Institute of Mental Health show that people who abuse Ritalin and other stimulants have a greater chance of developing a mental disorder later in life, especially a bipolar disorder such as schizophrenia. In addition, they may suffer from spontaneous hallucinations, feelings of paranoia and nervousness.

I would certainly give my vote on tightening the laws on drugs boosting brain performance, lets hope the politicians can do something about it before it gets out of hand, if it hasn’t already.
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- Flexie -

"Life is like a mirror. Smile at it and it smiles back at you"

[Cheiron]

[Chaos]

Well i believe the valid point is if they aren't used and tested then we will never know the true effects. I do believe it needs to be in a controlled environment.

* POST EDITED BY MODERATOR *
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[Scotsman]

Ladies and gentlemen, please keep it civil. Do not name call. Do not belittle or disrespect others that may disagree with your point of view. Also keep in mind that this is a multinational forum. Different cultures have different ways of expressing themselves. As a case in point Germanic speakers (in my experience) tend to be very direct in a way other cultures may misinterpret.

If you have professional information to add to the discussion, please do so with relevant citations for the source of that information.