Provigil
I just finished reading this article about the smart drug, Provigil.
I find it absolutely fascinating and extremely tempting. Provigil is a drug originally designed to help people with Narcolepsy. Essentially, according to the author of that article, it allows someone, who isn’t a narcoleptic to have intense focus, and effortlessly glide through work.
Think about all the software, sys admin projects bouncing around in your head that you never seem to complete. The code that never gets written, the articles that never get read, the tech talks that never get watched. Imagine getting all that done.
Screw 43 folders, I want 30 pills.
I know it’s tragically crass to want a pill to solve everything. And of course I don’t advocate that we take drugs we don’t know the long term effects of, however, I must say, Provigil and drugs like it are awfully tempting.
What about you? Would you take a pill that allowed the sort of productivity that the author describes? What if we knew there was no long term side-effects? Is it inevitable, as the author suggests, that we will have to take these drugs to compete someday?
If I knew there were no long-term side-effects, I might consider it, but a few issues are raised:
1) What if you can’t turn that state off, and you need to do something else on an emergency basis that is fundamentally incompatible with your altered mental state? Just like you’re not supposed to “operate heavy machinery” while on some drugs, maybe these others should tell you not to “have meaningful human interactions” while on them :)
2) It’s possible that you may qualify for a given job/task only while on the drug, technically making the drug financially addictive, since you’ll keep taking it if you want to keep your job.
2A) If the drug has a lead time before it takes effect, what happens if you need to unexpectedly work with the stuff that you don’t understand in your baseline state?
I’ve read sci-fi stories where people could enter and leave optimized brain states at will, and it was a fascinating concept. I think instant-on and instant-off would be essential to make it something anybody could use without running into problems.
If I was a consultant, then maybe.
Since I’m a regular employee — there’s allllllways tomorrow to complete something.
Hehe :)
The article discussing modafinil was a little over-enthusiastic, I think. It’s more suited for people who have to say alert and watchful for long periods of time, rather than people who need to make better decisions. It would help night watchmen or troops on combat missions more than it would help a scientist or software developer. The person taking it could probably have gotten similar effects from going to bed earlier or taking steps to sleep better.
We’ll no more have to take these drugs to compete than we have to currently drink coffee to compete.
Bob - I think you’re overestimating the effect this kind of stuff has. Search for piracetam at Amazon and you can see for yourself.
“I think you’re overestimating the effect this kind of stuff has. Search for piracetam at Amazon and you can see for yourself.”
I’m not estimating the current offerings at all; I was replying to the concept of “a pill that allowed the sort of productivity that the author describes” which is not the same as the pill the author took.