If you could take a pill that increased your intelligence, would you do it?

[Taco John]

vote

[Nightwish]

No, because there's no such thing. If you're only asking hypothetically, I can't honestly say, but I don't think that I would.

[Taco John]

Overall, I'm curious about the relative morality. I'm reading Scientific American Mind, and there's an article in it this month called "Smarter on Drugs" in which they discuss the many "smart" drugs in clinical trials and are expected to get to market in less thaqn five years. In the article they suggest "A nation of Harvard graduates may seem insane, but basic science suggests it's not far fetched."

[Mr. Kotter]

Gettin' desperate, are ya? ;)

[Taco John]

No, because there's no such thing. If you're only asking hypothetically, I can't honestly say, but I don't think that I would.




Already available, or making their way through the FDA approval process, are several cognitive enhancers that reportedly improve memory. ... Work on memory enhancers may be furthest along. Eric R. Kandel of Columbia University... He found that learning occurs at the synapse... The synapse is enhanced when a protein called CREB is activated... With this discovery canme the 1998 birth of Memory Pharmaceiticals... which hopes to formulate a drug that will raise the amount of CREB in the human neural system. One of the most promising chemicals is called MEM1414... which could be on the market after 2008. Alternative drugs are also in the works based on other brain mechanisms...


....We have isolated one gene involved in intelligence, and others will follow. We know which parts of the brain are influenced by particular genes and which parts correlate with high IQ. We also know some of the neurochemicals involved in learning and memory. With such knowledge, we will gain understanding of what needs to be manipulated to increase intelligence in people who were not blessed with brilliance in their genomes or further increas the intelligence of those who were. Gene therapy could insert, delete, turn on or turn off genes that we find to be associated with intelligence."

[Logical]

Being honest, even though my life is incredibly comfortable my desire to be the best I can be would cause me to take such a drug.

[jAZ]

I'm assuming that there are minimal if any negative side effects. Seems reasonable if it's FDA approved.

If it's similarly safe to most other established medications, then I'd definately be willing to take it.

I don't see any morality issue there at all. It'd be like taking vitimins to improve your body as far as I can tell.

What morality issues might I be missing?

[Nightwish]

That's interesting! I knew there were memory-enhancing drugs out there, but I figured you probably weren't talking about those, since that's not quite the same thing as intelligence. But if they are working on something to actually increase intelligence, if it is possible to do so with a drug, I'm not quite sure what to think of that. Part of me says that would be a good thing, but another part of me says that attempting to somehow artificially create the ideal person opens the door to accepting some very dangerous morals.

[tiptap]

What's more, I did.

[Taco John]

What's more, I did.



Oh?

L-dopa or Hydergene I presume?

[Taco John]

Being honest, even though my life is incredibly comfortable my desire to be the best I can be would cause me to take such a drug.


I hear ya. I believe that I would partake in such a drug myself.

[patteeu]

Yes, unless the negative side effects were signficant.

If Taco could get his hands on these pills, he'd become a Chiefs fan.

And there's a chance that Vlad would become a conservative again. ;)

[Taco John]

It's curious to me that the morality issue with drugs seems to only occur when people choose to use them to recreate.

[Taco John]

Yes, unless the negative side effects were signficant.

If Taco could get his hands on these pills, he'd become a Chiefs fan.

And there's a chance that Vlad would become a conservative again. ;)



I would suggest a pill that made Republicans conservative again.

[Logical]

I would suggest a pill that made Republicans conservative again.ROFL :thumb:

[patteeu]

I would suggest a pill that made Republicans conservative again.

That would be a great pill. If we could get all the Republicans in Congress to take it, we would finally get a chance to see what a conservative government could do for our country. Great idea! Can we lace it with some time-released libertarianism too? :thumb:

[Cochise]

I remember one of my friends in college who smoked a ton of pot. He swore that it made him smarter. I guess you'd have to know the guy, but it didn't make him smart enough to avoid flunking out of college.

[jettio]

I am already too smart for my own good, but if there was a pill that I could take that would increase recxjake's intelligence, I would overdose on that sh*t.

[Taco John]

I remember one of my friends in college who smoked a ton of pot. He swore that it made him smarter. I guess you'd have to know the guy, but it didn't make him smart enough to avoid flunking out of college.



College has little to do with smarts. There's an element there, for sure... I'd say 10%. The rest is all about your own personal motivation. That's 90%.

Most people who flunk out of college don't do so because they weren't smart enough to make it. They flunk out because their motivation to get through college is outweighed by their motivation to goof off.

[Laz]

you'd have to be stupid not to

[go bowe]

and some people can goof off a lot, and still do well in school...

[Duck Dog]

you'd have to be stupid not to

yep

[TenLap]

I read the same magazine. It's a very interesting read. My kneejerk reaction was that I would not take it, but by the time I finished the article I was wondering why I don't do more to increase my capacity to learn right now. I'm in the "yes" camp.

[Rausch]

In a heartbeat.

WTF was this thread banished to DC forum?