From: Harvey Newstrom (mail@HarveyNewstrom.com)
Date: Wed Dec 22 2004 - 10:53:06 MST
On Dec 22, 2004, at 9:55 AM, Martin Striz wrote:
> Unfortunately, from my experience, piracetam, aniracetam, and
> oxiracetam don't
> seem to do very much (the last only gives me a headache). Nootropics
> are a
> subset of the nutrition/pharma scam. Well, scam may be a strong word,
> but the
> claims certainly don't live up to the hype, and there's a strong
> current in
> Western culture that wants to take magic bullet pills.
Very true. I have tried many of these pills. Many of them do give me
a bit of a boost. But I get a much bigger boost by getting enough
sleep, eating right, and avoiding stress. I am not exaggerating.
Being slightly tired, or slightly wired on caffeine, or slightly hyper
on sugar distracts me from being able to think and work a lot more than
not taking the smart drugs. I am about 50% more productive after a
relaxing vacation. I have never gotten a 50% boost in quantity or
quality of cognitive output, even from the best nootropics.
To care this concept even further, I find that being organized with a
good strategy, good work habits, and sticking to a timetable helps me
achieve my goals and finish my projects. In other words, we can double
or tripe our productive thinking by working smarter. We waste more
time and opportunity than we could ever gain by a few percentage points
of IQ boost.
Just my not-so-humble opinion.
-- Harvey Newstrom <HarveyNewstrom.com> CISSP, ISSAP, ISSMP, CISA, CISM, IAM, IBMCP, GSEC
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