mind games

everyone follows nature.

in the wake of the nature survey that found that 20% of scientists admit to using brain enhancing drugs, wired has just published an article detailing what drugs their scientist readers use to keep on keepin' on.
....
whenever people talk about using drugs, they're always keen to distance themselves from that sort of drug user. you know, the ones that aren't responsible.

elsewhere,

the case for banning intelligence doping is even weaker than the case for banning sports doping. one reason is that there is a strong positive externality from increased cognitive functioning, since smart people usually cannot capture the entire social product of their work in the form of a higher income.
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what is a possible source of concern is that because there is competition based on intelligence, ... that place a premium on intellectual acuity, the availability of intelligence-enhancing drugs places pressure on persons who would prefer not to use them because of concerns over their possible negative health consequences to use them anyway.
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of course the naturally gifted will object to any "artificial" enhancements that enable others to compete with them. But it is not obvious why their objections should be given weight from a public policy standpoint...