Not only are we reinventing the wheel here we are doing so as a community relatively poorly equipped to do so.
The guys at the Immortality Institute forums are reasonably like minded to lesswrong participants but many of them are obsessed with the kind of subject we discuss here and have done excessive amounts of investigation into both studies and typical experiences of self-experimenters.
We would in most cases be best off just reading through the best of the threads there and following their findings.
At the top of the Nootropics forum is a sticky which indexes the best threads by subject. It looks like exactly what you're looking for.
This one in particular looks like a great getting-started guide.
Psychedelics can have cognitive benefits. It's not what you'd chose if you need to concentrate on something, but if the problem requires a creative solution and you're stuck, it might be the way to go.
"What if I had not taken LSD ever; would I have still invented PCR? I don't know. I doubt it. I seriously doubt it." -Kary Mullis
I have a friend who came to a pretty big personal revelation about reductionism/human behavior when under the influence of DMT.
Another friend took a threshold dose of LSD and said something along the lines of "I've always known intellectually that aging is bad, but it finally hit me- at an emotional level. These [old] people are everywhere. They're falling apart right in front of us and we act as if its normal and okay! This is not okay!!!"
The interesting thing about this is that a full "tripping" dose is not necessary. The latter friend was on a dose low enough that neither he nor anyone else could notice the effects- other than the slightly changed thought processes, of course.
Psychedelic means something that causes a profound change in thought patterns. In anything beyond a mild dose, cannabis induces profound changes in thought patterns.
There are plenty of legal plants that contain illegal psychedelics. These plants are legal to buy, grow, and sell, but they become illegal if you possess them with the knowledge of their use. It is an actual thoughtcrime (in the USA).
All can be purchased online by searching Google.
How would people feel about an IA wiki, to collect and organize information about software, drugs/supplements, etc., including links to the best available research on each, plus perhaps space for anecdotes?
(I am volunteering to host and moderate it if there is interest, though I'm not an expert on the actual subject matter, so I'd need plenty of help with writing and researching it.)
"We report that when C57BL/6 mice are maintained on an intermittent fasting (alternate-day fasting) dietary-restriction regimen their overall food intake is not decreased and their body weight is maintained. Nevertheless, intermittent fasting resulted in beneficial effects that met or exceeded those of caloric restriction including reduced serum glucose and insulin levels and increased resistance of neurons in the brain to excitotoxic stress."
"Since May 2003 we have experimented with alternate day calorie restriction, one day consuming 20-50% of estimated daily caloric requirement and the next day ad lib eating, and have observed health benefits starting in as little as two weeks, in insulin resistance, asthma, seasonal allergies, infectious diseases of viral, bacterial and fungal origin (viral URI, recurrent bacterial tonsillitis, chronic sinusitis, periodontal disease), autoimmune disorder (rheumatoid arthritis), osteoarthritis, symptoms due to CNS inflammatory lesions (Tourette's, Meniere's) cardiac arrhythmias (PVCs, atrial fibrillation), menopause related hot flashes. We hypothesize that other many conditions would be delayed, prevented or improved, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, brain injury due to thrombotic stroke atherosclerosis, NIDDM, congestive heart failure."
Next year I have to do a study as a school project. I will probably have access to about 10-20 test subjects, maybe more if I beg, and a lab with a full battery of professional-level cognitive tests. I'd like to study nootropic drugs and see how well they work, but the only one I'm really familiar with, piracetam, is by prescription only in Ireland, and I'm not likely to be able to prescribe it for this study.
So, nootropics experts, can you think of a drug or supplement that needs testing, that you think will return measurable results in a study of only 10-20 people, that works quickly (ie no "have to take this for a month before seeing effects", preferably <2 hr onset of action) and which is sold over-the-counter in Europe?
The best-ROI techniques I've found to date are getting sufficient sleep, and trying hard. I know that these work, andthey work quite reliably.
Another which is somewhat less reliable is 'sleeping on it.' I mean quickly and intensively priming the mental pumps on a task, then doing something else, then coming back (ideally after a good night's sleep) to the task later. I often perceive the benefit of signicant effortless processing which must have taken place in the interim,
Back to trying hard. To help w/ this, I tend to psych myself differently dependi...
The best-ROI techniques I've found to date are getting sufficient sleep, and trying hard. I know that these work, andthey work quite reliably.
Also, I hear that fat people need more willpower, and depressed people should just cheer up.
A shockingly high percentage of undergraduates illegally use ADHD drugs. A group of researchers questioned 1,811 undergraduates at a large public U.S. college and found that 34% admitted illegally using ADHA stimulants.
The researchers conducted detailed interviews with 175 of the users. None of these users "sought out information from health professionals, medical or pharmaceutical reference guides, or even Internet sites before taking their first dose."
From the paper "Illicit use of prescription ADHD medications on a college campus: a multimethodological approach" by DeSantis AD, Webb EM, Noar SM, published in the Journal of American College Health. Not available online.
Exercise: Effect on brain function:
...A 2008 review of cognitive enrichment therapies (strategies to slow or reverse cognitive decline) concluded that "physical activity, and aerobic exercise in particular, enhances older adults' cognitive function". In mice, exercise improves cognitive functioning via improvement of hippocampus-dependent spatial learning, and enhancement of synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis. In addition, physical activity has been shown to be neuroprotective in many neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases. For instance, i
The magic combination of things that work for me:
Regular exercise, i like running at least 5 days a week, tabata/endurance depending on the mood/energy levels.
Piracetam
Very strong coffee in the morning
Clear goals of what i want to accomplish
No sleep debt, and sufficient sleep everyday.
Last one is the hardest, but the weeks that manage to get enough sleep, i get things done like an animal.
I recommend O'Reilly's Mind Performance Hacks and the accompanying Mentat Wiki. I was particularly interested in the exoself which is really just a combination of the Hipster PDA and a Motivaider.
Also, touchtyping is the closest thing to a Direct Neural Interface you can get today. If you don't know how to do it, learn!
God helmet. More info here where it's sold for $650. Kooky or credible or both?
Also, anyone know where to buy transcranial magnetic stimulation devices? Closest I found was this without an easily findable price tag. If not, do any engineers know if they'd be difficult to build?
I found a place that does TMS sessions in Berkeley that treat depression. Website here. I'll do more research to figure out if it'd be useful for things other than depression. This looks potentially promising, but I haven't found the original study yet (using Google Scholar).
In the Foucault Reader, Michel Foucault claims his greatest trick is an old one called hypomnemata. The last time I googled on hypomnemata, all the top hits were explicit Foucault references.
The hypomnema or hypomnemata are similar to diaries (or weblogs even), except they are not written one time and maybe never looked at again. They are to be reread and rewritten over and over for the writer's education and work and progress. I have been doing a bunch of this for years and it is only since November of 2008 that I have established a system that I am conf...
Is this a good thread to talk about sleep in? I'm not sure if sleep deprivation reduces intelligence, but it reduces executive function, which is necessary for effective use of one's intelligence.
I have posted about my positive experiences with piracetam and sulbutiamine here before. Since then I've also tried L-tyrosine (precursor to a bunch of important neurotransmitters), but it hasn't had a discernible effect on me.
I'd just like to say that there are many safe, potentially nootropic and anti-akrasic supplements to try, and while individual biochemistry varies too much to reliably predict whether any particular one will work for you or not, the expected return on investment from experimentation is extremely high. I would also like to add that ch...
Most if not all of the comments so far are focused on individual intelligence augmentation.
I suspect there is big, juicy, low-hanging fruit in collective intelligence augmentation. We're pretty smart by ourselves but really dumb when we get together in groups, small and big.
For an interesting (if controversial) example of IA for groups, see Software For Your Head.
I've been mulling over getting an iPhone, basically weighing two considerations.
On the one hand, it's another distraction. As Paul Graham wrote, the ability to carry the internet around is not necessarily a move someone aspiring to get more done should make.
On the other, it seems like it must have awesome potential as an intelligence amplification tool! I feel like I'm missing a step towards human-machine integration by not getting one.
Anyone have any thoughts on how to optimize the tool for intelligence amplification?
A few apps that seem to have potential...
It is clear that the human body is good at adjusting and fine-tuning itself in response to immediate need. What in-built "amplification" do we have when intelligence is needed, and how could it be harnessed?
For example: The natural fight-or-flight reflex appears to provide instant alertness and focus, and I would imagine blood-flow to decision making functions is enhanced? Linked to a comment below I have found my reaction time and competance at rapid reaction computer games improves rapidly following surges in adrenaline. Is this coming from the improved focus (could this be simulated?), or increased bloodflow?
Suggestions for statistical software (ideally freeware) for self-experimentation data analysis? Or data tracking? Ideally something that takes very little knowledge of stats and isn't programmer-oriented. I suppose I should ask people at Quantified Self.
Personally, I find physical pain to be somewhat helpful. When I start getting drowsy in one of my lectures, winding my hair around one of my fingers and pulling on it keeps me awake and cognitively alert. I've also found that biting my tongue is less effective at it.
I'm unsure how much alcohol I should drink.
I'm perfectly happy abstaining. And I know that my memory and computer programming abilities are temporarily impaired by even one drink.
But there's fairly persuasive evidence that several drinks daily causes old people to live longer. With the notable exception of social isolation (people tend to drink more when they're socializing), just about everything I can imagine was controlled for.
...Background: Growing epidemiological evidence indicates that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with reduced total mo
Cannabis works well for me (helps me focus, seems to make me more likely to come up with a creative solution, beats out akrasia and generally makes me more productive), but not for my roommate, who can't concentrate when he's high and has short-term memory problems. Based on reports from other friends and anecdotal evidence from the Internet, it seems like cannabis is pretty hit-and-miss with respect to cognitive enhancement... but I'd say it's worth a try for everyone.
Supplementing D-vitamin (D3 in my case) seems to add more energy and efficient hours in the day for me.
Which classes could I reasonably sit in on at U.C. Berkeley that would give me the most leverage for IA research? I was thinking neuroscience-type classes, but perhaps pharmacology or nutrition classes would be equally or more useful? I have no idea how universities work.
I have no idea how universities work
If what you want is information, you're probably better off not bothering with the classrooms and sticking to the library. If you need personal contact (whether for status/networking reasons or for more effectively locating the information you want), the important thing is to become acquainted with the right people, and going to their classes is only one way to do that.
People have told me that human growth hormone supplements and sprays just don't work and that the only way to take it is via injection, with potential for dangerous side effects et cetera, making it infeasible for IA. Do others have additional input?
Noopept is the only drug i would actually consider a nootropic. it is extremely effective at increasing metal ability and it does not have known side effects. in my experience it similar to the effects adderall, however it is more subtle, not necessarily weaker, but harder to notice.
"Deleting a certain gene in mice can make them smarter by unlocking a mysterious region of the brain considered to be relatively inflexible, scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have found."
http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20100918/2064/gene-limits-learning-and-memory-in-mice.htm
Low dose ketamine has been shown to promote synaptogenesis in the prefrontal cortex. (in rats) Link to abstract
It is currently being investigated as a potential antidepressant in humans, but based on anecdotal evidence, it seems likely that it's also a nootropic.
Listening to certain pieces of classical music can "enhance spatial–temporal tasks involving mental imagery and temporal ordering."
These are audio patterns primarily created for pleasure. Perhaps this is a necessary component of making them work. However if they are not this opens up a new interesting field of investigation into synthesised audio (music ect.) and visual patterns specifically designed for enhancing performance on certain tasks or perhaps even g in general.
Also let me emphasise that currently the science seems to be leaning towards...
For something slightly different, I am attempting to increase my reading speed ( I am primarily an English speaker, but English was my second language, which probably explains the initial slowness) using QuickReader app for iPad.
This app lets you predefine the reading speed (timing yourself and word counting is annoying) and uses a pointer to pace you through the material.
I am up to 380 wpm in the app, cannot confirm how transferable the skill is outside of the app quantitatively, but it feels like there is some improvement, though sometimes it feels like...
For anyone interested, the SoCal LW Meetup will be getting together on the 25th and is soliciting activity suggestions.
If anyone can swiftly come up with a brilliant, written intelligence amplification intervention protocol "if only they had a handful of willing and motivated volunteers" you should write it up on the wiki and link to it as a suggestion from a comment in the appropriate place. You have 10 days. Act now because you'll get feedback swiftly.
It's thought that the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid intake is more important to cardiovascular health and inflammation than absolute omega-3 intake. Has anyone addressed whether or not this is also the case for cognitive effects / whether reducing omega-6 intake alone has a cognitive benefit? How much do we know about the mechanism behind omega-3's cognitive benefit? (Apparently inflammation alone is associated with lower intelligence, though possibly because of common causes in childhood.)
Having read some of this and being curious enough now to consider experimenting, I am catching myself worrying about social backlash.
I am a graduate student and I vaguely recall at least an episode of Boston Legal discussing nootropics; do schools often have policies hostile to their use? Where would I find this information?
EDIT: I have searched through the student code of conduct for my school as thoroughly as I could stand and found a bunch of vague references to (a) academic dishonesty and (b) loads of other policies. The impression that I get is that if someone didn't like nootropics they could make my life unpleasant but maybe I'm projecting from this.
This was mentioned in a previous thread, but the game of Go seems intuitively to be beneficial when it comes to updating your beliefs and acting on those updates. You have to continuously adopt better and better heuristics in order to outperform your opponent, and you have to actively propagate learned tactical heuristics when you encounter relevant patterns of game play in order to gain their full benefit. It seems as though this might merit further investigation.
I haven't added much, not out of lack of interest, but because I haven't done much (rigorous) experimentation. I'm sure it's the case for many other silent lurkers. I support this open venture wholeheartedly!
Should I have a glass of wine with dinner every day? I'd heard that recommended somewhere but the Wikipedia article doesn't seem all that convincing: it instead indicates that I should be eating more grapes to get resveratrol. Maybe. The other health benefits of wine seem negligible if existent.
...“Besides, we are friends of the lento, I and my book. I have not been a philologist in vain — perhaps I am one yet: a teacher of slow reading. I even come to write slowly. At present it is not only my habit, but even my taste — a perverted taste, maybe — to write nothing but what will drive to despair every one who is ‘in a hurry.’ For philology is that venerable art which exacts from its followers one thing above all — to step to one side, to leave themselves spare moments, to grow silent, to become slow — the leisurely art of the goldsmith applied to la
My "Intelligence Augmentation" essay/video argues that intelligence augmentation is often (inaccurately) seen as an alternative to machine intelligence - whereas it is best seen as being complementary to it.
It also suggests that preprocessing your sensory inputs with machines and post-processing your motor outputs with more machines is an area where much useful work can be done.
To all of you who are considering taking various chemical substances to boost your intelligence - consider the nature of the evolutionary algorithm.
Evolution, as an algorithm, is more suited to optimisation than it is to innovation. The general theme of evolution is of nicely optimised versions of designs with significant flaws in them.
Simple changes, like placing various substances into your bloodstream which affect your neurochemistry, are going to be interacting with chemical systems which already exist, and which evolution can already tune. Why has thi...
Being able to synthesize vitamin C would have been a huge evolutionary advantage, given how many people died of scurvy throughout history, but evolution never managed it. Other chemicals have the same problem: evolution is severely limited in how many things it can try, which sorts of chemicals it can try, and how large the selection effect has to be for it to take off.
Does the same reasoning apply to cancer treatment and antibiotics?
"If God wanted us to fly he would have given us wings!"
We don't know, and that's the point. There must be a reason, though. If it were that easy to increase your brainpower that way, and there were no other drawbacks, this modification would already have been selected for.
All else being equal we can expect our evolutionary heritage to be reasonably well optimised. But all else isn't equal. I don't have the same goals that the selection for my allelles in the ancestral environment implicitly optimised for. Evolution couldn't optimise for my specific needs at specific times which is one of the reasons we evolved general intelligence to handle that sort of thing.
Interventions, chemical or otherwise that we would consider using are not selected by random. They are created (often) by intelligent design and then selected for via a process of cultural evolution and empirical study.
There must be a reason, though. If it were that easy to increase your brainpower that way, and there were no other drawbacks, this modification would already have been selected for.
If you take them, perhaps you will discover later why this potential evolutionary change was not beneficial, and not selected.
Maybe the ability to synthesize a particular chemical could not (or merely has not yet in humans) be reached by a single change, or a path of individually selected-for single changes. In other words, your argument only works if the reachability of the improvement is high enough, and our species has existed for enough time in an environment where it would be rewarded.
the next step might just be for our bodies to adapt to our nigh-unlimited energy intake and start consuming more of it
That's actually an interesting point. I'm in a biological anthropology class at the moment, and a point that's been made a few times about human brain evolution is that it uses up a LOT of energy, which definitely was a tradeoff at a time when food input was scarce. (Why this was worth it for us is one of the questions of the field.) It would be neat if first-world humans adapted to the ready supply of food by growing their brains further to use the extra energy. This would, in fact, correspond to an increase in physical fitness, as well as intelligence, because it would help maintain an energy balance.
It's a flight of fancy, of course, but a fun one.
On a side note, apparently koalas adapted the other way--when they began eating eucalyptus, enabling them to stay in one tree all day instead of roving around searching for food, they needed the brain less and the successful koalas in each generation expended less energy on it. Result: dumber koalas. Still awfully cute though. (I don't have an academic link about this handy, but this page alludes to their small brains, and the History page mentions that the animal predates the tree. I can probably get a real cite from my anthro teacher if it's called for. Google image search will serve to cite the cuteness.)
Not only are we reinventing the wheel here we are doing so as a community relatively poorly equipped to do so.
The guys at the Immortality Institute forums are reasonably like minded to lesswrong participants but many of them are obsessed with the kind of subject we discuss here and have done excessive amounts of investigation into both studies and typical experiences of self-experimenters.
We would in most cases be best off just reading through the best of the threads there and following their findings.
Which are the best threads? Fora do not seem optimal for synthesizing an answer. My impression is that they know a lot more than wikipedia. Why haven't they filled it out? Would they be interested in ata's wiki?
A place to discuss potentially promising methods of intelligence amplification in the broad sense of general methods, tools, diets, regimens, or substances that boost cognition (memory, creativity, focus, etc.): anything from SuperMemo to Piracetam to regular exercise to eating lots of animal fat to binaural beats, whether it works or not. Where's the highest expected value? What's easiest to make part of your daily routine? Hopefully discussion here will lead to concise top level posts describing what works for a more self-improvement-savvy Less Wrong.
Lists of potential interventions are great, but even better would be a thorough analysis of a single intervention: costs, benefits, ease, et cetera. This way the comment threads will be more structured and organized. Less Wrong is pretty confused about IA, so even if you're not an expert, a quick analysis or link to a metastudy about e.g. exercise could be very helpful.
Added: Adam Atlas is now hosting an IA wiki: BetterBrains! Bookmark it, add to it, make it awesome.