A window into the life of a dave. Trivia, gaming, family life, useless exercises in distinction-making, and so on. Just another day in nerd paradise.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Are chemicals that enhance brain power 'wrong'?
Interesting piece from the New York Times about the implications of using prescription drugs that allow for better attention or studying. What are your thoughts?
Hmmm. Sounds risky to me. Of course, I'm one of those people who thinks that caffeine should be banned because I think it's an addicitve performance-enhancer and I'd rather see what the world could do on it's own brain power.
I agree with Mr. Fukuyama, who said: “'The original purpose of medicine is to heal the sick, not turn healthy people into gods.' He and others point out that increased use of such drugs could raise the standard of what is considered 'normal' performance and widen the gap between those who have access to the medications and those who don’t — and even erode the relationship between struggle and the building of character."
If there is a moral implication here it has utterly flown over my head. If anyone can construct an argument why viagra is okay but not this, I would love to hear it.
2 comments:
Hmmm. Sounds risky to me. Of course, I'm one of those people who thinks that caffeine should be banned because I think it's an addicitve performance-enhancer and I'd rather see what the world could do on it's own brain power.
I agree with Mr. Fukuyama, who said: “'The original purpose of medicine is to heal the sick, not turn healthy people into gods.' He and others point out that increased use of such drugs could raise the standard of what is considered 'normal' performance and widen the gap between those who have access to the medications and those who don’t — and even erode the relationship between struggle and the building of character."
If there is a moral implication here it has utterly flown over my head. If anyone can construct an argument why viagra is okay but not this, I would love to hear it.
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