Comment · Thu, April 11, 2013 · Ceretropic
After all the money/time spent on Nootropics, do any of your friends and family think you're smarter?
Original post in this thread
SimpletonSam · 7 points
Just learned that a buddy of mine has been on non-perscription (AlphaBrain, Ginko, etc) nootropics for over a year. I went to college with him, and honestly, there's been absolutely no change in his intelligence.
He's not and has never been mentally deficient in any way- he's an average (maybe even above average) coder... I feel a bit bad teasing him, but NO ONE in our circle thinks he's in any way sharper/brighter/etc.
Interestingly enough, he just thinks he is because he's taking the pills! I secretly want to switch them for a placebo.
Anyway, it got me thinking... while I have no doubt that chemically unbalanced people are really helped by these prescription drugs, apart from your personal feelings, can others recognize that you're increasing your mental abilities?
Do you now have more intelligent things to say about random topics, etc...
What they were answering
SimpletonSam · -10 points
Sound scientific? Dude… take a different domain. Imagine if all of a sudden, you started working out and are 15% bigger and stronger. Don't you think you're friends and family would notice? You don't need to have peer-reviewed workout logs… it'd be obvious. And it's a heck of a lot better than saying, "my scores on this flash game where I remember colors is increasing a lot ever month! But oh, that topical event you're discussing, yea - I have nothing to contribute…"
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Ceretropic
Intelligence is not a visually observable characteristic like muscle mass is.