Comment · Sat, January 18, 2014 · Ceretropic
Captagon: The amphetamine fuelling Syria's civil war (x-post from r/cyberpunk)
What they were answering
NeonMessiah · -1 points
I'm not going to get into it with /u/Mister because he told me that he's a little high right now (on the no-side-effect nootropics, no less!) - as evidenced by him flying off the handle at me roid-rage style for asking him a question....
But, yeah... There's a certain fiction that predominates around here among certain members that this magical drug that we will deem a nootropic will also have no side effects.
If so, that will be the first drug to do so and that alone would be magical, any cognitive benefits notwithstanding.
Otherwise, I don't think it's absurd to claim that certain users of certain amphetamines achieve certain cognitive benefits.... which is all that is required for me, at least, to attribute to something nootropic effects.
I think we would all be better served if we didn't adhere into some fantastical pie-in-the-sky definition of what these fabled nootropics really are.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Ceretropic
Well being nice to me via PM and snarky publicly doesn't really help your position. I've already apologized for my single 'roid rage' induced comment of "It's pretty obvious." If that is not enough, I will apologize again. I am sorry I told you that it was obvious.
Nootropic is a specific definition. We utilize words for specific things because they are useful to us. The difference between cognitive enhancers and nootropics is their side effect profile and lack of toxicity. I am a moderator, so it falls to me to mention to people on threads like these that we are not speaking about nootropics. If not, people write us complaining that we have threads about things that are not nootropics. So either I have to discuss it here with you, or via mod mail when people complain. Kind of a lose lose for me.
Anyway, keeping the distinctions between cognitive enhancers and nootropics is useful to the community. You may disagree, and that is fine. However, this is not pie-in-the-sky definitions. The term nootropic was coined by the creator of piracetam, Dr Corneliu E. Giurgea, to specifically separate safe and unsafe compounds. I think clouding the definition is unwarranted, and certainly poses no advantages to keeping it in place.
Perhaps you use amphetamines, so this is hitting close to home for you. That is fine. I am not saying amphetamines are not useful to certain people. However, it is very clear that they can be extremely damaging to many people's lives. This is why it is in the best interest of the community that side of the argument is brought up in these instances. Nobody deleted the post, so you know we are leaving it here because there is the possibility of good discussion coming out of it. But don't be surprised when people actually get into a discussion with you.