92 replies to this topic

[pdoz]

I've been doing long stretches of research on piracetam, and I don't think I can really afford aniracetam (and I don't know if it has a stronger glutaminergic effect, which I don't know if I'd want). Is piracetam on its own a creativity enhancer? Have you had luck with other nootropics in that regard?

Thanks.

[haga11az]

do plenty of meditation. try to get into yoga, kundalini, tai chi, and tantric exercises. you will definately develop a fresh-baked reservoir of creativity.

either that or smoke some hashish

[PeriPhysis]

I'm taking piracetam for a while and in my experience I never noticed an increase in creativity just a slight increase in focus(when taking choline supplements otherwise its effects are almost null).
I've read somewhere I cant recall rigth now that oxiracteam increases creativity but I've never used it so I cant say.
If someone has some info about this or his/her experience I would like to read about it too.

You can always try pot, shrooms or lsd but:
1-I think they are illegal in most countries
2-They can be bad for you

See you around

[theone999]

hmm, I've always been skeptical about new age health stuff like meditation, tai chi, yoga etc. I tried meditation once, i felt utterly stupid and thought it was an exercise in futility to "be one with the universe". As for yoga, I can't even reach my toes standing up...

So, chemicals is the way to go!

I've just started trying 2.4g of pircetam in 3 x dose plus 500mg alpha gpc in 2x dose. I think it's still too early to notice any clear results, but will post experiences after a week or 2 of use.

[mr_kite]

It isn't just "new age health stuff"... People have been doing these exercises for a long time and the ones that seemed to work were kept, and what we see today are the surviving exercises.

fMRI imaging has been done on monks meditating, and it was found that profound changes in their brain activity occured during meditation, in particular, increases in blood flow to the areas associated with happiness and empathy.

So it isnt some placebo effect, and you arent trying to be one with the universe, you are just taking slow deep breaths and that helps calm you. And if you do it enough you can trigger feelings of happiness.

[xanadu]

I would say piracetam definately causes an increase in creativity. I have many more ideas bubbling up than I ever did before. It seems to help with associations.

[doug123]

I've been doing long stretches of research on piracetam, and I don't think I can really afford aniracetam (and I don't know if it has a stronger glutaminergic effect, which I don't know if I'd want). Is piracetam on its own a creativity enhancer? Have you had luck with other nootropics in that regard?

Thanks.

First, how do you define "creativity," and when have you ever heard creativity modulated by any drug..ever?

If you think Piracetam is an effective cognitive enhancer, check out the topic linked below...
http://www.imminst.o...=0

Peace out.

[Shepard]

Yeah, I'm thinking more along the lines of unhealthy substances being the only thing to really enhance creativity (that I've experienced). Sometimes you get genius, sometimes you're so far gone you write a screenplay for a live-action Bert and Ernie movie.

[stormheller]

Go to art museums, experience a different culture, do some brain teasers, take a continuing ed course in something you'd never take, listen to some strange-ass music. No drugs. Drugs kill.

[Shepard]

No drugs. Drugs kill.

Tons of things kill.

Note: I'm not saying that illegal substances are okay for everyone, but I see so many people demonize certain things...not realizing the things that they do everyday that is just as bad or worse.

[haga11az]

First, how do you define "creativity," and when have you ever heard creativity modulated by any drug..ever?

nootropikamil brings up a very important point. when seeking aid for creativity, it might not be very wise to believe that the answer is found in a drug. And even when someone attributes their creativity to a drug, this very well may be actually a placebo effect. Creativity is the mental process involved in creating it!

hmm, I've always been skeptical about new age health stuff like meditation, tai chi, yoga etc. I tried meditation once, i felt utterly stupid and thought it was an exercise in futility to "be one with the universe". As for yoga, I can't even reach my toes standing up...

So, chemicals is the way to go!

that is one of the most naive things i have ever heard! the way of mind attunment is been around for thousands of years. our house cats do it every day. The Sphinx gazes into the rising Sun every morning in that distinct feline meditative pose. Yoga, Tai chi, Kundalini, Tantra, being generally known as a medatative arts, are processes of strengthening the mind-body relationship. Psychoneuroimmunology is one legitimate science to explain the boost in the health system of regular meditators. Most of us go about in our drone-like day to day lives with an extroverted awareness of our surroundings, and most stimuli that the CNS interprets originates from the environment. During "tactile awareness," as Robert Bruce coined, one developes a much more sufficient and direct interaction of the CNS, PNS, and the rest of the body, strengthening the processes of neurotransmisssion through willful awareness. We become more self-aware in this introverted state of mind. :: takes breath :: This is the most creative thing for creating a better creative process more creatively! PERIOD!

you have to understand that the mental and physical and spiritual "distinctions." are entirely fabricated by the divisions that our own schematic mind creates.

this said, the mental, physical, and spiritual are ALL the SAME. I believe that they are ALL still physical. heaven is physical, hell is physical.

As in the case of Psychoneuroummunology, this shows the physical, biological, CHEMICAL processes involved with meditation.

Edited by haga11az, 21 June 2006 - 07:13 AM.

[zerodeathrider]

Idebenone at 360 mg at once inspires me well pretty.

[stellar]

That's a hefty dose

[zerodeathrider]

I'm a hefty man.

[emerson]

Go to art museums, experience a different culture, do some brain teasers, take a continuing ed course in something you'd never take, listen to some strange-ass music. No drugs. Drugs kill.

You could also get hit by a car on the way to the art museum. Should we just declare art museums as universally deadly? Isn't it a better thing to simply exercise some common sense and watch out for those art museums built alongside giant flaming bridges of death? There's few things in life that are totally free of risk, not even such common events as brushing ones teeth or laying out some food for a pet. Is any particular risk worth the potential benefit? I'm certain that with suitable contemplation I'll always be able to arrive at the correct answer to that question for myself. But, to answer it for another person? Might as well go to their house, take down all their art, and replace it with what you personally find to be works of better quality while you're at it.

I've seen people who've lived lives of poverty and pain as a result of their drug habits. I've seen some people take and leave drugs that others had become slaves to on their first taste. I've seen people who turned their lives around and found their path down life after a drug induced experience opened up a new view of the world for them. I've seen people downing bottles of drugs in the hopes of fighting off diseases they've never had, would never be susceptible to in the first place, and yet achieved contentment as a result. There's shades of grey there with differences as large as the human psyche and as deep as our genetic code.

[power.bulls.x]

I've been doing long stretches of research on piracetam, and I don't think I can really afford aniracetam (and I don't know if it has a stronger glutaminergic effect, which I don't know if I'd want). Is piracetam on its own a creativity enhancer? Have you had luck with other nootropics in that regard?

Thanks.

low dose of alchool may improve creativity [thumb]

[DukeNukem]

The best supplement for creativity is fed through your eyes: read. And read things that you're not already knowledgeable about. Creativity is the ability to make unusual associations within the brain -- such as gourmet cooking and archaeology. In other words, the more diverse your knowledge, the easier it is to be creative, because you have database of knowledge capable of cross-referencing a vastly variable set of facts and concepts, and true creativity is the ability to mix and match this database in non-obvious ways, coming up with something all new.

Without that database of diverse knowledge, creativity is like writer's block, starring at a blank page, because you're working from a blank page.

[rhakshasa]

but wasn't creativity defined by the left brain so stimulation of this part would help?

[hbeing]

dukenukem, your 100% right, but what about writer's block?...I'm a pretty decent composer, but I frequently have problems pulling out my creativity, I'll go months without doing anything... I have my own theories about myself... but for others, maybe there is something out there that helps with writers block..

[xanadu]

I still say piracetam. It makes the ideas come up sometimes faster than you can keep up with them.

[doug123]

The best supplement for creativity is fed through your eyes: read.  And read things that you're not already knowledgeable about.  Creativity is the ability to make unusual associations within the brain -- such as gourmet cooking and archaeology.  In other words, the more diverse your knowledge, the easier it is to be creative, because you have database of knowledge capable of cross-referencing a vastly variable set of facts and concepts, and true creativity is the ability to mix and match this database in non-obvious ways, coming up with something all new.

Without that database of diverse knowledge, creativity is like writer's block, starring at a blank page, because you're working from a blank page.

Duke is one dude who is no fool.

The ultimate way to seek cognitive enhancement is NOT through a drug -- it's actually through education.

Taking a drug to induce creativity? You better have a creative way to measure creativity; because it is not defined by medicine...

[DukeNukem]

dukenukem, your 100% right, but what about writer's block?

I think you need to train yourself to think outside the box, and look for unusual connections among your knowledge, that may not seem obvious. For example, in putting together the concept for Prey, I married Cherokee religion with an alien abduction plot. People normally do not mix these two, but that's exactly what made it unique and compelling. I've trained myself to always look for the odd connection, and then find a way to make it work -- the fact that it's difficult to make work is good, otherwise it would have likely been done by someone else.

I highly recommend this book:
http://www.amazon.co...Code=1n9867a-20

[doug123]

Duke, what kind of CPU/chipset combo do you use? GPU? I've gotta know which you use...then again, ATI and NVIDIA would probably pay you to say you prefer one over the other...LOL My current box is running an Athlon X2 2.2 GHz and the current mid range ATI X1300.

Did you know that 4/5 of the richest Americans are college dropouts? Maybe my assumption that education can influence creativity is a causal connection between the self made and their relative net worth in the USA?

And it should not be discounted that all five at least started college; notably, 2/5 were accepted to Ivy League schools.

It is true that when you learn you rewire your brain. But thinking out of the box is something you can do..or can't.

http://www.infopleas...hestpeople.html


#1 William Henry Gates III
Net Worth: $51.0 billion
Source: Software, Microsoft
Self made

Age: 49
Marital Status: Married, 3 children
Hometown: Medina, WA
Education: Harvard University, Drop Out


#2 Warren Edward Buffett
Net Worth: $40.0 billion
Source: Investments, Berkshire Hathaway
Self made

Age: 75
Marital Status: Widowed, 3 children
Hometown: Omaha, NE
Education: University of Nebraska Lincoln, Bachelor of Arts / Science
Columbia University, Master of Science


#3 Paul Gardner Allen
Net Worth: $22.5 billion
Source: Software, Microsoft, investments
Self made

Age: 52
Marital Status: Single
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Education: Washington State University, Drop Out




#4 Michael Dell
Net Worth: $18.0 billion
Source: Technology, Dell
Self made

Age: 40
Marital Status: Married, 4 children
Hometown: Austin, TX
Education: University of Texas Austin, Drop Out


#5 Lawrence Joseph Ellison
Net Worth: $17.0 billion
Source: Software, Oracle
Self made

Age: 61
Marital Status: Married, 2 children, 3 divorces
Hometown: Silicon Valley, CA
Education: University of Illinois, Drop Out

[emerson]

The ultimate way to seek cognitive enhancement is NOT through a drug -- it's actually through education. 

Taking a drug to induce creativity?  You better have a creative way to measure creativity; because it is not defined by medicine...

I'm teetering on the edge of agreement, but can't quite make that final step. I definitely agree with the statement about gaining as much diverse knowledge as possible. I've jumped majors far more times than my wallet would like. But I think the results in both projects and every day life have proven it to be a good path. I find myself incorporating design techniques from various fields to another on fairly frequent occasion, and the process of adapting one to another allows for a tremendous opportunity to gain a lot of perspective on the situation.

However, haven't you ever known someone who had a fairly broad education, and yet was totally unable to do anything with it that didn't involve repetition of specific techniques? Go to any high school and I'm sure you'd be able to find examples of people who've had education thrown at them, managed to soak it up, yet would or could not creatively combine any of it to solve a new problem.

Our minds are chemically modulated. I don't think it's at all far fetched to assume modification of that process could produce an end result more able to make those abstract connections. Certainly schizotypal personality disorders, for example, have been shown both to work through biochemical means and to create a predisposition for increased creativity. Some time back, I recall running across a press blurb for an article which offered some speculation about a single mechanism, the ability to unconsciously block out data and stimuli that's shown itself to be irrelevant in the past, that can act as a factor for predisposition to creative activity in people with a high IQ. It certainly seems theoretically possible that were this the case, that it could be both chemically induced in the first place and chemically modulated later on in life.

In the end I think it's safe to say that the mind's a pretty complex thing. Nature, nurture. Drugs, education. Beethoven, Britney. There's far too much going on in there, and far too much interaction between all the pieces in motion, for an easy yes or no answer.

Verbal creativity and schizotypal personality in relation to prefrontal hemispheric laterality: A behavioral and near-infrared optical imaging study

Low Latent Inhibition Plus High Intelligence Leads To High Creativity?

Edited by emerson, 26 June 2006 - 08:34 AM.

[xanadu]

I don't think there is any question that education and having a good attitude, good outlook are important factors. The subject of the thread was are there supplements that can help. Anything that enhances cognition is going to help with the creativity process whether it's helping memory or as in the case of piracetam, helping to find those unnoticed connections between seemingly unrelated things. I think you need both approaches, you need to think outside the box and have a good health and supplement regimine to attain the maximum edge.

[doug123]

Ironically, the #5-10 richest Americans all inherited Wallmart, so the other side of American fortune are those whose riches were kinda handed to them. Not as an insult, but the top five richest Americans are all self made. The fifth through tenth richest were kinda handed their cash on a platter. So creativity can have nothing to do with riches, or education. It's an interesting pattern, however..

I'm trying to subconsciously convince myself I don't need to finish college, if you can't tell.


#6 Christy Walton
Net Worth: $15.7 billion
Source: Retailing, Wal-Mart inheritance
Inherited

Age: 50
Marital Status: Widowed, 1 child
Hometown: Jackson, WY
Education:


#6 Jim C Walton
Net Worth: $15.7 billion
Source: Retailing, Wal-Mart
Inherited

Age: 57
Marital Status: Married, 4 children
Hometown: Bentonville, AR
Education:



#8 S Robson Walton
Net Worth: $15.6 billion
Source: Retailing, Wal-Mart
Inherited

Age: 61
Marital Status: Divorced, 3 children, 1 divorce
Hometown: Bentonville, AR
Education: University of Arkansas, Bachelor of Arts / Science
Columbia University, Doctor of Jurisprudence


#9 Alice L Walton
Net Worth: $15.5 billion
Source: Retailing, Wal-Mart
Inherited

Age: 56
Marital Status: Divorced, 2 divorces
Hometown: Fort Worth, TX
Education: Trinity University of San Antonio, Bachelor of Arts / Science


#10 Helen R Walton
Net Worth: $15.4 billion
Source: Retailing, Wal-Mart
Inherited

Age: 86
Marital Status: Widowed, 4 children
Hometown: Bentonville, AR
Education: University of Oklahoma, Bachelor of Arts / Science

Edited by nootropikamil, 12 December 2006 - 11:12 PM.

[doug123]

I forgot to include the sources of the pictures and information above:

Source: http://forbes.com

Here

I put the wrong image for the a couple too...

[Ghostrider]

Good observations. We must draw a distinction though between becoming rich and being creative. Those richest people above all solved a problem. Problem solving is the most efficient way to become rich and the reason is simple: The world is full of problems, some big, some small. But a solution to either type can result in wealth. So I would argue that those above were not so much creative as they happened to be at the right place at the right time, had knowledge which could be applied to solve a problem, and applied their knowledge. The first point is less important as I believe all those people above would have been successful had they come at a different time in history, but it is doubtful if they would have been as financially successful had they not been at the right place at the right time. Certainly some luck was involved, but I admire their passion and risk-taking.

DukeNukem: Did you make the video game "Prey"? How about "Duke Nukem 3D"?

[FunkOdyssey]

#174939205 Shawn Bald
Net Worth: -$22,000
Source: Debt from car hobbyism

Age: 25
Marital Status: Practically married
Hometown: Manchester, CT
Education: Some college, School of Hard Knocks

[doug123]

Dude, is that really a dunce hat you are wearing there?..I had a debt from car hobbyism...I ended up trading the car for the debt...