4 replies to this topic

[galtsgulch]

On Wed., January 16th, 2006, Will Block gave a lecture to the Silicon Valley Transhumanist Meetup Group titled "Nootropics, Past, Present & Future." The discussion was quite interesting and was followed by extensive questions and answers. The Powerpoint is available through a link on the homepage of the Life Enhancement Website (see the HIGHLIGHTS box in the lower right-hand corner).

Will's background is as follows: Will is the CEO, President, and Founder of Life Enhancement Products, Inc., a worldwide manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of high end mental and physical enhancement nutrient formulations and personal care products designed by scientists such as Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw, Ward Dean, MD, Moris Silber, MD, PhD, Richard Kaufman, PhD, Gary Gordon, DO, MD, Jonathan Wright, MD and other leading formulators. He is the publisher and principal writer of the 50,000 circulation 40-page monthly newsmagazine, Life Enhancement. In addition, he co-authored Tools for Privacy, a book about public key encryption and The 5-HTP Archives, a nutritional book about natural anti-depressants. Will is the publisher of the netzine and podcast, NeoFiles (http://mondoglobo.net... by the legendary cyberscribe RU Sirius?and HealthExtra, a weekly breaking news publication. He also directs a futuristic forum, 21st Century Brains in Mill Valley, California, that takes the ongoing, web-based monthly exploration of edgy, visionary philosophy, science and technology to a live audience with deference to extropian, transhumanist, libertarian, and pro-technology positions. Will has also been a speaker at Eris Society, Terra Libra, Boston Tea Party II circuit on smart drugs, intelligence thresholds, and the margins of revolution.

[Evolutionary]

On Wed., January 16th, 2006, Will Block gave a lecture to the Silicon Valley Transhumanist Meetup Group titled "Nootropics, Past, Present & Future." The discussion was quite interesting and was followed by extensive questions and answers. The Powerpoint is available through a link on the homepage of the Life Enhancement Website (see the HIGHLIGHTS box in the lower right-hand corner).

Will's background is as follows: Will is the CEO, President, and Founder of Life Enhancement Products, Inc., a worldwide manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of high end mental and physical enhancement nutrient formulations and personal care products designed by scientists such as Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw, Ward Dean, MD, Moris Silber, MD, PhD, Richard Kaufman, PhD, Gary Gordon, DO, MD, Jonathan Wright, MD and other leading formulators. He is the publisher and principal writer of the 50,000 circulation 40-page monthly newsmagazine, Life Enhancement. In addition, he co-authored Tools for Privacy, a book about public key encryption and The 5-HTP Archives, a nutritional book about natural anti-depressants. Will is the publisher of the netzine and podcast, NeoFiles (http://mondoglobo.net... by the legendary cyberscribe RU Sirius?and HealthExtra, a weekly breaking news publication. He also directs a futuristic forum, 21st Century Brains in Mill Valley, California, that takes the ongoing, web-based monthly exploration of edgy, visionary philosophy, science and technology to a live audience with deference to extropian, transhumanist, libertarian, and pro-technology positions. Will has also been a speaker at Eris Society, Terra Libra, Boston Tea Party II circuit on smart drugs, intelligence thresholds, and the margins of revolution.

Extremely interesting... interesting pictures, novel perspectives, good synthesis of facts... Thanks for the heads-up!

Edited by neuron, 21 February 2008 - 04:41 AM.

[Rags847]

Thanks, galtsgulch. Nice to see that nootropics have been used in cultures throughout the ages, in one form or another. Put in its historic context, nootropics of today don't seem so strange, out-there, fringe, unique.

[galtsgulch]

Speaking of the "history of nootropics", I just finished reading Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World. It was a lot more fascinating than I would have imagined, and the third chapter, "Desire: Intoxication / Plant: Marijuana" gave a pretty compelling argument that psychoactive botanicals (along with fasting and meditation) were probably responsible for many of the so-called religious experiences that have been reported throughout history.

Another good book which goes into the history of religious subcultures and the use of hashish is RU Sirius' (Ken Goffman's) Counterculture Through The Ages: From Abraham to Acid House.

[Shannon Vyff]

Thank you for sharing, I can adapt parts for use with kids