hi all,
it's been a while since i last posted, although i still do check out the boards from time to time. for ~8 years i've been following the idea of cognitive enhancement, and i guess in many regards my conception of nootropics and understanding of my own behaviour has matured. i was going to write a long spiel but instead i offer this:
i feel that most people aren't serious about cognitive enhancement, and this whole movement is based on the presumption that the solution can be found in a pill. as of 2010, and probably for the next 10 years, i believe that it can't. i feel that many people are lazy and are unwilling to work hard for their goals, and this is a hallmark of the one-pill-for-every-problem mentality.
fluid intelligence, or reasoning ability, is a good predictor of job performance, academic performance and other culturally endorsed markers of success. IMHO, the ideal nootropic would enhance fluid intelligence rather than "peripheral" components of intelligence such as attention, memory and motivation. historically, the problem is that it's been thought that fluid intelligence can't be improved. however, in the past couple years, several studies have found that doing working memory exercises that get progressively harder DOES improve fluid intelligence in HEALTHY people.
this intervention takes about 20 minutes a day for several weeks. attached is the abstract and a link to the website.
i now posit this:
after learning of this, how many of you are going to dedicate 20 minutes/day on this intervention, one which has been empirically demonstrated in HEALTHY people. compare that to the evidence behind the nootropics you're currently taking. my suspicion is that the majority of people into nootropics are just way too fucking lazy, and should commence a course of selegiline immediately
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the software can be purchased here:
http://www.apn.psy.u.../index_eng.html
the full pdf can be downloaded here:
http://www.pnas.org/...9.full.pdf html
Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory
1. Susanne M. Jaeggi*,†,‡,
2. Martin Buschkuehl*,†,‡,
3. John Jonides*, and
4. Walter J. Perrig†
Abstract
Fluid intelligence (Gf) refers to the ability to reason and to solve new problems independently of previously acquired knowledge. Gf is critical for a wide variety of cognitive tasks, and it is considered one of the most important factors in learning. Moreover, Gf is closely related to professional and educational success, especially in complex and demanding environments. Although performance on tests of Gf can be improved through direct practice on the tests themselves, there is no evidence that training on any other regimen yields increased Gf in adults. Furthermore, there is a long history of research into cognitive training showing that, although performance on trained tasks can increase dramatically, transfer of this learning to other tasks remains poor. Here, we present evidence for transfer from training on a demanding working memory task to measures of Gf. This transfer results even though the trained task is entirely different from the intelligence test itself. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the extent of gain in intelligence critically depends on the amount of training: the more training, the more improvement in Gf. That is, the training effect is dosage-dependent. Thus, in contrast to many previous studies, we conclude that it is possible to improve Gf without practicing the testing tasks themselves, opening a wide range of applications.
