What a terrible article. It takes all the interesting parts regarding psychonaut exploration / mind expansion, frames it in "revolutionary" terms because of an association with technology, and ends with the banal conclusion of "More research in this field is necessary." Could get about a B in a high school English class though.
Citing Reddit is interesting, if there wasn't something called Erowid that was trying to do research / public service for years and years and years...there's some great potential in learning more about the mind and the substances that can enhance talents or treat issues, but I'm inherently skeptical that the VC/SV environment is to be trusted with that kind of "disruption." Can't even re-invent the taxi service without protocols to prevent kidnapping and/or trust the leadership not to race-to-the-bottom by digging up dirt on critics. Yeah, anecdotal, but relevant to my trust factor.
Sorry you feel that way. As TechCrunch / HN is a predominantly Silicon Valley centered community, we grounded the current work in nootropics with analogies and metaphors that make sense in the tech world today. I think this biohacking / nootropics ties into the broader context of the quantified self theme that many, many technologists are working on.
Yeah, well, not mentioning Erowid is pretty counter-intuitive to the entire article. It's ignorance dressed up as education. The path has already been started long before VC/SV smelled something interesting. Maybe if VC/SV had a great track record in investing in actual research science, which in fairness is being choked and driving people out of the profession, then maybe there'd be some hope. Thus far, I see far more risk than reward in complimenting or encouraging the VC/SV community to pursue this field.
Also, citing movies like Lucy and Limitless just feels juvenile. Why not strap on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for some counter balance? Drugs is drugs is drugs...
I'd say erowid leans more heavily towards recreational drugs which is out of the scope of what we wanted to talk about, but note taken. Definitely will shoutout erowid in any future discussions.
Lucy and Limitless were used as a writing hook - cheesiness noted, but they're relevant and accessible examples of how nootropics are entering the mainstream consciousness.
Comments
What a terrible article. It takes all the interesting parts regarding psychonaut exploration / mind expansion, frames it in "revolutionary" terms because of an association with technology, and ends with the banal conclusion of "More research in this field is necessary." Could get about a B in a high school English class though.
Citing Reddit is interesting, if there wasn't something called Erowid that was trying to do research / public service for years and years and years...there's some great potential in learning more about the mind and the substances that can enhance talents or treat issues, but I'm inherently skeptical that the VC/SV environment is to be trusted with that kind of "disruption." Can't even re-invent the taxi service without protocols to prevent kidnapping and/or trust the leadership not to race-to-the-bottom by digging up dirt on critics. Yeah, anecdotal, but relevant to my trust factor.
Sorry you feel that way. As TechCrunch / HN is a predominantly Silicon Valley centered community, we grounded the current work in nootropics with analogies and metaphors that make sense in the tech world today. I think this biohacking / nootropics ties into the broader context of the quantified self theme that many, many technologists are working on.
Yeah, well, not mentioning Erowid is pretty counter-intuitive to the entire article. It's ignorance dressed up as education. The path has already been started long before VC/SV smelled something interesting. Maybe if VC/SV had a great track record in investing in actual research science, which in fairness is being choked and driving people out of the profession, then maybe there'd be some hope. Thus far, I see far more risk than reward in complimenting or encouraging the VC/SV community to pursue this field.
Also, citing movies like Lucy and Limitless just feels juvenile. Why not strap on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for some counter balance? Drugs is drugs is drugs...
I'd say erowid leans more heavily towards recreational drugs which is out of the scope of what we wanted to talk about, but note taken. Definitely will shoutout erowid in any future discussions.
Lucy and Limitless were used as a writing hook - cheesiness noted, but they're relevant and accessible examples of how nootropics are entering the mainstream consciousness.