Comment on Intelligence enhancement as existential risk mitigation

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:09:46 GMT

But there is no evidence that any pill can raise the average person's IQ by 10 points . Are you researching a sci fi novel or something? What good does wishing for magical pills do?

Well we haven't looked very hard, and I am trying to advocate that more research is urgently needed in this area, along with people like Nick Bostrom.

(which kind of makes sense, if some simple chemical balance adjustment could have such a dramatic effect on fitness it would be quite surprising)

See The Wisdom of Nature: An Evolutionary Heuristic for Human Enhancement

"a greater level of mental activity might also enable us to apply our brains more effectively to process information and solve problems. The brain, however, requires extra energy when we exert mental effort, reducing the normally tightly regulated blood glucose level by about 5 per cent (0.2 mmol/l) for short (<15 min) efforts and more for longer exertions.¹⁵ Conversely, increasing blood glucose levels has been shown to improve cognitive performance in demanding tasks."

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