jimrandomh comments on Intelligence Amplification Open Thread - Less Wrong

46 Post author: Will_Newsome 15 September 2010 08:39AM

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Comment author: magfrump 23 September 2010 07:37:32AM *  0 points [-]

Having read some of this and being curious enough now to consider experimenting, I am catching myself worrying about social backlash.

I am a graduate student and I vaguely recall at least an episode of Boston Legal discussing nootropics; do schools often have policies hostile to their use? Where would I find this information?

EDIT: I have searched through the student code of conduct for my school as thoroughly as I could stand and found a bunch of vague references to (a) academic dishonesty and (b) loads of other policies. The impression that I get is that if someone didn't like nootropics they could make my life unpleasant but maybe I'm projecting from this.

Comment author: jimrandomh 23 September 2010 10:05:27PM *  1 point [-]

As long as you follow the law (ie, nothing that requires a prescription you don't have), you're safe from academic consequences. The episode you're thinking of was probably about Ritalin and/or Adderall, which are illegal without a prescription but widely used anyways.

Comment author: magfrump 24 September 2010 02:04:27AM 0 points [-]

While I believe this and intend to pursue it, my sense of weirdness and nervousness remains. If, as wikipedia mentions, piracetam is totally unregulated then there just might not be anything about it but it doesn't relieve the worry in my mind that there could be something that I'm missing.

Comment author: knb 26 September 2010 08:36:25AM 0 points [-]

Piracetam is totally legal and unregulated in the US. (I guess in most of Europe it is prescription only.)

People take Piracetam all the time. From what I've heard, most schools will deliberately look the other way regarding even illicit brain-doping. If you're discreet you have little to worry about from your school. The authorities are less tolerant, but the Feds barely ever intercept even prescription drugs unless they're commonly sold for recreational purposes.

In any case, Piracetam is regulated as a "nutritional supplement" not a drug.

Comment author: gwern 28 September 2010 06:35:46PM 0 points [-]