Participants in the Singularity Summit 2011 workshops held on October 17-18 brainstormed a list of cognitive enhancement methods they would like to see tested — some of them for the first time, many of them more thoroughly than has been done so far. Here is that list:
- rationality instruction
- potassium and nutrients/micronutrients in general
- modafinil and its class
- racetam class, adderall, riatlin
- paleo and other popular diets
- multigenerational embryo selection
- particular TMS interventions
- doing math or logic problems every day
- amount of sleep
- neurofeedback; EEG, etc.
- physical health, specific types of exercise, yoga
- more red blood cells
- certain types of electrical stimulation
- spaced repetition
- practicing visualization
- practicing chess and Go
- dual n-back training
- prolonged sensory deprivation
- experience manipulating physical objects (craftsmanship and engineering)
- listening to music actively (and engaging with other art forms actively)
- using specific visual languages for specific tasks
- happiness in general (gratitude, etc.)
- changing the oxygen content of what you're breathing
- gene expression levels
- operant conditioning
- irradiation or administration of other toxins
- lucid dreaming
- GHB
- intermittent fasting
- creatine
- nicotine, caffeine
- arterial glucose drip to get more sugar to the brain
- Ekman training
- steroids
What do you think of speed reading?
My experiences with speed reading are that once you get up to a certain speed, your thinking speed is the limiting factor, not the way your eyes move. Correct me if I'm wrong, but most speed reading techniques offer nothing in terms of how to think quicker. Rather, they are methods of moving your eyes more efficiently.