they seem to be massively anti-drugs of any kind except tea & tobacco
Which is interesting as the Chinese traditional medicine heavily relies on hundreds of plant preparations, some with (claimed) nootropic properties.
Also, when drug use became socially acceptable in the West? 1960s, I guess, after Kerouac, Burroughs, etc?
Also, when drug use became socially acceptable in the West? 1960s, I guess, after Kerouac, Burroughs, etc?
Way before that. Drug use has always been a strand in the West: the Eleusianian mysteries, etc. Think William James on nitrous oxide, Freud and cocaine, heroin and opium in widespread use by regular people...
So Scott Alexander's post at http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/03/01/2016-nootropics-survey-results/ shows that the most "effective" "nootropics" have still been the ones that have existed for a long time. What do these results really mean, though? Is it possible that people are just worse at noticing the subtler effects of the other drugs, or are just much worse at disciplining themselves enough to correctly use the racetams or noopept (as in, with choline)?
How much potential is there in innovation in nootropics? What is holding this innovation back, if anything? It feels like there hasn't been any real progress over the last 15 years (other than massively increased awareness), but could targeted drug discovery (along with people willing to be super-liberal with their experimentation) finally lead to some real breakthroughs?