To rephrase that without the sci-fi jargon - if you start out crippled and a drug fixes it, but you go back to the way you were when you stop taking it, then you're dependent on that drug. Similarly, if you start out average and a drug makes you awesome, but you aren't willing to be merely average when you could be awesome instead, then again, that's dependency. People speak of "dependency" as though it's intrinsically bad, but it isn't; what's bad is when something (a) leaves you worse off than you started if you stop taking it (that is, it has withdrawal symptoms), and (b) there is a reason why you'll eventually have to stop taking it (such as a tolerance that builds up until it's providing no benefits other than avoiding withdrawal symptoms.) In many cases, one or both of these does not apply, so dependency is not a bad thing even if it happens.
Limitless is a movie coming out this Friday which includes nootropics as a major plot device. I think that the way they are portrayed in the movie, and the subsequent media discussion (if any) about nootropics would be of interest here, even if the movie isn't.
From what I can tell, the movie is about a guy who uses a drug to improve his mental capabilities, uses those to radically alter his life, who is then targeted because its just that genre of movie.
Just a heads up, if anyone is interested.