Ben_LandauTaylor comments on Rationalists Are Less Credulous But Better At Taking Ideas Seriously - LessWrong

43 Post author: Yvain 21 January 2014 02:18AM

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Comment author: Ben_LandauTaylor 21 January 2014 06:06:53AM 2 points [-]

There's lots of modafinil info at gwern's page. Wikipedia is also a pretty good source. The short (and only slightly inaccurate) version is that it gives you the good effects of caffeine, but stronger, and with no withdrawal or other drawbacks. It's had positive effects on my mood and focus.

"deciding to start taking a drug without the advice and supervision of a licensed medical professional is bad" seems to be a decent heuristic to live by

Reasonable! Which is why I'm taking modafinil with the advice and supervision of a licensed medical professional. If you're wary of self-medication, you might want to look into that route.

Comment author: SaidAchmiz 21 January 2014 06:11:28AM 3 points [-]

Thank you for the link, I will look into that.

If you are so inclined, I would be interested in hearing how you approached the "advice of a medical professional" aspect; did you go to your GP and say "So I'm considering taking modafinil"? (If you'd prefer not to answer, I entirely understand, no need to even respond to say no; thank you in any case for your comment.)

Comment author: Ben_LandauTaylor 21 January 2014 07:26:51AM 3 points [-]

I'd been seeing a psychiatrist to get treated for anhedonia. We tried a few different SSRIs, which didn't help. Then I read about modafinil, and it seemed like it could plausibly help treat some of my symptoms (although not their causes), so I brought it up. He agreed it was a reasonable thing to try and prescribed it. I've been taking modafinil regularly for a year, now. It's not a giant boost for me, but it is a boost, and the drawbacks are negligible.

Comment author: Creutzer 21 January 2014 01:04:07PM 0 points [-]

That's pretty remarkable, I would expect that most psychiatrists would be highly resistant to such a proposal. Also, having to try SSRIs first in order to maybe get them to agree is not an insignificant cost.

Comment author: SaidAchmiz 21 January 2014 03:18:47PM 1 point [-]

Yeah, it doesn't sound like Ben_LandauTaylor's strategy of modafinil acquisition is viable for me.

Also, having to try SSRIs first in order to maybe get them to agree is not an insignificant cost.

No kidding!

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 21 January 2014 11:24:14PM 0 points [-]

with no withdrawal or other drawbacks.

How much data is there behind this conclusion. Is it comparable to the centuries of experience we have with caffeine?

Comment author: gwern 22 January 2014 02:45:50AM 8 points [-]

There's lots of modafinil info at gwern's page. Wikipedia is also a pretty good source...

How much data is there behind this conclusion

Why are you asking, instead of looking?