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Re:Klotho – There May Be a Drug to Turbocharge Your Brain. W... by bryanrasmussen on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @09:40AM (#19553920)
'm pretty sure physical enhancers would be more attractive to the general population than mental enhancers, although the HN community probably varies on this issue.
Re:Klotho – There May Be a Drug to Turbocharge Your Brain. W... by bilbo0s on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @10:07AM (#19554208)
I don't know man?

Where I'm from out here in flyover country there are an awful lot of people stuck in dead end jobs that would literally jump at a drug like that if its effect was dramatic enough.

Getting that GED in a weekend? You better believe there are a lot of people out here in trailer park and opioid land who would be all over that. Doesn't mean much to us, but the GED opens up raises at their current jobs, and even jobs that they currently are not able to get. That's not even counting the waitress types trying to get through college at night without waking up their kid. Those single mom types would definitely take it. It wouldn't even be a question for them.

Only way an illicit drug like that would not be consumed around where I live, is if the people around here couldn't find out about it. (Even that though would be hard, because I'm sure we have drug dealers around here who are probably pretty good at marketing stuff like that.)

Re:Klotho – There May Be a Drug to Turbocharge Your Brain. W... by gbear605 on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @09:52AM (#19554043)
It depends on what you mean by “physical enhancers” and “mental enhancers” - my understanding is that stimulants are already much more widely used than steroids. I certainly agree that some theoretical physically enhancing drugs would be more popular than some theoretic mentally enhancing drugs.
Re:Klotho – There May Be a Drug to Turbocharge Your Brain. W... by bryanrasmussen on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @12:32PM (#19555920)
A physical enhancer enhances some physical aspect predominantly, and a mental enhancer enhances some mental aspect predominantly or allows you to do better at enhancing the particular aspect yourself.

physical enhancers I can think of: Steroids, Viagra

mental enhancers I can think of: Modafinal (and similar, mainly, can also argue it is a physical enhancer), psychological drugs focused on better focus etc.

half and half - amphetamines. you can stay up to study but you don't pay attention so you could also stay up to party.

physical enhancers I can think of offhand: drug makes you beautiful, drug makes you physically tough, sharpshooter drug etc. etc.

mental enhancers I can think of: increase short term memory, photographic memory, increase reading speed, language processing improvements.

I guess I see that passing the GED drug mentioned in the other comment but intelligence is as a general rule not something people aspire to in this society (IMHO) therefore I would expect intelligence altering drugs would not receive as much funding as drugs that effect the things that society values, and those things tend to be physical.

Or to paraphrase Idiocracy the best minds would be devoted to enlarging penis size not making people smarter.