Eh, she’s just re-purposing that Biblical knowledge that’s still floating around in her brain after years of indoctrination (and will probably stay floating around for a very long time).
Yeah, I don’t think she’s trying to be right, she’s just trying to avoid a difficult conversation.
Wagstaff
Considering how many more quick saves she’ll have to make like this without displaying anxiety that would be a dead give away, depending on how desperate she is, she could take beta-blockers (herbal or otherwise) to block the symptoms. All depends on whether she would think the costs would outweigh the benefits though.
I mean, surely common beta-blockers and roots with those properties were fine in her community?
WanderingLynx
I feel like beta-blockers are old enough to be still “permitted” in that brand of Chistianity (AFAIK, it’s more like Latter Day Saints who would frown on them?)
Yet Joyce still wouldn’t know about them because if she still has trouble lying, she hasn’t started the “getting things done though chemicals” phase of college yet. Hell, I’m even sure she hasn’t heard of Chemical Romances, let alone of experimenting with them.
Wagstaff
Fascinating, I always thought that Chemical Romance was just the name of a band!
I’m not the one for Romantic relationships (I’d be willing to try out the classical kind though), but I already appreciate the chemicals all around us that have made the modern world we know and love!
But in the more colloquial sense of the word, I definitely don’t think that any of the substances I’d be willing to try count as “hard chemicals”.
Actually, I originally brought up the possibility of Joyce using Beta Blockers to prevent Becky from finding her out because the strategy was mentioned in Cinema Summary‘s video about Death Note 2.
She might just be avoidant of medical procedures due to a needle phobia or something like that. (Remember the “needles in my eyes” comment at the optometrist? Or how well she took the flu shot way back wgen?)
Wagstaff
Wow, her look was surprisingly flamboyant in that strip.
Evidently, it might very well be possible that she may try taking something, if not beta-blockers then cough-syrup or something like it to hide her new beliefs from Becky (especially considering that the likely closet blow-out is more likely to happen in sister Christian).
By the way, I only mentioned cough syrup as an example of something people try for this purpose. I definitely would NOT recommend it, because in some people it can actually lead to opium addiction.
I’m not sure it was a save. I think Becky’s suspected something is up for a while, and I think it’s all about to come crashing down.
tbf
Maybe, but this isn’t the day Becky wants things to come crashing down. It’s a very Joyce thing to say and that’s good enough for her conscious mind for now.
Oh, trust me, the indoctrinated information sticks around … probably for the rest of her life in some form or another. I left The Church fifteen years ago, and can still pull those random data to the fore if the situation calls for it. She’s been gone for, what, a couple of months? The fact that she can give that answer isn’t surprising AT ALL.
Jason
Is she actually gone yet though? I think Becky would have noticed if Joyce has stopped attending church. I think she’s Left The Church, but not left church yet, if that makes sense.
thejeff
Yeah, that’s been kind of bugging me too. We haven’t seen her go since the trip with Jacob. The week after that we saw her skip. Conveniently Becky had to campaign. That was the last Sunday before the timeskip.
It feels right that she hasn’t gone since, but I can’t imagine she’s been able to pull that off without letting Becky know. I think she must have been going. Likely we’ll see when we get to Sunday.
I still have Biblical knowledge in my brain from my comic book Bible I had as a kid (that was more for adolescents and I was maybe 8, but I was an advanced reader). I still sometimes think of Bible stories that demonstrate a life principle I want to make a point about sometimes, even though I don’t believe in the theology anymore. And I see it as valuable knowledge in terms of humanities/anthropology, like, I have knowledge of a particular culture’s mythology/cosmology. Although it’s emic knowledge, not etic, but it enhances the etic knowledge I have since gained about Christianity’s history.
Wagstaff
Can you give me an example of one such principle you hold, and the story which demonstrates it?
Xenocide
Jesus’ sermons in the gospels have quite a few decent bits. The Good Samaritan for instance. Basically just be nice to each other.
The Old Testament less so. “Walking around a city once a day for 6 days then 7 times on the 7th day will cause the walls to fall down” seems unlikely to work and also not that useful in day to day life.
“If it rains really hard build a boat and get two of every creature on board to repopulate the planet” would require an incredibly large boat, and lead to rather more inbreeding than would likely be healthy for the new population.
Wagstaff
Thanks for sharing, but I was kind of specifically asking Meagan, but it’s alright.
The Amish are the only Christian group I know about that’s totally fine with inbreeding, but I’m honestly not surprised that the people who wrote the Bible had no concept of modern genetics or biology (especially not vaccines or blood transfusions).
Side thought, do you think there’s any value to the part of the passover story where Yahweh takes away the Pharaoh’s free will to prevent him from liberating the Israelites (Exodus 4:21)?
Wagstaff
I’m just asking because, I actually used to celebrate passover, but when I read this part I felt really queasy every time I participated.
Some Ed
That’s probably because there are *reasons* we leave the faith our parents attempted to give us. When we encounter those reasons, we feel uncomfortable. Also, when we encounter anything that talks about not leaving the faith, directly or indirectly, we tend to feel uncomfortable. The latter tends to fade over time, the former does not.
Passover includes the latter sort of material. Depending on why exactly you left your parents’ faith, it might also contain the former sort of material.
jothki
Literally, no. But historically, it looks like the sort of thing that is probably an interesting artifact of the transition of Jewish culture from veneration of a patron deity to true monotheism. I’d bet that originally the story had the Pharaoh’s gods hardening his heart, but at some point it was edited to remove all mentions of those gods existing or having real power.
So the story is nowhere near as bad as many people believe it to be, if you’re willing to discard thousands of years of religious dogma and the very concept of monotheism.
thejeff
Maybe. It’s not really all that different from a lot of the rest of the Hebrew Bible though – There’s a lot of “Israel was bad so God made a foreign nation attack and conquer them” stuff going on there.
It’s definitely tied to the shift from a patron deity, but I’m not sure it’s linked to Pharoah’s gods hardening his heart, but just to the God of Abraham only being concerned with his people. Even as he shifted to the only God, that remained. Other peoples were only important as they were used by God to either punish Israel or deliver them from punishment.
I can’t tell if Becky bought it, or if she still suspects that Joyce no longer believes in any of it. But I’m kinda hoping she won’t keep prodding for now.
I’m afraid you’re absolutely right, and the results will be tragic…they will go to McDonald’s for ice cream, only to discover that the machine is down today.
Nah, I’m just joshing you! It’s McDonald’s, the ice cream machine is down every day.
I thought it was A Thing that the machines don’t break, they just require an intensive and hasslesome cleaning procedure every couple of hours, and if the store is too busy or the staff can’t be bothered they just proclaim it broken to get out of doing it?
The worst horror stories are the ones that have a basis indistinguishable from reality, which is to say “I am a wuss that eschews a whole genre because I’m easily scared”. Anyway, I wish I hadn’t clicked on this at 2 am |DD
NinjaMaid
The maintenance cleaning is done once a fortnight, but if they half-assed it it’ll break down regularly during busy periods. What mostly happens is the ice cream mix is being used and refilled so rapidly that cooling process can’t keep up. If the mix comes out it’s not food safe and really runny.
TBF, the machines are deliberately badly designed because the company that makes them have a monopoly on repair technicians.
Tunasammich
Yeah, there’s a whole little documentary about this on YouTube. It’s a total racket
I remember reading something about a sustained low voltage electrical current being sent into the base of the skull, and how it had the effect of greatly increasing the speed at which a new language was learned, but I can’t seem to find anything else on it right now, and god knows what side effects that’d have.
Nootropics? ADHD meds if you haven’t got ADHD. (If you DO have it, tho, all it causes is that SUDDENLY YOU’RE ABLE TO FOCUS. No cool superpowers but hey, I get to finally strike some shit from my list when I couldn’t, so.)
I’ve heard of Adderal, but I think the side effects of that are so dangerous that I’d only ever use them in a life-threatening, EMERGENCY situation.
Besides, if Family Guy is right about anything, that stuff doesn’t make you have good ideas as much as it just makes you have A LOT of ideas.
Given my experience researching alleged “nootropics”, they generally fall into one of three categories:
1. Boring, mundane stuff that’s already seen common usage (caffeine, etc.).
2. Vitamins and mineral supplements that don’t help your brain in any way other then prevent it from suffering due to malnutrition. If you’re diet isn’t horribly unbalanced (not including vitamin-enriched cereal), you probably shouldn’t bother. (B12, Niacin, etc.)
3. Dangerous, illegal drugs that are banned for a good reason (Cocaine, Methamphetamine, etc.)
Not to say that I wouldn’t microdose something like mushrooms or LSD like once in a great while, albeit under highly controlled circumstances and very limited dosages. Silicon Valley workers actually microdose on one occasion to aid in problem-solving, although the clinically verified benefits of the practice are as of yet unclear (mostly just because those drugs being illegal makes them MUCH harder to study).
I was really after things like specific mental or physical exercises that build cognitive bandwidth the same way specific exercises specifically make your legs stronger or faster).
But thanks for sharing, I very much do appreciate that!
WanderingLynx
I’ve seen a lot of things that aren’t actually psychoactive to be purported as Nootropics, that much is true. But there’s newer stuff coming out all the time. But for example, there’s Modafinil – A weird little med that isn’t really a stimulant, because it doesn’t mess with your level of dopamine. It’s a dopamine reuptake inhibitor, which means that whatever dopamine you have, you have it for longer. Good for you on shunning Adderall and the rest though, because us ADHD-havers have enough trouble getting a doctor to believe us without all the Law and Engineering students who want to cram for an exam.
I’d like to have those specific mental or physical exercises that build cognitive bandwidth as well if you get some tips other than “do meditation” (I cannot, my brain doesn’t shut up and it’s not even saying anything useful). But in case yours has the ability to? Yeah, most def meditation in that case, with yoga as an aid if you can.
Learning another language is also always good for those neural pathways, but even more if you get to the point you can use it creatively. Interestingly enough, “learning an instrument” also counts (and music is math you can perceive with your senses), but so do computer languages as long as you’re building new things with it.
WanderingLynx
*”For example, modafinil” but without the “but”.
(For clarification. Man I hate that Disqus doesn’t let me edit, do you see how good is my focus, ay dios mío.)
Wagstaff
Those law and engineering students are definitely hurting themselves too by using Adderal, cause it can REALLY fuck you up unless you know what you’re down to the finest physiological and pharmacologcal details (generally you use medication like this only as prescribed by a doctor, for very good reasons). Not to say that even over-the-counter meds like Benedril can’t also fuck you up, but anyway…
Regarding meditation, due to my anxiety condition and current circumstances, I’m one of the unfortunate many who can’t even get CLOSE to such a state without cannabis. But when I do, it’s SO releaving… Sometimes when I take a little bit of dark chocolate with the stuff, I get an incredibly insightful explosion of cognitive power, but I’m not sure if that would be useful in concrete problem-solving like engineering and such (but maybe for digital art?) it’s more like a boost for abstract, even philosophical thinking in particular; even then, I don’t know how to intentionally recreate that effect, at least for now.
As for solving problems in programming, I’ll have to try that out!!! Perhaps certain games requiring engineering-related and open-ended problem-solving can also have that effect? Games like Factorio, Rim-World, and Don’t Starve come to mind.
When it comes to MacGyver-style, creative as hell problem solving in video games, Ambiguous Amphibian is an incredible inspiration to me.
But seeing that I’m gonna have to learn python for lots of physics jobs, I’m probably gonna work on programming next!
By the way, care to tell me the source that recommended programming puzzles as a nootropic exercise?
What most people don’t know is Adderal is medically pure meth. in small doses it helps people focus, which is critical for some neuro-divergent people. It also prevents the dental issues that come with home-made meth.
Wagstaff
It’s actually a precursor to meth — not quite the same substance, but still very dangerous.
carms
look it’s a suggestion that belongs on the list and isn’t here yet, but tbh kinda boring.
Meditation/mindfulness exercises. do the parasympathetic nervous system activation deep breathing, do the slow the brain down, do the ‘noting’ exercises, take the time, whateva. Do it while you clean or run if the ~standard~ lotus sit or yoga don’t do it for you.
Also look for ‘working memory’ as a common term that means a similar thing to ‘cognitive bandwidth’- how many things can you keep in mind at once. there are working memory exercises that exist.
There are some (muggle) mushrooms that have neuroactive properties with some notable research behind them. lions mane mushroom is one, that a few people i respect as sensible and science-minded have considered worth experimenting with, tho it’s not something they’d stake much on. just cos they’ve got time and some spare cash.
carms
oh, fuk yeah,learn a language/music are crazy good for your brain. A second language adds like 1-2 years of function to a brain with neurodegeneration, eg alzheimers/dementia. The brain still degenerates- the additional language doesn’t slow that down. It’s just that what’s LEFT of the brain has enough capacity to keep being a brain for longer. Wild. like. like if your feet were so dextrous your hands could degrade and you wouldn’t eve necessarily notice cos your feet can take on full hand duties.
Wagstaff
That’s good too!
A year or two ago, I came across a Japanese legend where Samurai would master a breathing technique that makes it so that they never run out of stamina. Not that I think it’s an instant ticket to superpowers or anything, but I’ve actually been practicing my breathing whenever I could since then to see if I could get any such beneficial effects. Thus far, I HAVE gotten better as blowing up balloons, but nothing else other than that.
If your ADHD is bad enough the idea of the best-case scenario from meds sounds like a fucking superpower. “You can focus?? AT WILL?! You can actually DO STUFF without getting distracted after half a second and forgetting what you were doing completely??? You can- you can remember important stuff? Forget flying, that sounds phenomenal!”
…Yes I am struggling with my own ADHD, was that obvious?
225 thoughts on “Watchin’”
Ana Chronistic
DANGIT Joyce’s contrarian desire to be “right” at any cost, we had a moment D=(
Wagstaff
Eh, she’s just re-purposing that Biblical knowledge that’s still floating around in her brain after years of indoctrination (and will probably stay floating around for a very long time).
I’ll say, that was a nice save, Joyce.
DailyBrad
Yeah, I don’t think she’s trying to be right, she’s just trying to avoid a difficult conversation.
Wagstaff
Considering how many more quick saves she’ll have to make like this without displaying anxiety that would be a dead give away, depending on how desperate she is, she could take beta-blockers (herbal or otherwise) to block the symptoms. All depends on whether she would think the costs would outweigh the benefits though.
I mean, surely common beta-blockers and roots with those properties were fine in her community?
WanderingLynx
I feel like beta-blockers are old enough to be still “permitted” in that brand of Chistianity (AFAIK, it’s more like Latter Day Saints who would frown on them?)
Yet Joyce still wouldn’t know about them because if she still has trouble lying, she hasn’t started the “getting things done though chemicals” phase of college yet. Hell, I’m even sure she hasn’t heard of Chemical Romances, let alone of experimenting with them.
Wagstaff
Fascinating, I always thought that Chemical Romance was just the name of a band!
I’m not the one for Romantic relationships (I’d be willing to try out the classical kind though), but I already appreciate the chemicals all around us that have made the modern world we know and love!
But in the more colloquial sense of the word, I definitely don’t think that any of the substances I’d be willing to try count as “hard chemicals”.
Actually, I originally brought up the possibility of Joyce using Beta Blockers to prevent Becky from finding her out because the strategy was mentioned in Cinema Summary‘s video about Death Note 2.
Leadsynth
Joyce also hasn’t heard of My Chemical Romance
Needfuldoer
It doesn’t sound like she’s against medication.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-8/02-this-is-the-way-that-we-love/hobble/
She might just be avoidant of medical procedures due to a needle phobia or something like that. (Remember the “needles in my eyes” comment at the optometrist? Or how well she took the flu shot way back wgen?)
Wagstaff
Wow, her look was surprisingly flamboyant in that strip.
Evidently, it might very well be possible that she may try taking something, if not beta-blockers then cough-syrup or something like it to hide her new beliefs from Becky (especially considering that the likely closet blow-out is more likely to happen in sister Christian).
By the way, I only mentioned cough syrup as an example of something people try for this purpose. I definitely would NOT recommend it, because in some people it can actually lead to opium addiction.
RassilonTDavros
I’m not sure it was a save. I think Becky’s suspected something is up for a while, and I think it’s all about to come crashing down.
tbf
Maybe, but this isn’t the day Becky wants things to come crashing down. It’s a very Joyce thing to say and that’s good enough for her conscious mind for now.
Concolor44
Oh, trust me, the indoctrinated information sticks around … probably for the rest of her life in some form or another. I left The Church fifteen years ago, and can still pull those random data to the fore if the situation calls for it. She’s been gone for, what, a couple of months? The fact that she can give that answer isn’t surprising AT ALL.
Jason
Is she actually gone yet though? I think Becky would have noticed if Joyce has stopped attending church. I think she’s Left The Church, but not left church yet, if that makes sense.
thejeff
Yeah, that’s been kind of bugging me too. We haven’t seen her go since the trip with Jacob. The week after that we saw her skip. Conveniently Becky had to campaign. That was the last Sunday before the timeskip.
It feels right that she hasn’t gone since, but I can’t imagine she’s been able to pull that off without letting Becky know. I think she must have been going. Likely we’ll see when we get to Sunday.
Meagan
I still have Biblical knowledge in my brain from my comic book Bible I had as a kid (that was more for adolescents and I was maybe 8, but I was an advanced reader). I still sometimes think of Bible stories that demonstrate a life principle I want to make a point about sometimes, even though I don’t believe in the theology anymore. And I see it as valuable knowledge in terms of humanities/anthropology, like, I have knowledge of a particular culture’s mythology/cosmology. Although it’s emic knowledge, not etic, but it enhances the etic knowledge I have since gained about Christianity’s history.
Wagstaff
Can you give me an example of one such principle you hold, and the story which demonstrates it?
Xenocide
Jesus’ sermons in the gospels have quite a few decent bits. The Good Samaritan for instance. Basically just be nice to each other.
The Old Testament less so. “Walking around a city once a day for 6 days then 7 times on the 7th day will cause the walls to fall down” seems unlikely to work and also not that useful in day to day life.
“If it rains really hard build a boat and get two of every creature on board to repopulate the planet” would require an incredibly large boat, and lead to rather more inbreeding than would likely be healthy for the new population.
Wagstaff
Thanks for sharing, but I was kind of specifically asking Meagan, but it’s alright.
The Amish are the only Christian group I know about that’s totally fine with inbreeding, but I’m honestly not surprised that the people who wrote the Bible had no concept of modern genetics or biology (especially not vaccines or blood transfusions).
Side thought, do you think there’s any value to the part of the passover story where Yahweh takes away the Pharaoh’s free will to prevent him from liberating the Israelites (Exodus 4:21)?
Wagstaff
I’m just asking because, I actually used to celebrate passover, but when I read this part I felt really queasy every time I participated.
Some Ed
That’s probably because there are *reasons* we leave the faith our parents attempted to give us. When we encounter those reasons, we feel uncomfortable. Also, when we encounter anything that talks about not leaving the faith, directly or indirectly, we tend to feel uncomfortable. The latter tends to fade over time, the former does not.
Passover includes the latter sort of material. Depending on why exactly you left your parents’ faith, it might also contain the former sort of material.
jothki
Literally, no. But historically, it looks like the sort of thing that is probably an interesting artifact of the transition of Jewish culture from veneration of a patron deity to true monotheism. I’d bet that originally the story had the Pharaoh’s gods hardening his heart, but at some point it was edited to remove all mentions of those gods existing or having real power.
So the story is nowhere near as bad as many people believe it to be, if you’re willing to discard thousands of years of religious dogma and the very concept of monotheism.
thejeff
Maybe. It’s not really all that different from a lot of the rest of the Hebrew Bible though – There’s a lot of “Israel was bad so God made a foreign nation attack and conquer them” stuff going on there.
It’s definitely tied to the shift from a patron deity, but I’m not sure it’s linked to Pharoah’s gods hardening his heart, but just to the God of Abraham only being concerned with his people. Even as he shifted to the only God, that remained. Other peoples were only important as they were used by God to either punish Israel or deliver them from punishment.
Thag Simmons
The last time Joyce hinted that she was losing her faith, Becky didn’t react all that great. I get trying to avoid this.
zee
Huh? No? She just doesn’t want to tell Becky she’s an atheist yet
Ana Chronistic
I had words for what I meant, but I guess those weren’t them =p
RassilonTDavros
…oh. Oh, no.
If this is going where I think this is going, then this is the worst possible day for what I think is about to happen.
RassilonTDavros
…I don’t think Becky actually bought it. I think she’s going to keep prodding.
I think this will be the conversation where Becky figures out the truth about what Joyce now believes, and it’s going to hurt.
Keulen
I can’t tell if Becky bought it, or if she still suspects that Joyce no longer believes in any of it. But I’m kinda hoping she won’t keep prodding for now.
Doctor_Who
I’m afraid you’re absolutely right, and the results will be tragic…they will go to McDonald’s for ice cream, only to discover that the machine is down today.
Nah, I’m just joshing you! It’s McDonald’s, the ice cream machine is down every day.
Wagstaff
If we don’t get serious about climate change, the few days that they AREN’T broken are only gonna get fewer and further between.
Thag Simmons
Just in case, I recommend looking into Svalbard real estate.
Greebs
I thought it was A Thing that the machines don’t break, they just require an intensive and hasslesome cleaning procedure every couple of hours, and if the store is too busy or the staff can’t be bothered they just proclaim it broken to get out of doing it?
Illithid
https://www.wired.com/story/they-hacked-mcdonalds-ice-cream-makers-started-cold-war/
WanderingLynx
The worst horror stories are the ones that have a basis indistinguishable from reality, which is to say “I am a wuss that eschews a whole genre because I’m easily scared”. Anyway, I wish I hadn’t clicked on this at 2 am |DD
NinjaMaid
The maintenance cleaning is done once a fortnight, but if they half-assed it it’ll break down regularly during busy periods. What mostly happens is the ice cream mix is being used and refilled so rapidly that cooling process can’t keep up. If the mix comes out it’s not food safe and really runny.
TBF, the machines are deliberately badly designed because the company that makes them have a monopoly on repair technicians.
Tunasammich
Yeah, there’s a whole little documentary about this on YouTube. It’s a total racket
Sirksome
So what I’m hearing is that there’s a chance Bonnie will show up as a zombie.
Reltzik
In this case, I think the appropriate term is revenant.
Opus the Poet
Ghoul… get your undead straight,
Reltzik
Ghouls are associated with graveyards (fair) and the consumption of human flesh (communion wafers) and the macabre (same)… so maybe.
Revenant, on the other hand, LITERALLY means “came back”, which is perfect both for someone resurrected and for the Second Coming itself.
Wagstaff
Say, does anyone know of any clinically proven ways to increase cognitive bandwidth?
Doctor_Who
Delete all your social media apps.
Wagstaff
Way ahead of you. In regard to social media’s effects, I’ve been ahead for YEARS.
Clif
Pretty sure comment sections are social media.
Wagstaff
The biggest difference is that doom-scrolling is impossible.
Seriously, Facebook and Twitter are just like the endless staircase from Super Mario 64.
Thag Simmons
Use more brain
Reltzik
Decrease ping time.
(ie, think longer before speaking or acting)
Reltzik
Grah! I MEANT INCREASE PING TIME! I posted before I proofed!
…. er, I mean, that was me cleverly giving an example of the principle in action.
Clif
Well done.
Wagstaff
Fascinating suggestion. Care to list the
SAUCEsource?John
I remember reading something about a sustained low voltage electrical current being sent into the base of the skull, and how it had the effect of greatly increasing the speed at which a new language was learned, but I can’t seem to find anything else on it right now, and god knows what side effects that’d have.
Wagstaff
I’d like to see the source for that too. But chances are, it may have been misconstrued by a secondary source that left out essential context.
Wizard
Or it was one sketchy study that no one has been able to replicate.
Wagstaff
Yeah, generally you only really want to trust the double-blind ones, and if you can “afford” it, ones with methods that prevent p-hacking.
Wagstaff
Oh, and REPLICATABILITY is ALWAYS needed for worthwhile scientific principles.
Clif
https://www.inverse.com/innovation/neural-stimulation-language-device
Credibility low, but not zero. There are probably some credible justifications for such an effect, but the magnitude is likely to be pretty minimal.
misanthropope
age backwards.
WanderingLynx
Nootropics? ADHD meds if you haven’t got ADHD. (If you DO have it, tho, all it causes is that SUDDENLY YOU’RE ABLE TO FOCUS. No cool superpowers but hey, I get to finally strike some shit from my list when I couldn’t, so.)
… Does this mean psilocybe is a hardware upgrade?
Wagstaff
I’ve heard of Adderal, but I think the side effects of that are so dangerous that I’d only ever use them in a life-threatening, EMERGENCY situation.
Besides, if Family Guy is right about anything, that stuff doesn’t make you have good ideas as much as it just makes you have A LOT of ideas.
Given my experience researching alleged “nootropics”, they generally fall into one of three categories:
1. Boring, mundane stuff that’s already seen common usage (caffeine, etc.).
2. Vitamins and mineral supplements that don’t help your brain in any way other then prevent it from suffering due to malnutrition. If you’re diet isn’t horribly unbalanced (not including vitamin-enriched cereal), you probably shouldn’t bother. (B12, Niacin, etc.)
3. Dangerous, illegal drugs that are banned for a good reason (Cocaine, Methamphetamine, etc.)
Not to say that I wouldn’t microdose something like mushrooms or LSD like once in a great while, albeit under highly controlled circumstances and very limited dosages. Silicon Valley workers actually microdose on one occasion to aid in problem-solving, although the clinically verified benefits of the practice are as of yet unclear (mostly just because those drugs being illegal makes them MUCH harder to study).
I was really after things like specific mental or physical exercises that build cognitive bandwidth the same way specific exercises specifically make your legs stronger or faster).
But thanks for sharing, I very much do appreciate that!
WanderingLynx
I’ve seen a lot of things that aren’t actually psychoactive to be purported as Nootropics, that much is true. But there’s newer stuff coming out all the time. But for example, there’s Modafinil – A weird little med that isn’t really a stimulant, because it doesn’t mess with your level of dopamine. It’s a dopamine reuptake inhibitor, which means that whatever dopamine you have, you have it for longer. Good for you on shunning Adderall and the rest though, because us ADHD-havers have enough trouble getting a doctor to believe us without all the Law and Engineering students who want to cram for an exam.
I’d like to have those specific mental or physical exercises that build cognitive bandwidth as well if you get some tips other than “do meditation” (I cannot, my brain doesn’t shut up and it’s not even saying anything useful). But in case yours has the ability to? Yeah, most def meditation in that case, with yoga as an aid if you can.
Learning another language is also always good for those neural pathways, but even more if you get to the point you can use it creatively. Interestingly enough, “learning an instrument” also counts (and music is math you can perceive with your senses), but so do computer languages as long as you’re building new things with it.
WanderingLynx
*”For example, modafinil” but without the “but”.
(For clarification. Man I hate that Disqus doesn’t let me edit, do you see how good is my focus, ay dios mío.)
Wagstaff
Those law and engineering students are definitely hurting themselves too by using Adderal, cause it can REALLY fuck you up unless you know what you’re down to the finest physiological and pharmacologcal details (generally you use medication like this only as prescribed by a doctor, for very good reasons). Not to say that even over-the-counter meds like Benedril can’t also fuck you up, but anyway…
Regarding meditation, due to my anxiety condition and current circumstances, I’m one of the unfortunate many who can’t even get CLOSE to such a state without cannabis. But when I do, it’s SO releaving… Sometimes when I take a little bit of dark chocolate with the stuff, I get an incredibly insightful explosion of cognitive power, but I’m not sure if that would be useful in concrete problem-solving like engineering and such (but maybe for digital art?) it’s more like a boost for abstract, even philosophical thinking in particular; even then, I don’t know how to intentionally recreate that effect, at least for now.
As for solving problems in programming, I’ll have to try that out!!! Perhaps certain games requiring engineering-related and open-ended problem-solving can also have that effect? Games like Factorio, Rim-World, and Don’t Starve come to mind.
When it comes to MacGyver-style, creative as hell problem solving in video games, Ambiguous Amphibian is an incredible inspiration to me.
But seeing that I’m gonna have to learn python for lots of physics jobs, I’m probably gonna work on programming next!
By the way, care to tell me the source that recommended programming puzzles as a nootropic exercise?
Opus the Poet
What most people don’t know is Adderal is medically pure meth. in small doses it helps people focus, which is critical for some neuro-divergent people. It also prevents the dental issues that come with home-made meth.
Wagstaff
It’s actually a precursor to meth — not quite the same substance, but still very dangerous.
carms
look it’s a suggestion that belongs on the list and isn’t here yet, but tbh kinda boring.
Meditation/mindfulness exercises. do the parasympathetic nervous system activation deep breathing, do the slow the brain down, do the ‘noting’ exercises, take the time, whateva. Do it while you clean or run if the ~standard~ lotus sit or yoga don’t do it for you.
Also look for ‘working memory’ as a common term that means a similar thing to ‘cognitive bandwidth’- how many things can you keep in mind at once. there are working memory exercises that exist.
There are some (muggle) mushrooms that have neuroactive properties with some notable research behind them. lions mane mushroom is one, that a few people i respect as sensible and science-minded have considered worth experimenting with, tho it’s not something they’d stake much on. just cos they’ve got time and some spare cash.
carms
oh, fuk yeah,learn a language/music are crazy good for your brain. A second language adds like 1-2 years of function to a brain with neurodegeneration, eg alzheimers/dementia. The brain still degenerates- the additional language doesn’t slow that down. It’s just that what’s LEFT of the brain has enough capacity to keep being a brain for longer. Wild. like. like if your feet were so dextrous your hands could degrade and you wouldn’t eve necessarily notice cos your feet can take on full hand duties.
Wagstaff
That’s good too!
A year or two ago, I came across a Japanese legend where Samurai would master a breathing technique that makes it so that they never run out of stamina. Not that I think it’s an instant ticket to superpowers or anything, but I’ve actually been practicing my breathing whenever I could since then to see if I could get any such beneficial effects. Thus far, I HAVE gotten better as blowing up balloons, but nothing else other than that.
Anyway, thanks for sharing, I appreciate it!
Geneseepaws
Being able to focus, my Heavens, that sounds like Utopia. I would love to go there some day.
Wagstaff
<a href = "http://pvz.jiangnangame.com/pvztr/audio/Bgm_Forest_Fight_JX.mp3"Me too.
Wagstaff
Me too.
Jason
If your ADHD is bad enough the idea of the best-case scenario from meds sounds like a fucking superpower. “You can focus?? AT WILL?! You can actually DO STUFF without getting distracted after half a second and forgetting what you were doing completely??? You can- you can remember important stuff? Forget flying, that sounds phenomenal!”
…Yes I am struggling with my own ADHD, was that obvious?
Jenny Islander