"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Paywall complaints are off topic:

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989

If there's a workaround, it's ok. Users usually post workarounds in the thread. There's one in this thread.

It is absolutely mind-altering. If you'd like to hear more, you can just check out the work this is based on, Michael Pollan's Caffeine: https://michaelpollan.com/books/caffeine-how-coffee-and-tea-...

He was recently on Fresh Air discussing the book; the transcript is here: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/803394030

> Calling coffee a mind-altering substance is pretty rich.

What? Why? It literally is one.

From wikipedia:

> Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class.[10] It is the world's most widely consumed psychoactive drug.

What is rich about calling coffee a mind altering substance? Sensibility varies across people, but as an occasional drinker, if I drink a cup of coffee (especially on an empty stomach), I get a strong buzz going for a solid 30 minutes or so. Not so different from a hit of nicotine (which I do not consume with any regularity either).

As far as my own body goes, I have no problem working and focusing while drinking a beer. For coffee, I may have to wait until the caffeine buzz subsided before I can really focus again.

If you don't think so, try quitting caffeine use for a few weeks and then jump back to your regular dose.

I find that stimulants in general are subtle drugs in the sense that it's not obvious to inexperienced users how affected they are by them.