>He was also on amphetamines constantly. If I was on amphetamine all the time I’d get a lot accomplished as well.

He started taking them in 1971, because he was depressed. He was 58 years old at the time and had been extremely productive for his whole career before that too.

A man tries to lift a large heavy rock blocking a road and can't. He waits around for hours and when finally some travellers arrive he declares that none of them will be able to lift it, it's an impossibly heavy rock. One of the travellers lifts the rock and everyone is pleased they can move on, but not before the original man shouts:

"I'd have done it myself if only I tried hard enough."

I encourage you to perform the experiment. Speed is like coffee in that it can move productivity and energy around but it has limited effects on the quantity of either.

From experience, surprisingly, no. It helps if you do it occasionally but when done regularly and at high doses, I ended up just getting cracked out and becoming.. for lack of a better word, kind of crazy.

They are good for essays though.