Comment by bloak | Hacker News Reader

Comment by bloak | Hacker News Reader

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> Maybe one day we will get a drug that enhances mental function, that works effectively and has no real downsides.

What's the closest we have today to an effective drug with "no real downsides", assuming that nutritional supplements don't count?

If such a drug exists, I want to know why the body hasn't evolved either to produce it by itself or to obtain the same effect in another way. (Possible answers include: it's something that would be very hard to synthesise in the body; the drug is only useful to humans in recent times; it was already present in people's diet until recently - but then I'd call it a "nutritional supplement" rather than a "drug"; it's only useful to people who have passed reproductive age - though such people may still have played a useful role in ancient societies.)

Not a mental drug. but simethicone has virtually no side effects. It relieves gas by lowering the surface tension of the bubbles in your gut (so you can burp them out easier). But I don't think there's enough evolutionary pressure for Good At Burping to become a favored human trait.

> If such a drug exists, I want to know why the body hasn't evolved either to produce it by itself or to obtain the same effect in another way

You're assuming evolution is perfect and that we have reached perfection already

Your question is also assuming that each drug impacts everyone the same way

Some people who take a certain psych med won't experience side effects, while others may experience severe side effects

E.g. most people who take Straterra experience benefits but some outliers may become extremely suicidal

I would say overall human science on drugs is primitive. I think to achieve what you are really thinking about will need a different overall approach to psych med development

I wouldn't overlook the potential for naturally found compounds either. Many indigenous peoples have or had vast knowledge on their pharmaceutical effects but often these were destroyed in genocides

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