[Hplusroadmap] Fwd: Re: [wta-talk] Boing Boing: "Debate round brain enhancement"

Mon Mar 10 19:31:03 CDT 2008

Call me a synic but I'm a little skeptical when someone says to me. "Hey
look I have a new drug for you that you take it and then you're smarter!!" I
know this is not what the presenter stated, but I seem to get the similar
feeling. I know he says "Well there's a type of study known as a deficiency
study that makes it very clear what role certain nutrients and amino acids
play with regard to memory....Then they conduct a series of tests and it's
absolutely clear. No one has ever challenged that type of study when it's
properly done."

I take issue with that statement. It's not that simple because if it was
then we'd be in a much much different world. There are so many variables
within studies that are debated that it can get ridiculous at times to try
to actually sit there and understand what's going on. Just saying vitamin X
makes you think better is silly because other nutrients that often accompany
vitamin x may also be helpful in performing said function. Just like saying
Vitamin C (aka Airborne - some ancillary components ) can prevent the flu.
While it's in some capacity necessary to have to prevent diseases (ie
scurvy) and promote the immune system it's not presenting the full picture
or even a major part of it. Of course someone lacking vitamin C is going to
get sick, but someone who has poor nutrition is prone to illness as well.
"Properly" is such an ambiguous term....

I take issue with a number of his statements as well. I know he does intend
to help people, but I guess it's like a listening to a preacher in many
ways. He makes sense on the first read through, but when I look at it again,
some of it's just plain confusing and more of an appeal to "common sense".
For example, I seem to get the feeling that if I didn't know a few things
about the brain and the blood-brain barrier that I would say "Hey if I take
supplement X and that's in my brain working to help me, then I should get
more effects right?"

Well that's not the whole story.... As my human physiology professor told us
in class one day... "If you take all those herbal supplements from GNC
you're going to have the most expensive pee in the world". You eat
supplements and that presents a problem. Of course that's how you get most
of your nutrients, but his general point is that you can't benefit so much
from loading yourself up with Ginko or other stuff. He presented us a case
study of a few drugs that people claimed would make you thinner by
suppressing appetite. Well the problem was that you eat it, the molecules
were broken down in your stomach and then just basically left your system.
You would have needed to take those drugs and literally dripped them into
your brain to work because your brain doesn't take up so much due to this
barrier.

I don't know his tone, but I think this statement is sort of indicative of
his belief in his therapies:

"A scientist who I've known for a great
many years said to me the other day: "I've been reading
your stuff over the last two decades and your writing
keeps getting better and better. Your stuff is clearer
and clearer."
I hear that a lot, in different ways. Better and better;
clearer and clearer. So I must be doing something right,
and my strong suspicion is that it's the smart nutrients
and the smart drugs I use on a daily basis.""

Well... could he just be writing more on the subject and be getting better
through constructive criticism? I would attribute that to having more
experience rather than any drug regiment he's putting himself through.

I visited their website too and found their "about us" statement to be less
than convincing either. "**This statement has not been evaluated by the Food
and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat,
cure, or prevent any disease."* As bad as the FDA is, they've approved a
number of medical devices and drugs that turned out to be not so good. The
truth is that if there was a consensus on such supplements, I would think
that drug companies would have their supplements packaged and studied more
thoroughly if they saw such money making opportunities. Heck, I know they
would love some easy money and put other companies out of business since
they have the appropriate licenses to develop and market drugs. The people
who run and study in these organizations must have loved ones affected by
Alzheimer's and I think if they could have found anything supplemental that
could make them better, they would have found it.

I guess you can tell, but for the most part I'm anti-drug. Unless you
absolutely need it then you shouldn't be pumping yourself full of
pheromones, steroids, or even supplements. Just because it wasn't made in a
lab doesn't make it not a drug. Natural is a subjective and junk word
nowadays as well. I really don't even touch caffeinated beverages at all and
if I do, it's because someone gave it to me because sugary drinks (like soda
or really strong lemonade) tend to make me sick since I've been off them for
so long. I'll admit I drink Vitamin Water, but it tastes good. I'm more
worried about us ingesting all this crap that's going into the water because
of these supplements and hormones being dumped.

Look at this recent AP story AP probe finds drugs in drinking
water<http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/09/ap_probe_finds_drugs_in_drinking_water/>.
Looks like "health enhancers" are just in the water so why pay, eh? I'm not
sure if I believe that the supplements are actually harming us more than
they help us. What drugs / supplement people are taking is starting to
effect everyone as well as the environment so think a little before you
start pumping mind up (supposedly) with these things...

On 3/10/08, Bryan Bishop <kanzure at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> ----------  Forwarded Message  ----------
>
> Subject: Re: [wta-talk] Boing Boing: "Debate round brain enhancement"
> Date: Monday 10 March 2008
> From: Bryan Bishop <kanzure at gmail.com>
> To: World Transhumanist Association Discussion List
> <wta-talk at transhumanism.org>
>
> On Monday 10 March 2008, James Clement wrote:
> > FYI - for anyone who's interested, a few months back I had Will
> > Block, President of Life Enhancement Products (disclosure - I provide
> > consulting services to LEP) speak at my Silicon Valley Transhumanist
> > Meetup Group about one of his favorite topics - Nootropics.  He gave
> > what I thought was an excellent PowerPoint presentation called "From
> > Grain to Grin: Nootropics, Past, Present & Future."  The PowerPoint
> > is available on his company's homepage for download at
> > www.life-enhancement.com.  Go to the lower right-hand corner of the
> > page under "Highlights" to find it.
>
> Yikes, 23 megabytes. Here's the content:
>
>
>
> From Grain
> to GRIN
> Nootropics:
> Past, Present, and Future
>
> - Bryan
> ________________________________________
> Bryan Bishop
> http://heybryan.org/
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
> ________________________________________
> Bryan Bishop
> http://heybryan.org/
> _______________________________________________
> Hplusroadmap mailing list
> Hplusroadmap at heybryan.org
> http://heybryan.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hplusroadmap
>
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