“Ask Her For Adderall” (Live) — The Hold Steady
Margaret Talbot wrote a fascinating article that appeared recently in the New Yorker called “Brain Gain” about the “underground world of ‘neuroenhancing’ drugs” — aka “smart pills.”
It’s an interesting overview of the growing use of stimulants and other “brain boosting” drugs by healthy people looking for an edge to be more alert and productive — beyond using caffeine and nicotine.
Talbot’s article thankfully covers more interesting aspects of the issue than college students looking to pull off a term paper the night before. She also touches on some ethical issues and complications involved with neuroenhancers and arrives at some intriguing conclusions and predictions.
But Talbot’s overall take on the drugs and what they say about our culture offers some sobering food for thought:
Every era, it seems, has its own defining drug. Neuroenhancers are perfectly suited for the anxiety of white-collar competition in a floundering economy. And they have a synergistic relationship with our multiplying digital technologies: the more gadgets we own, the more distracted we become, and the more we need help in order to focus. The experience that neuroenhancement offers is not, for the most part, about opening the doors of perception, or about breaking the bonds of the self, or about experiencing a surge of genius. It’s about squeezing out an extra few hours to finish those sales figures when you’d really rather collapse into bed.
… Neuroenhancers don’t offer freedom. Rather, they facilitate a pinched, unromantic, grindingly efficient form of productivity.
