Nootropics
So you&#x27;re telling me you alter your biochemistry to become more productive without a care for how it affects your overall (mostly mental) health? Hell, I started smoking cigarettes at 16, which I rank near the top of my worst decisions ever, despite the fact that it helped me hack my brain chemistry as I powered through numerous difficult math and CS classes with top scores. As a result, I spent years thrashing, kicking the insane habit and returning to baseline healthiness.<p>To me, the entire idea of performance-enhancing chemicals is the essence of Moloch (<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;slatestarcodex.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;07&#x2F;30&#x2F;meditations-on-moloch&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;slatestarcodex.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;07&#x2F;30&#x2F;meditations-on-moloch&#x2F;</a>) - the supposed optimization that we choose to &quot;gain an edge&quot; and end up worse off than if everyone had just been a bit more cynical and abstained. To what ends? Eventually this kind of thing ends up costing you $50 a month and keeping you on par with everyone else in the office (who also happen to brain-chemistry-hack), side-effects be damned.<p>Luckily, I can fall back on my experience and relative skill at programming. Many cannot - as a late-aughts college student and &quot;yuppie&quot;, I saw &quot;the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness&quot; induced by incessant Adderall use in a futile attempt to either &quot;keep up&quot; or &quot;get ahead&quot;. To what ends? Some sped their way through upper-levels or toiled through back-breaking entry level jobs only to develop near psychosis, emotional numbness, apathy, and a resume piece that I too gained with considerably less strife.<p>Don&#x27;t get me wrong, I drink a cup of coffee (or two) in the mornings to get going, but it&#x27;s usually an break from my workday, not an essential part of it. More than that, it&#x27;s enjoyable - added focus and clarity be damned. Silly as it may sound, I&#x27;ve even seen coffee become a problem for the hopelessly driven and chronically sleep-deprived - reducing them to diarrhea-ridden, jittery maniacs!<p>Maybe the TL;DR here is: sleep more, bike hard, and have some fun struggling instead of constantly grinding for carrots on sticks. It is true, after all, that many people (men, in particular) say their greatest regret was working so hard - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;lifeandstyle&#x2F;2012&#x2F;feb&#x2F;01&#x2F;top-five-regrets-of-the-dying" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;lifeandstyle&#x2F;2012&#x2F;feb&#x2F;01&#x2F;top-fiv...</a>