Comments for entry "Motivation Drug" at Dilbert.com Blog

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MonAMCDTE_Rthth

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WedPMCDTE_Rthth

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Comment from j_l_Larson

TuePMCDTE_Rthth

Oooh, I hope it happens. I've been using coffee as my primary motivating drug for years and of course there are many unpleasant side effects, foremost for me being crankiness. I just spent the last 20 days decaffeinating for the first time in over a year and the difference in my personality is tremendous. I look up at the sky and feel a slowly spreading sense of peace and joy and happiness at just being alive. I don't find myself !$%*!$%* and complaining internally about every little imagined slight or inconvenience. I'm not overbooking myself with a million good ideas and feeling hamstrung by my inability to actually do them all right now immediately. Random strangers are smiling at me again. The whole world seems a wonderful place. I came up with two related mottoes for myself. Relaxed == happy. Caffeinated == crazy. Also: relaxed == realistic. caffeinated == unrealistic. I've long been looking for an alternative to coffee. I've tried many things including legal and quasi-legal smart drugs: Modafanil and others like it. Let me also say that I was saddened when ephedra was pulled off the market. Green tea is a little better, but nothing can get me doing the most tedious boring task for hours on end easier more readily than coffee does. My most recent favorite over the counter motivator is an herbal concoction called "Attend" hailed by some as an effective street legal alternative to Ritalin. It works extremely well for getting me into a state of very high mental agility. However, there's always the pesky problem of having to get to sleep at a sensible time and get up again and do it the next day. I actually have a sizeable Google docs spreadsheet where I keep track of the various stimulants I've tried and record their subjective side effects, just so I can remind myself why I swore this one or that one off. I've always wanted to try Ritalin and other ADHD drugs as I'm pretty sure all my coworkers have a lifelong prescription they are relying upon. I can't bring myself to lie to a doctor though to try to get it. I vote for this new drug your are proposing. Or, perhaps a new social infrastructure that doesn't demand extreme competition as the only way to survive. In all honesty, I much prefer being relaxed and would live that way if I could.

Comment from JoetheWebmaster

TuePMCDTE_Rthth

You have free will to create (design your program), You do not have free will over the use of your program. You program yourself and the world uses you accordingly... You are the programmer and the world is the user. It's why habits are so difficult to break... deeply ingrained into your program... it would take a vast amount of reprogramming to get that function out and rebuild... especially if that function is used many times. Want to be a billionaire? Create your program for such use. eg. you wouldn't use an mp3 program to create graphics. Why would the world use a career program to utilize a billionaire? You are welcome for today's epiphany ;)

Comment from Kingdinosaur

TuePMCDTE_Rthth

whtllnew, I think you have a point. This discussion made me think a little about free will. The more I think about it, the more subjective it becomes. Science say your brain is chemical reactions. However if you consciousness (free will) can influence those reactions, that brings up questions. Also, if we really do have a non-testable metaphysical component (soul), as an aside I believe we do, which can also influence which chemicals our brains release to some degree all science would see is the end result and jump to the wrong conclusion. But I don't want to get too off track here. Suffice to say, I think that you are right in that free will may be outside of science's realm of legitimate authority.

Comment from delius1967

MonPMCDTE_Rthth

Marklar, it's funny you mention vodka -- funny in an ironic way, not meaning to make light of your situation. One of the hallmarks of Asperger's in adults is alcoholism. My father is an alcoholic, and after I learned about Asperger's, it was plain as day that he has it, as well, and suddenly a lot of his behavior over the years made more sense to me. I don't know why most people drink, but I always did because it enabled me to just GET OUT OF MY HEAD for a while, to stop microanalyzing everything to the point of paralysis. Taking Adderall to me is like having an alcoholic buzz -- that heady, love-your-neighbor feeling that comes from a couple of beers -- but without the associated loss of motor skills or reasoning faculties. The two things feel very, very similar to me. Nowadays, I still like to drink, but I don't feel like I have to in order to connect with others.

Comment from Drowlord

MonPMCDTE_Rthth

Motivation is definitely a combination of things, in my mind. Having energy, priorities, some optimism (or confidence) and skills are requisite. Time and money, too, when it comes to many things. I expect that a small subset of those things can be addressed by chemistry. It seems likely to me that the poor lack things that chemistry can fix, but the things working against them are many-fold: Culturally, they're going to have their priorities screwed up. Educationally, they're not going to have high-demand skills. Time and money, obviously, in short supply. And the biggest issue, of course, is that society needs lots of low-skill, low-motivation people to do low-paying jobs, and relatively few high-skill, high-motivation people... we like to save those up for the children of people with high-skill, high-motivation people.

Comment from whtllnew

MonPMCDTE_Rthth

@Kingdinosaur [What if science comes up with a drug or cybernetic implant of some sort that promotes a person's natural free will? IE it really exists, or is theoretically possible at least, and all it needs is a little boost. Then what?] Science has done some wonderful things but here we come up against something it is ill equipped to handle. Scientifically speaking how would you even go about defining free will in such a way that you would know how to measure it, how to enhance it and whether or not you had succeeded? Scott will tell you that science has reached a consensus that free will doesn't exist but my take on that is the scientific approach to things is more geared towards explaining behavior and, therefore, proving the nonexistence of free will than it is towards finding it.

Comment from Kingdinosaur

MonPMCDTE_Rthth

I have a follow-up question for Scott: What if science comes up with a drug or cybernetic implant of some sort that promotes a person's natural free will? IE it really exists, or is theoretically possible at least, and all it needs is a little boost. Then what?

Comment from Kingdinosaur

MonPMCDTE_Rthth

Cube_Dweller: you bring up an interesting point. Motivation to do what exactly? We each have our own ideas of right and wrong, sometimes those ideas clash. So you can't guarantee that people, once motivated, will do the right thing. You have to assume at least some of the people will use their new found motivation towards malignant ends. For example, if part of the motivation drugs has an inhibition reduction effect, you could see things like illegal drug rates, adultery rates, and crime rates go up because people won't have as much restraint towards stopping themselves from doing those things. Depending on the how it works, this could be used towards darker ends as motivation might mean more motivation to do what the people in charge want and less motivation to do what they don't like. IE if the oligarchy wants everyone else to be sheep, the drug will motivate them towards sheep-like behavior.

Comment from Quinnce

MonPMCDTE_Rthth

Dingbat said: "That said, my youngest son is intrinsically driven. He would be hyper-motivated under any conditions, I believe. In some cases that works against him. Academically, his brothers read more widely and developed a stronger intellectual base because they pursued real interests. The youngest always wanted a plan. He wanted to know what he needed to do to succeed. He gets really upset when he doesn't test as well or get the same grades as easily as his brothers. In his case, he's now found a sport he can pursue intensely - at a national, and potentially Olympic level. He can follow a plan and see a work = progress return. He needs an outlet like that - but as I said, his intensity is not always an advantage in a world in which taking the time to explore new ideas helps build the kind of well-rounded personalities and thinkers that top schools want to see." Your son doesn't happen to enjoy long-distance running, does he? As for Scott's motivation drug idea, I often scoff at his moist robot idea of human existence. But then I remember the simple formula I use to induce motivation with my own life. If I do these six things each day: 1. Get enough sleep; 2. Eat healthy, especially a good breakfast; 3. Do some sort of intense physical activity outdoors; 4. Tell myself that I am awesome, even if all the evidence says otherwise; 5. Engage in positive social relationships; and 6. Challenge my brain in some manner; Everything else I do during that day, from cleaning the bathroom to grocery shopping to working at my computer to cooking a decent meal to fantasizing about my future comes a whole lot easier. With the right types of lubricants, I am a very effective robot.

Comment from Marklar

SunPMCDTE_Rrdrd

Scott, I have an IQ in the 150s to 160s depending on the test and my mood, but lead an unremarkable life. I had ADHD as a kid and through choice was never medicated but saw a therapist. I dropped out of college and have since drifted from job to job (all of which required degrees) in various fields. I am adequate in a number of hobbies and sports and am a lapsed pilot. You get the picture. I have great ideas every day which I give away freely (I didn't before) because I know I'll never do them myself. My friends often berate me for this but love to hear my ramblings when they're in an area they understand or are interested in. I've encountered many people with various mental peculiarities and I count myself among the lucky ones, but I would welcome a drug more effective and less harmful than alcohol (it's a normal week day at 02:30 and I've had 1/3L of vodka). I used weed in my teens and that was really mind numbing (I first wrote 'a real mind number'). I've never felt smarter than when I stopped. It is a demotivator, the opposite of your hypothetical drug. @delius1967: I'm currently driving an uninsured, unregistered car, so I know what you mean.

Comment from Pstonie

SatPMCDTE_Rndnd

A 21-hour workday would seem like a worthy challenge to any person so addicted. "Moist robots" would walk at uniform speed in snaking lines to bring silent homage to Mammon. There would be no crime and no disagreement. A few would find contentment that the world is finally as boring and monotonous as they are.

Comment from JoetheWebmaster

SatPMCDTE_Rndnd

Though only speculation but by experienced observation I would bet a hefty sum the current billionaire role model Zuk was fueled by adderall in his fb en devours. How is that for motivation? ;)

Comment from rayers

SatPMCDTE_Rndnd

Goofy. I need a motivational drug not to throw up everytime I see Barak Obama's smiling face, or his stupid voice telling people he wants to give every American a "fair shot." WORD!

Comment from JoetheWebmaster

SatPMCDTE_Rndnd

It's called Nuvigil... nearly $600 - 30 count... If you can afford it or have great insurance just go to your doc and say I have "Work Shift Disorder". All the rage in intellectual professions... and of course there is amphetamine based Adderall, but accompanied by the jittery / psychological downsides. Brain doping for optimal performance and stamina is a big thing right now for the intellectuals, you don't hear too much of it because they are "intellectuals" and properly dose for optimal performance, not to binge and get high for getting highs sake.

Comment from Therion

SatPMCDTE_Rndnd

Scaramanga, Beautiful post. I'd even go further. These people who never let up bragging about their work ethics know full well that making phonecalls isn't work compared with the jobs of most people. They know that it's not even a trade and doesn't require the slightest technical skills. This prevents them from feeling like "real men", so they have an inferiority complex and a pathological need to lash out and style other people as lazy.

Comment from Idic99

SatAMCDTE_Rndnd

Good news, this drug already exists. According to Wikipedia, caffeine is "the world's most widely consumed psychoactive drug" and with repeated use causes "physical dependence or addiction". It improves focus and concentration. No wonder there's always a coffeehouse near office blocks. So all we need to do now is persuade them to open near the Job Centers.

Comment from Ardent_Eccentric

SatAMCDTE_Rndnd

So in a nut shale, your proposing putting a large population of unmotivated people on amphetamines to motivate them.... Not such a good idea.... If you think about it. Considering Aderall is only a single methyl group, a carbon, and 2 hydrogen atoms away from methamphetamine's chemical structure. Amphetamines in general can be highly addictive and very dangerous if abused, Causing amphetamine psychosis. I suspect the kid who shot up the movie theater out here in colorado was doing, and abusing prescription amphetamines. Trying to keep up with his demanding PHD coarse work. You would be amazed how many students I have met the past few years who are open with their usage of unprescribed aderral medication as a study aid. You would also be amazed how many of the unprescribed, and prescribed abusers become psychological messed up by those same drugs. But now as a afterthought, thinking about the history of amphetamines. Maybe there already is a years old psycho stimulant government program being implemented... Hence why the huge technological advances the pat 100 years.

Comment from oOOOo

FriPMCDTE_Rstst

Scott has ignored the motivation to achieve an altered state of consciousness. Which is highly relevant as the folks he assumes are unmotivated often possess a very high drive to achieve altered states and have proven very inventive in order to get that done. ADHD drugs, ground up and/or taken at higher doses do that very nicely. Scott would be quite popular distributing such study materials in da hood. It might even turn to riches - though that might mean holding Scott up to acquire a local monopoly on the good powder. Was that the pharmacological success Scott was after?