this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2023
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SneerClub

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Hurling ordure at the TREACLES, especially those closely related to LessWrong.

AI-Industrial-Complex grift is fine as long as it sufficiently relates to the AI doom from the TREACLES. (Though TechTakes may be more suitable.)

This is sneer club, not debate club. Unless it's amusing debate.

[Especially don't debate the race scientists, if any sneak in - we ban and delete them as unsuitable for the server.]

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that time Scott told the rationalists how adderall would turn them into geniuses of finance and even named specific rationalists he thought should get into adderall (slatestarcodex.com)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by dgerard@awful.systems to c/sneerclub@awful.systems
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this btw is why we now see some of the TPOT rationalists microdosing street meth as a substitute. also that they're idiots, of course.

somehow this man still has a medical license

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[–] maol@awful.systems 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That drug science webpage that PJ Coffey linked above notes that:

Long-term amphetamine use is associated with anhedonia; a general difficulty in finding pleasure in life without the drug, which may persist for some time after quitting the drug.

They're specifically referring to recreational amphetamine use here, I think. Needing to use a substance just to make you feel normal? Needing to use higher and higher doses of the same substance to feel the same effect? Aren't those the classic symptoms of addiction, and the drivers of the negative behaviours people associate with addiction?

[–] jonhendry@awful.systems 6 points 1 year ago

I might be anhedonic because I've been using methylphenidate for ADHD since 1992, but I've always been somewhat anhedonic. To paraphrase Maria Bamford "Some people really love life. I've always been on the fence." The question "what do you do for fun" has always been a bit difficult for me.

Of course it's also hard to find pleasure in many things if you can't stay with them long enough for the pleasure to really develop.

[–] fasterandworse@awful.systems 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's interesting but maybe my original message was a bit vague. I shouldn't say anything about my adderall experiences without clearly stating that it was my experience. I've never felt like the medicine had a hold on me. I moved to France 7 years ago and it's not legal here, so I've used less potent alternatives without issue.

My main point was that the desired outcome when I agreed to take the first prescription was focus and it certainly delivered that. For me, it delivered something that feels like a binary interpretation of what focus is. It's on or off, and when it's on it can't be turned off. Which is very different from my interpretation of evolutionary focus which does a great job of filtering for distractions worth paying attention to.

With that in mind, my indicator for usage being problematic would be if it were frequently taken without a clear need to get something done.