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Coffee: The Original Smart Drug and Aphrodisiac

  • Posted on April 18, 2011 at 10:50 am

Coffee: Grounds for Debate, a title in the Philosophy for Everyone series, argues that coffee is a performance-enhancing drug for thinkers. “The appropriate analogy is that coffee and philosophy go together like foreplay and sex,” insist editors Scott F Parker and Michael W Austin. “You can have one without the other, but the latter is better with the former and the former often leads to the latter.” Philosopher Basam Romaya says: “With the use of coffee, critical thinking abilities are sharpened, attention to detail enhanced.” This is a venerable claim: in the 16th century, Sheik Abd-al-Kadir, an Arab scholar, said: “No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee’s frothy goodness.” [...]

So what about impotence? That does seem to have been overstated. The Women’s Petition Against Coffee prompted a broadside from men who argued that it “makes the erection more Vigorous, the Ejaculation more full, adds spiritualescency to the Sperme”. Initially I wasn’t sure what “spiritualescency” means, either, until I read in this book that caffeine increases sperm motility. That said, some say coffee may harm the sperm while speeding it on its way, which makes a kind of sense.

The Guardian: Can coffee wreck your marriage?

(via James Governor)

From http://technoccult.net/archives/2011/04/18/coffee-the-original-smart-drug-and-aphrodisiac/

UK Considers Regulating Intelligence Enhancing Drugs

  • Posted on August 4, 2010 at 3:32 pm

Provigil

The government’s official experts on illegal drugs have been asked to look at whether intelligence-enhancing drugs, such as those used by students to boost performance in exams, should be banned.

Medical experts believe that a range of psychoactive drugs that includes those used to tackle the symptoms of Alzheimer’s and attention-deficit disorder in children, could fuel an already over-competitive society when used by the healthy.

Amid fears that the increase in online pharmacies means that such drugs are much more readily available, the Home Office has asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to see how this “rapidly evolving field” should be regulated. Just before she stepped down from office, the previous home secretary, Jacqui Smith, asked the advisory council to assess the harm – including that of possible psychological dependence or addiction – caused by this group of drugs when used by healthy adults.

Guardian: Government watchdog considers ban on IQ booster drugs

Photo by nym (CC)

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From http://technoccult.net/archives/2010/08/04/smart-drug-ban/