Nootropic Paradise Or How Brain-Enhancing Drugs Are Changing The Workplace

Cognitive enhancers, ‘smart drugs’, or, nootropics as they are known in science, have recently been getting a considerable amount of attention in the media. Whether it’s about tech-guys having LSD with breakfast in Silicon Valley or about some top university students cramming through finals in a stimulated frenzy of Modafinil or Adderall, it feels like most articles have an agenda either for or against these drugs. The thing is that the practice of nootropics isn’t really that black and white, and that’s why I felt compelled to make a genuine attempt to stick to the facts and offer you an honest introduction into the world of drugs that (presumably) make you think better. Furthermore, it’s good to know that the taxonomy of nootropics is really quite vast. The media has largely focused on just a few, like the ones already mentioned, while these represent only the tip of the iceberg. It would be well beyond the scope of this (or probably any) article to cover all of them. However, what we can do is sketch out the basics of the likely explanations why nootropics can help with how our brains think, and provide a roundup of a simple (and safe to use) ‘stack’, or diet of cognitive enhancers which are evidenced to be effective. We’ll then join the media bandwagon and cover microdosing with some more detail, because let’s be honest, it’s a really, really intriguing concept. That section will be coupled with an interview we had with Marvin Liao , partner at Silicon Valley-based micro VC fund 500 Startup and a firm believer in nootropics-assisted biohacking, or the ‘science’ of gaining control over the body’s biology in the name of optimised performance. Okay, to kick things off: it turns out, and I apologise if this ruins the excitement […]

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