Interesting how reference to this article has chained so quickly from Andrew Sullivan's blog to Kevin's and then to yours. One might almost say "fascinating." I think you guys need more what-do-you-call-it? Oh yeah, sleep.

Of course it's not different than steroids--but then I approve of steroids. It's a brave new world.

you could also ask how it's different than college, or preschool

... or a book about quantum physics.

For now, Hari is deterred by lack of long term data -- that would deter me too

The phrase "long term" is ambiguous. Sure, there are no retirees who have been taking this drug since their twenties. But according to the linked article, it's older than you and I. "It was originally designed for narcoleptics in the seventies," Hari wrote.

I don't think I'd use it yet because of fears about how it would mix with other medications I take. But safety concerns overall seem less important than problems philosophical and psychological.

On one level, I'm deeply skeptical about what you say: "It's another step towards "cosmetic neurology," or the day when we'll change our brain chemistry not to make ourselves better, but to make ourselves smarter." Science is really hard to predict. In fact, I'll just say that predicting stuff is hard, because the problem isn't always what is possible. We have the technology for human settlements on the moon right now, it's just not worth the massive effort. Likewise, 15 years from now we might have the technology to give anyone a 200 IQ... but if it requires spending an hour a day with your brain plugged into a wall socket it's only be used by brains in a jar.

And yet, at the same time, I'll never give up hoping for hover boards and Mr. Fusion machines. Only seven years to go!

Monty Python was ahead of its time.

well, I just ordered some. we'll see if I ever get them and, if I do, if I grow a third ear or my dick falls off or something.

Personally, I think it would be awesome if everyone in society were smarter. In fact, I think it would be awesome if everyone in society were smarter even if I, personally, were excluded from that intelligence increase, lowering my relative intelligence, since even if I am not personally very smart, I would still have access to the benefits of a smarter society (more brilliant writing, better technology, smarter governmental policy, etc). Naturally, intelligence does have some positional value, so my relative intelligence decline wouldn't be good from that perspective, but I still believe that the degree to which intelligence has positive externalities exceeds the degree to which it is a positional good.

To clarify: that was a response to Ezra's remarks on the supposed existence of a "collective action problem" if everyone in society attempts to become more intelligent; assuming the efficacy of this drug, and its lack of side effects, I would claim that either no such collective action problem exists, or that insofar as it exists, it's in not enough intelligence-boosting for the social good, not too much.

Flowers for Algernon.

Smarter - whatever! Let's go back to the part about losing weight - where can I get this stuff?

There are side effects. There always are tradeoffs. That’s what makes life interesting.

Maybe it makes you dyslexic, so that you, say, call it Progivil instead of Provigil...

o.m.g. where would the Hillary voters be if people got smarter? Who would believe that she is in possession of "solutions for America"? Who would believe that "shared prosperity" is anything other than a euphemism for expropriation? Who would believe that Mrs. Clinton didn't intend to cash in on all this herself, personally, to line her pockets?

"I looked up. It was getting dark outside. I was hungry. I hadn’t noticed anything, except the words I was reading, and they came in cool, clear passages"

...it was almost as if I had been under the influence of chemical stimulants!

If one thinks this is a good idea, why piddle around with modafinil? Go for the gold with the big guns: methamphetamine. Maybe you'll be able to read three physics books in five hours.

Better living through Chemistry...

I'm sorry... how does reading a book prove he's smarter? I mean, he's a more informed reader, possibly... but "smarter"? The problem here, it seems to me, is the subjective nature of evaluating treatments, particularly in psych drugs: it's why we have these happy pills so widely prescribed to begin with, even though many people could recover from depression better with talk therapy over a longer time frame. I'd take the pill, I'd even probably believe I was smarter for it. Doesn't necessarily make it so.

I say it's benzedrine, and I say the hell with it!

It's not a stimulant. It doesn't make you hyper; it just keeps you from getting tired. And if you want to sleep after taking a dose, you can. My gamer-geek friend says: It doesn't make you feel any better - you just stop losing hit points.

I take it for "idiopathic hypersomnia" (doctor-speak for I'm tired all the time and they don't know why). I want to know where the hell you get it that cheaply - I'm paying $500 for 60 days' supply.

I actually have a prescription for this stuff due to a sleep disorder that leads to chronic fatigue (my brain tends to skip the "refresh" stage of sleep).

Provigil doesn't really make someone smarter; it masks the cognitive and physical deficits of fatigue (without an unpleasant stimulant effect).

My guess is that the author of this piece simply wasn't getting enough restorative sleep. The combination of expectation and feeling newly "awake" led to an exaggerated review of this medication's effects.

Just be careful about where your prescriptions are filled. Don't forget that President Bush has said that he can't guarantee the safety of medications distributed through Canadian mail order pharmacies. If you go to your local pharmacy, you'll be able to get the finest Chinese manufactured medications. Those stories about lead and arsenic are just urban legends.

I'm an ER doctor and I've taken it for night shifts. it's pretty close to a wonder drug, IMHO. Some people have really bad headaches with it. I know folks who have taken it every day for years with no adverse effects (that we know of).

For me, sadly, I started breaking out in hives when I take it. Oh well...

you could also ask how it's different than college, or preschool

Well, for starters, college and preschool provide environments rich in useful experiences (ideally) that our brains are evolved to take advantage of. That's the way we're supposed to improve our abilities to think. If modafinil does anything beyond what A. Alzabo describes, it's goes well beyond what our systems normally handle (in fact, that'd be the whole point). That's inherently more risky than college.

IMHO, we need a "smart" pill a lot less than we need an "ethical" pill...

Ritalin is a drug to help people learn more and as we all know it is widely used.

I read Hari's article and asked a doc buddy of mine (military neurosurgeon) if he was familiar with Provigil. Quite so. The medical residents were using it so much that administrators put restrictions on it (budget, not health, reasons). It is also given to pilots and special ops, preferred over barbiturates due to a better safety profile.

He did point out that this medicine, including sleep aids, were mission specific and not for general use (though the residents might seem to be a lifestyle choice).

It seems to me that the only major negative is whether rest is affected. If not, why not supplement with it? I could certainly benefit from increased cognitive ability, alertness, and work output!

It's my brain injury aid. After 6 months it's still helping. My diagnosis is cognitive fatigue from brain injury, a result of auto accident 2 years ago. I lost the ability to concentrate enough to drive, read, remember short term, form an intention and carry through with it. It was sad, like losing self. First thing I did after taking a dose was clean my apartment and rearrange my books. And I felt happy and encouraged, first time since accident. Rehab for 2 years has helped me slog through the nightmare that is modern insurance tyranny.

"well, I just ordered some."

From where? Am I the only one who doesn't feel safe ordering drugs from a foreign pharmacy on-line? Am I paranoid?

To clarify: emphasis on "on-line", not "foreign."

If you're going to order some from a foreign country, you'd better move fast, before Customs put is on the no-no list.

I have to call BS on provigil making you "smarter." Theres absolutely zero evidence that it increases IQ or improves your intelligence in any objective sense whatsoever.

Its basically a stimulant without the nasty addictive features.

found some not-terribly-sketchy-looking online pharmacy. Probably pretty sketchy, though. we'll see.

I believe Sigmund Freud had a similarly high opinion of a wonder drug called, um, cocaine.

Provigil sounds like good stuff, but there's no such thing as a free lunch.

joe blow's spot on. Next month's Lancet Neurology has a news item about this very topic, which quotes someone on the cutting edge:

...the prospect of cognitive enhancement in individuals with no cognitive deficit remains “a high hurdle”, says Mark Varney, chief operating and scientific officer of Cortex. He notes that currently available “stimulants and modafinil improve aspects of cognitive performance—mostly attention—under conditions of sleepiness, fatigue, etc but I'm not sure anyone has shown a beneficial effect of these molecules on performance measured under optimal conditions in healthy volunteers”.

The article also touches on some of the ethical concerns, and is well worth reading if you can access it...

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(08)70101-7

I've taken the stuff off-and-on for about a year.

In my experience:

Pros: Greatly improved focus, energy, enthusiasm, mental clarity, extremely long half-life.

Neutral: Increased sweating

Cons: Severe disruption of sleep, increased heart rate, sweating, hunger, HEADACHES (I never got headaches before Provigil), refractory period after the storm (i.e., no productivity, depression)

Do the symptoms remind you of those "old-style stimulants" that Cephalon claims its product is distinct from? Me too. I just don't understand why all the media/blogger accounts are so different from my experience. Maybe I should buy the cheap, overseas version instead of the real thing.

We're stupid all right. But I'm not sure we'd be any better off smarter.

The article discussing modafinil was a little over-enthusiastic, I think. It’s more suited for people who have to say alert and watchful for long periods of time, rather than people who need to make better decisions. It would help night watchmen or troops on combat missions more than it would help a scientist or software developer. I think Johann was exaggerating just a little and other reports I’ve read don’t express the same enthusiasm.

The article actually kinda pissed me off, to be honest. “Viagra for the brain?” Come on! That’s the kind of crap you’d expect to read in marketing literature, not a newspaper article, but then again, this is the Evening Standard we’re talking about, so perhaps that’s exactly what I should have expected. The real reason it pissed me off so is that he gave up entirely on accuracy for sensationalism. It doesn’t make you smarter, doesn’t improve your memory, and won’t help you make better decisions, unless lack of sleep is currently impairing your decisions. It’s no wonder pill, and Johann should be ashamed for such sensationalism.

The sports steroid comparison, by the way, is nonsense. Productivity isn't a spectator sport, so fairness doesn't even have the same meaning in that context. As far as people feeling like they have to take it to keep up, well, have you ever felt compelled to drink coffee to keep up? Honestly, there's not that much difference.

If you want to read more about this, I recommend Smart Drugs and Nutrients. There are plenty of things that are freely available which should be enough to satisfy your curiosity, and they’re discussed in the book above. In fact, I expect some things to start showing up in the “people who bought this also bought” section of that page. There’s no need to visit dodgy web-based pharmacies.

Players selling guides for massively multiplayer online role playing games are becoming more and more popular each day. Warhammer gold is the newest game and players are trying as hard as possible to push out the quickest guide to sell to players. If you really think about it, can another player possibly know that much more information than another that they can charge another player an overpriced $19.99 just to read their guide?