I’m curious what you mean by mind-altering in this context. While there are actual drugs discussed, most of the substances discussed are both legal and exist in the human diet to start with. It seems pretty clear that many different foods impact cognition. For example, people with higher blood sugar are more trusting.{Citation needed} Most of the substances discussed in the cognitive enhancement threads are substances which occur naturally in most human diets anyways. A society that is not getting enough vitamin B12 will have people feeling a lot more fatigued. Simillarly, B6 deficiency is linked to insomnia, irritability, and other negative emotional and cognitive traits. In societies not getting enough of such vitamins, eating more of those foods might be considered to be taking congitively enhancing foods. So how one defines these terms seems important. (In that regard, the vast majority of discussion of cognitive enhancement here seems to be very distinct from what would normally be called mind-altering, e.g. marijuana and LSD which have short-term extreme effects).
(Disclaimer: I have not experimented with any of the discussed supplements here primarily due to heuristics similar to those described by Mass Driver in his initial post. I do however think that that advocating the use of either drugs or other cognitive modifiers is less common here than Mass Driver describes.)
I’m curious what you mean by mind-altering in this context. While there are actual drugs discussed, most of the substances discussed are both legal and exist in the human diet to start with. It seems pretty clear that many different foods impact cognition. For example, people with higher blood sugar are more trusting.{Citation needed} Most of the substances discussed in the cognitive enhancement threads are substances which occur naturally in most human diets anyways. A society that is not getting enough vitamin B12 will have people feeling a lot more fatigued. Simillarly, B6 deficiency is linked to insomnia, irritability, and other negative emotional and cognitive traits. In societies not getting enough of such vitamins, eating more of those foods might be considered to be taking congitively enhancing foods. So how one defines these terms seems important. (In that regard, the vast majority of discussion of cognitive enhancement here seems to be very distinct from what would normally be called mind-altering, e.g. marijuana and LSD which have short-term extreme effects).
(Disclaimer: I have not experimented with any of the discussed supplements here primarily due to heuristics similar to those described by Mass Driver in his initial post. I do however think that that advocating the use of either drugs or other cognitive modifiers is less common here than Mass Driver describes.)