ETA: Amphetamines really do feel good though. Make no mistake, it’s not just a “stay awake drug”. That’s why I can’t ever let myself have them again. Some people think booze is liquid courage. But for me amphetamines are powdered confidence, and the feeling of success. I don’t often feel very good about myself, or confident in my abilities. But on amphetamine, it’s like the whole world is my oyster. Like if there’s a fight, I’ve already won it. Like if there’s a barrier to something I want, I’ve already completely dismantled it and walked on through. Like everything I do is right, and there’s no stopping me.
Then I hit the limits of my body, my heart just couldn’t handle the stress, and my brain couldn’t keep running a million miles a minute, and I had to either give up the drug or die.
I once had a cell-mate whom regaled me with tales of a backpack full of meth daggers & rattling off an automatic SKS into the forest canopy of WV because he thought there were FBI snipers in the trees. We smoked suitcased cigarettes rolled with bible paper & toothpaste, lit with gum wrappers and 9v batteries. Oh, the things you will see!
So, not to go off topic, nootropics are really just a gimmick if you ask me.
I don’t disagree that we haven’t gotten nootropics right. I was just trying to point out that there’s a definite reason why people will take them until their bodies and minds fall apart. They offer a sense of power, and reward, and motivation that a lot of people don’t get anymore in their day-to-day lives, and no matter how false those feelings are, they’re very satisfying, at least to my psychology.
the window of opportunity to be competitive in fast-paced eSports games starts to close after the early 20s or so
(cries)
As a (informally) competitive gamer in their 40s, it varies quite a bit to what extent I can notice and respond to events. Sometimes I can hardly function. Games over the internet often have a degree of both lag and lag compensation which can throw off one’s timing a bit. But it can be infuriating when the lag is one’s own nervous system. It takes me from around 10 to 30 minutes to get my response time decent.
My drug use in gaming is usually limited to caffeine. A few years back when I had an insane work schedule, I used Modafinil a bit, and it’s effects were a mixed bag with regards to my gaming. My optimal state is a tightrope walk of poise, between being too tensed and too relaxed. Stimulants can easily cause me to be too tense to play well.
