Nootropics are a broad classification of cognition-enhancing compounds that produce minimal side effects and are suitable for long-term use. These compounds include those occurring in nature or already produced by the human body (such as neurotransmitters), and their synthetic analogs. We already regularly consume some of these chemicals: B vitamins, caffeine, and L-theanine, in our daily diets.
A fundamental aspect of human evolution has been the drive to augment our capabilities. The neocortex is the neural seat of abstract and higher order cognitive processes. As it grew, so did our ability to create. The invention of tools and weapons, writing, the steam engine, and the computer have exponentially increased our capacity to influence and understand the world around us. These advances are being driven by improved higher-order cognitive processing.1Fascinatingly, the practice of modulating our biology through naturally occurring flora predated all of the above discoveries. Indeed, Sumerian clay slabs as old as 5000 BC detail medicinal recipes which include over 250 plants2. The enhancement of human cognition through natural compounds followed, as people discovered plants containing caffeine, theanine, and other cognition-enhancing, or nootropic, agents.
There is an ancient precedent to humans using natural compounds to elevate cognitive performance. Incan warriors in the 15th century would ingest coca leaves (the basis for cocaine) before battle. Ethiopian hunters in the 10th century developed coffee bean paste to improve hunting stamina. Modern athletes ubiquitously consume protein powders and hormones to enhance their training, recovery, and performance. The most widely consumed psychoactive compound today is caffeine. Millions of people use coffee and tea to be more alert and focused.
The term nootropic is simply a descriptor, and this descriptor spans across all legal classifications of compounds. Broadly speaking, there are four main classifications:
Nootrobox stacks are strictly derived from the first category - compounds that are GRAS and approved for human consumption as dietary supplements.
The mechanisms by which nootropic compounds influence our cognition and neurophysiology are as diverse as those of prescription drugs. We present below our in-progress work, detailing the mechanisms, effects, and history of various nootropic compounds. Check in for updates and additions.
See original here:
Nootropics | HVMN Biohacker Guide
- Seasteading Book [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Erwin Strauss - How to Start Your Own Country [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- David D. Friedman - Legal Systems Very Different From Ours [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- it's always ourselves we find in the sea [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- New Faces Mean New Developments at TSI [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- New Residential Cruise Ship - Samsung signs $1.1B LOI with Utopia Residences [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Sean Hastings - Experiences with HavenCo and SeaLand [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Ibsen on the sea [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Jim O'Neill - Health Innovation at the Frontier [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- The Seasteading Institute December 2009 Newsletter [Last Updated On: December 13th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 13th, 2009]
- Russ George: Ocean Stewardship [Last Updated On: December 22nd, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 22nd, 2009]
- Eelco Hoogendoorn: Seastead Engineering Overview [Last Updated On: December 29th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 29th, 2009]
- Happy 2009 From The Seasteading Institute! [Last Updated On: December 29th, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 29th, 2009]
- Mikolaj Habryn: Residential Shipsteading [Last Updated On: December 31st, 2009] [Originally Added On: December 31st, 2009]
- M.U.L.E. - steading [Last Updated On: January 13th, 2010] [Originally Added On: January 13th, 2010]
- Ephemerisle Documentary [Last Updated On: January 13th, 2010] [Originally Added On: January 13th, 2010]
- Jorge Schmidt - Legal Aspects of Seasteading [Last Updated On: January 13th, 2010] [Originally Added On: January 13th, 2010]
- James is ready to move! [Last Updated On: January 19th, 2010] [Originally Added On: January 19th, 2010]
- Seasteading is the cure for post-Avatar Depression? [Last Updated On: January 23rd, 2010] [Originally Added On: January 23rd, 2010]
- Dominique Roddier - Clubstead Engineering [Last Updated On: January 26th, 2010] [Originally Added On: January 26th, 2010]
- Engineering Parallels Between Ephemerisle & Seasteading [Last Updated On: January 29th, 2010] [Originally Added On: January 29th, 2010]
- Will Chamberlain - Thinking Structurally About Government [Last Updated On: January 29th, 2010] [Originally Added On: January 29th, 2010]
- Nice EEZ layer for Google Earth [Last Updated On: February 2nd, 2010] [Originally Added On: February 2nd, 2010]
- Na'ama Moran - Medical Tourism on Ships [Last Updated On: February 5th, 2010] [Originally Added On: February 5th, 2010]
- The Seasteading Institute February 2010 Newsletter [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2010] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2010]
- Seoul, South Korea, Launches Floating Island [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2010] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2010]
- Research Update: TSI Engineering Assessment Report (part 1) released [Last Updated On: March 2nd, 2010] [Originally Added On: March 2nd, 2010]
- Countries & Cruise Ships [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2010] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2010]
- Viver no Mar (Living in the Sea) [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2010] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2010]
- The Seasteading Institute March 2010 Newsletter [Last Updated On: March 12th, 2010] [Originally Added On: March 12th, 2010]
- WindWard Looks Seaward: Incremental Developments in Energy and Community [Last Updated On: March 18th, 2010] [Originally Added On: March 18th, 2010]
- Fun with Google Earth [Last Updated On: March 18th, 2010] [Originally Added On: March 18th, 2010]
- Website Downtime [Last Updated On: March 23rd, 2010] [Originally Added On: March 23rd, 2010]
- The Plastiki Sets Sail to Glorify Waste [Last Updated On: March 23rd, 2010] [Originally Added On: March 23rd, 2010]
- Internships at TSI [Last Updated On: March 26th, 2010] [Originally Added On: March 26th, 2010]
- Patri Friedman Appears on Freakonomics Podcast [Last Updated On: March 31st, 2010] [Originally Added On: March 31st, 2010]
- Seasteading R&D Company Looking For Investors [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2010] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2010]
- The Seasteading Institute April 2010 Newsletter [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2010] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2010]
- Pioneering Undersea Life in Legoland? [Last Updated On: April 10th, 2010] [Originally Added On: April 10th, 2010]
- TSI Argonauts: Benefits for Leading the Way [Last Updated On: April 22nd, 2010] [Originally Added On: April 22nd, 2010]
- Freedom in Brazil [Last Updated On: April 22nd, 2010] [Originally Added On: April 22nd, 2010]
- Francesca Galea Improves Understanding of the Legal Standing of Artificial Islands [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2010] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2010]
- How Ephemerisle 2010 Will Bring Us Closer to Seasteading [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2010] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2010]
- Learn Something New About the Ocean [Last Updated On: May 12th, 2010] [Originally Added On: May 12th, 2010]
- Ephemerisle 2010 tickets now on sale! [Last Updated On: May 12th, 2010] [Originally Added On: May 12th, 2010]
- The Seasteading Institute May 2010 Newsletter [Last Updated On: May 14th, 2010] [Originally Added On: May 14th, 2010]
- Let Freedom Ring! Reception and Conversation on June 9th, 2010 [Last Updated On: May 22nd, 2010] [Originally Added On: May 22nd, 2010]
- Container Cities [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2010] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2010]
- Recommended Reading for The Seastead View Of Politics [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2010] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2010]
- Recycling the gyre [Last Updated On: May 31st, 2010] [Originally Added On: May 31st, 2010]
- Sorry for the downtime! [Last Updated On: June 8th, 2010] [Originally Added On: June 8th, 2010]
- Ephemerisle: A Floating Festival of Freedom on Humanity's Next Frontier, July 22-25 [Last Updated On: June 10th, 2010] [Originally Added On: June 10th, 2010]
- Ephemerisle: Evolving Society on Humanity's Next Frontier, July 22-25 [Last Updated On: June 10th, 2010] [Originally Added On: June 10th, 2010]
- Ephemerisle 2010 Cancellation [Last Updated On: June 20th, 2010] [Originally Added On: June 20th, 2010]
- Secession Week 2010 at Let A Thousand Nations Bloom [Last Updated On: June 30th, 2010] [Originally Added On: June 30th, 2010]
- The Seasteading Institute July 2010 Newsletter [Last Updated On: July 9th, 2010] [Originally Added On: July 9th, 2010]
- Latest Seasteading Talk Video: Mises Brazil [Last Updated On: July 13th, 2010] [Originally Added On: July 13th, 2010]
- It's The Love Boat...For Ideas: Reason/TSI cruise [Last Updated On: July 13th, 2010] [Originally Added On: July 13th, 2010]
- Sink or Swim 2010 Business Contest [Last Updated On: July 13th, 2010] [Originally Added On: July 13th, 2010]
- Ideas wanted: Seasteading Book PR [Last Updated On: July 15th, 2010] [Originally Added On: July 15th, 2010]
- Seasteaders to attend the 2010 Singularity Summit [Last Updated On: July 27th, 2010] [Originally Added On: July 27th, 2010]
- TSI August 2010 Newsletter [Last Updated On: August 4th, 2010] [Originally Added On: August 4th, 2010]
- Short video from UCSD [Last Updated On: August 13th, 2010] [Originally Added On: August 13th, 2010]
- Documentary on micronations, featuring seasteading, premiering 9/11 at Toronto Film Festival [Last Updated On: August 17th, 2010] [Originally Added On: August 17th, 2010]
- TSI Welcomes its New Director of Engineering, George Petrie [Last Updated On: October 17th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 17th, 2010]
- TSI seeks Oceanography Researcher - up to $500 referral bonus [Last Updated On: October 17th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 17th, 2010]
- Answers to some basic seasteading questions about strategy [Last Updated On: October 17th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 17th, 2010]
- Patri Says: Help Us Create A Compelling Book Proposal! [Last Updated On: October 17th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 17th, 2010]
- TSI September 2010 Newsletter [Last Updated On: October 17th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 17th, 2010]
- Judges Selected for TSI's Sink or Swim Business Plan Contest [Last Updated On: October 17th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 17th, 2010]
- TSI Doubles Sink or Swim Prize Pool & Extends Deadline by Two Weeks [Last Updated On: October 17th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 17th, 2010]
- Global Wave Heatmap [Last Updated On: October 17th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 17th, 2010]
- The Seasteading Institute Fall 2010 Newsletter [Last Updated On: October 17th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 17th, 2010]
- Watch Patri's Talk From The Feast [Last Updated On: October 24th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 24th, 2010]
- Update To Oceanographer Position [Last Updated On: October 24th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 24th, 2010]
- Seasteading: An Audacious Vision of Diversity and Innovation In Law [Last Updated On: October 24th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 24th, 2010]
- Review of Micronation Film Highlights Seasteading Vision [Last Updated On: October 24th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 24th, 2010]
- Reminder: Active review work happening on seasteading book! [Last Updated On: October 24th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 24th, 2010]
- O. Shane Balloun on American Law Enforcement Jurisdiction Over Seasteads [Last Updated On: October 24th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 24th, 2010]
- How does Patri spend his time? [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2010]