Running with the Dopes: Cheating to be a Better Human | h+ Magazine

Description

Modern humans are put in many moral conundrums, but the most pernicious may be the conflict between performance and ethics. In the modern world we are expected to be productive for at least eight hours a day, and that means being awake, functional, in a good mood, and ready to perform without complaints. We have drugs and supplements to make us more productive and efficient, and the industries that supply those drugs are among the largest in the world. But while these industries thrive, we are told that using drugs is unethical and amounts to cheating. What is the modern performance-minded human to do?

No matter what you want to achieve in a lifetime, there is a drug to help you do it better and faster. Without coffee, the modern eight-hour workday would be impossible. When we get stressed and depressed from overwork and lack of sleep we turn to alcohol or anti-depressants to wind down. When we feel pain we knock it back with anti-inflammatory pills and keep going. We dope ourselves to be more productive. We are told it’s okay. We do it without even thinking.

Original URL

http://hplusmagazine.com/articles/neuro/running-dopes-cheating-be-better-human

http://hplusmagazine.com/articles/neuro/running-dopes-cheating-be-better-human