>The author of this piece—which I am—is reporting on Huxley’s MIT talk.

Thank you for joining this discussion.

> You are welcome to either actually read my piece

That's condescending; I have read your piece, and am responding directly to it.

Consider avoiding using this tone.

>He [Huxley] predicted a drug [Adderall] that improves mental efficiency/focus

Thank you for re-iterating the erroneous point in your article that I'm calling out and objecting to.

As an ADHD person and communicator who's being prescribed this drug, I want to bring your attention to a very simple fact:

Adderall is NOT a drug that "improves mental efficiency".

That's not what it does, and that's not what it's for. ADHD folks aren't being prescribed it because we are mentally deficient.

And it's not helping us with focus either. It's helping us overcome Executive Dysfunction.

We can focus harder than people without ADHD as it is; see:

https://romankogan.net/adhd#Hyperfocus

Adderall doesn't make us focus more, it helps us direct our focus to the right thing.

> There is no judgment against the substance

There is misinformation that contributes to the judgement being formed, as well as a false dichotomy with "non-pharmacological" approaches being an alternative.

I hope you could understand the objection someone can raise to the discussion of "non-pharmacological" ALTERNATIVES to painkillers, antihistamines, or antibiotics, or chemotherapy.

The point isn't that non-pharmacological approaches (or meds) are bad, it's that the discussion should be about how these approaches should be used IN CONCERT (WHEN the meds help).

>but a call for additional approaches to enhance a person.

For God's sake, please read the link I've shared about Adderall specifically:

https://romankogan.net/adhd#Medication

Adderall is not a drug that "enhances a person".

People when ADHD aren't in need of "enhancement".

On that note: to really understand what Adderall is (and what my objection is about), you need to understand what it's for.

I've put together a resource specifically to help people understand that:

https://romankogan.net/adhd

I hope that you will take advantage of it. It's about 100 pages when printed out, so I would suggest you start with the links on Hyperfocus and Medication, and come back here to reflect.

Looking forward to hearing from you what you've learned about Adderall and ADHD after reading the comments in this discusson as well as the links.

Thank you <3