<p>Ok, wall of text coming up haha. Just as a precursor, while I can see how using these pills will help put you ahead, I am firmly against their use because of ethical issues. The rest of the post will explain as well as respond to other ppl's posts.</p>
<p>( Balmes Pavlov )
"you go to school to succeed, these pills seem to help you do that without hurting anyone else, and they're just as readily available to those who look for them so I don't see what the ethical issue is behind it."</p>
<ul>
<li>It seems a lot of people on these boards carry this type of thinking, but I don't think this is right. In a nutshell, in today's society, if you choose to go the academic route, you ARE competing with all other students and workers for an intelliectual job and its pay. It's not just an individual competition so you ARE hurting other people, much like steriod-use would be seen as unfair competition in sports. The only way your idea of "not hurting anyone" would hold up would be if you were going to school ONLY to seek education, but college is a high price to pay for knowledge. Almost all people will acknowledge that they go to college mainly to become competitive for jobs in the future. Then again, this begs the question, why would you need to be forced to concentrate if you were only seeking knowledge, not the grade. As a last note, as DrumNDukie said, just because they're readily available doesn't make its use ethical.</li>
</ul>
<p>( GlitterHairDye )
"I don't understand how this is a moral issue. How are you cheating yourself? It does not make you smarter it just gives you the tools to study and be more efficient. No pill is going to raise your IQ. Some people just use them for when they study or take tests so that they don't end up staring out the window the entire time. The pill never gives you the right answer. Nothing unethical about that."</p>
<ul>
<li>You can apply this same logic to steroid use for athletes. Technically, you can't be physically stronger than a certain level. It won't increase your maximum. Steroids will never help you run, it only helps you run faster, with less training. It's the same logic, but we feel that it's unethical as it gives ppl "an unfair edge" to the competition.</li>
</ul>
<p>( Balmes Pavlov )
"Steroids allows the body heal faster from workouts although in the long run it actually causes the body to break down. This means that the user still has to put all the hard work in but it does make it easier for them to get more results out of their work than the athlete who doesn't use steroids."</p>
<ul>
<li>Your body naturally makes amounts of steriods within your body, and we use steriods to combat allergic reactions and such. However, taken in larger amounts, it starts to negatively affect your body. The same idea is applied to these smart pills. It helps people with true medical conditions, but when people take them in a way they're not meant to be used, in essence abuse them, then who knows what it does? In my opinion, steroids are known to be bad for you because we can physically see what happens to the body. When we're messing with brain chemistry, something we largely don't comprehend, how do we guage how it messes it up? Anything we do causes a change, my opinion is that we just don't know enough to tell how much it's changing, or in certain cases, damaging. The idea of it being easier is discussed in previous and following responses.</li>
</ul>
<p>( Micklerobe )
"My point which you didn't really grasp was it's not directly cheating as so you are saying. You take the pill and you don't instantly do better on tests. You still have to work, it just enables you to do that. Why wallow in mediocracy becuase you have trouble focusing."</p>
<ul>
<li>The reason to "wallow in mediocracy" is because that is what you can accomplish with your natural ability. Your natural ability accounts for everything, including your personality and study habits. To take pills to "enhance" it would not be natural anymore. Apply this to sports, and you could take your sentence and say "why only be mediocre at sports? Steroids will enable you to be better. Of course you don't instantly do better, but it opens up venues you normally wouldn't have."</li>
</ul>
<p>( Balmes Pavlov )
"People just like to nitpick when it comes to what substances are unethical or not. We're taught from early on that we have to succeed anyway possible and yet when we find ways to do so it's looked down upon."</p>
<ul>
<li>The problem with this thinking is that while some people do follow the "do whatever necessary philosophy", in the end if everyone did that there wouldn't be any order in this world. This really doesn't work because humans, I guess unfortunately for you, value ideals like honesty, integrity, honor, etc. that often times impede someone's success. True, we're taught early on to succeed, but I don't think many people are teaching "in any way possible".</li>
</ul>
<p>conclusion from me: I believe that these smart pills are like steroids for the mind. They provoke responses within your body that allows you to perform better than you normally can. In today's world, we are competiting with each other for things. I don't think many people can honestly say they go to college EXCLUSIVELY to study; rather you are going to college so you can be competitive in the job market. Thus, because steroids increases your ability to compete, they should be treated as steroids and not allowed. All that, however, is only ideologically. What other ppl say is true, today you do whatever you can survive. Does it happen regardless of what we say? yes. Is it fair? depends on your perspective heh... but I say no.</p>
