Amsterdam VPRO- Would you take a pill to make you smarter?

[@randomrise1st72]

Being smarter doesn't mean that one knows more, it simply means that it is easier for a person to learn, if they work for it. A gifted child could either be very successful or just the average.
It depends on how they handle their gift.
Being smarter doesn't mean having more knowledge

[@nir0522345300]

I am getting smarter just by watching your fascinating lectures. Thank you so much. Ethics is my favorite course. I learn at Haifa university in Israel.

[@denise2169]

There is an enormous difference between being smart and being wise, but too many ‘smart’ people don’t understand this!

[@ANBU_EU]

The first argument i cant get behind no matter what.
Im not learning Italian because I see meaning in struggle, I learn Italian so i can communicate with more people, experience their culture and their knowledge and experiences. In this case not taking the pill limits your growth.
The other argument is surprisingly decent , but here i think while we would be less focused on getting to know each other better, to focus on discovering new things about our world and universal laws.
The more you know and the more you learn the more questions there are to answer, not less.

[@redsquirrel3893]

We have used tools that make learning easier for a long time such as librarys and now the internet.
Smart pills will have less impact than either had but like them they will make us more prosperous and advanced.
The issue i see is if there are side effects.

[@arkidie]

Using the library or internet to learn still requires hard work and prior knowledge that not everyone can apply. If we had those pills it would make skills accessible to everyone meaning no one would have unique skill sets or even be unique in general. Making the effort anyone put in to learning through any medium effectively pointless. Everyone could know everything that man has realized and thought about. Which is interesting, but again takes away from the things I just talked about. Individuals unique perspective would be taken away since we would all know the exact same thing, possibly not at first, because of past experiences we have already had and thoughts we may have had prior to the theoretical time this knowledge pill was taken throughout our planet, but our personality traits will become more and more alike throughout just a few generations. Now written down it sounds great as a concept, but looking into it you lose those things that made relationships and life matter.
So in some ways it may give to humanity, but the pill would also take away something much more valuable. The sensation you feel when your finally able to do something you care about, especially when someone put that much time and effort into learning in the first place. Making literally our meaningless lives even more meaningless.
Funny thing there with the side effects though. That made me laugh a bit. I'm not even sure if you were being serious with your comment, but I take things to seriously and I like typing things and I can get crazy when talking about things and concepts that interest me or that I care about, so sorry for all this. Also sorry for anyone trying to read this I'm horrible with placing punctuation.

[@thegoonist]

1. inequality regarding who can afford the pill. 2. the purity of being human, and the unnaturalness of it (assuming the pill works as it should which is quite impossible given we dont even understand the human body near enough to engineer something that we can be 100% sure wont fuck us up somewhere down the line)

[@dumpsterdaddy481]

Then richer people would have more access to it, and the people at the top would climb higher and become smarter, making people down the latter simply incompetent in comparance.

[@whybluejay9868]

Yeah, I agree that it'd worsen wealth disparities

[@jdbxhxbsbsbsjxhd1825]

Why Not lol that's a bit dramatic.

[@Justin_Joy]

If that is the case, I believe the rich people will build more productive businesses that can provide people at the bottom with more products than without the pill.

[@williamlee1245]

This is probably the most instinctual response to these genetic enhancements. But, let me push back by assuming that this would be accessible and attainable to all peoples. What would make it wrong then? The human species as a whole would be better off, no?

[@karanchandra26]

If an American businessman was to set up an international branch of his company in Belgium,if his associates and executives were to draw a list of pros and cons then the first thing that would be drafted under the cons would be language barrier, wouldn’t you agree? I assume you do, now
barrier noun
bar·​ri·​er | \ˈber-ē-ər
b : a natural formation or structure that prevents or hinders movement or action
It is established that a language barrier would hinder movement which in this case would be generating taxable revenue for a democracy,jobs available to people etc. have the team of executives pop a pill and remove the barrier. Language pill case closed.
Subject only to the debate of taking a cognitive enhancement pill to instantly learn a language.

[@jdbxhxbsbsbsjxhd1825]

I don't think he would be less interested. Depending on the topic. We would essentially have a somewhat like universal language in way that would be more interesting. Not being able to communicate with someone because of a language barrier can be frustrating. Imagine working on a Pill to make the world a better place if you understand everyone in the room as in the team working on the pill. It makes it easier.

[@Celestial_Fiend]

i want to use my foot instead of a car to go to places, for the sense of achievement.