Summary Of Get Smarter By Jamais Cascio

Through the disturbing side effects that jeopardize our identity, the potentially devastating long term effects, and the underappreciation of our ability to function without intelligence enhancers, the use of ADHD medications carries serious moral, medical, and physiological consequences. However, our competitive drive to optimize our performance encourages us to use this medication regardless of its substantial negative implications. Jamais Cascio, in his article “Get Smarter”, proposes the idea of this competitive drive. This essay will examine his claims and discuss where his argument loses footing, and emphasize the damage that ADHD medications are causing to users.
Cascio begins his argument with a discussion of the human trait of evolution.

This growth creates a necessity for our society to consider the effects that this disease and its treatment have on our generation. According to research by two professors at Berkeley University, they expect that the number of ADHD diagnosis will increase by nearly 47% over the next 5 years (Hinshaw and Scheffler). Not only is this a staggering rate of growth, but the large majority of the new patients will be children, and they will set the precedent for how we view the treatment of such disorders. Therefore, the significance of the issue of ADHD and its treatment cannot be underestimated, and demands attention to the moral and medical consequences of the use of ADHD

I have been taking ADHD medication for 4 years, and even though it has allowed for me to push myself academically, I notice that it changes me in a way that scares me. I have trouble sleeping, my mood fluctuates, and I see the medication now as a necessity for me to succeed in an academic environment. So, you might ask why do I take the medication? The answer is that, as Cascio argues, I prioritize my drive to compete against my classmates in the academic world over my fear and distaste of this drug.Cascio misses many of the important consequences of ADHD medications, and, while this diminishes the validity of his argument, his understanding of the human need to optimize accurately describes a cultural behavior of consumption of drugs that has existential implications. A study that examined different opinions regarding ADHD medications from target groups of doctors, educators, parents and children with attention disorders found that all of the participants acknowledged that these drugs caused children to “ appear sad, depressed, and irritated”(Bussing et al). Teenagers also showed low interest of using pharmaceutical treatment as a solution. Yet despite this evidence, according to the National Survey of Children's Health, 69% of children diagnosed with ADHD turn to medication as a solution (National Resource for ADHD). This is significant because it shows that people with ADHD don't want to take medication, but