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dws | 2 years ago

"Notably, although officially psychoactive, we exclude caffeine due to its near-universal prevalence in software."

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LoganDark|2 years ago

Yeah, seeing this quote upsets me a bit. I wish people would stop normalizing caffeine addiction/dependence.

It's okay to use a bit, but not so much that it takes over your life, and gives you withdrawal symptoms whenever you try to stop, making you think that you Just Don't Function Without It.

There are people who legitimately need caffeine just like there are people who legitimately need amphetamines (usually those with ADHD or sometimes narcolepsy).

But people who don't need caffeine still end up unnecessarily addicted and dependent, just because society makes it out to be perfectly safe and normal. Oh, everyone drinks coffee! Coffee is at every store! Nobody ever talks about the risks of coffee because it's totally risk-free. Other than, you know, making you into a zombie whenever you stop taking it, fueling confirmation bias.

As if "can't talk before my morning coffee" is somehow supposed to be a universal expectation. Why are people putting these kinds of drugs into their body, that over the long-term make them that way? You don't have to be a zombie in the morning. You're only a zombie in the morning because of all the caffeine.

I've never used caffeine in my life and I'm just fine. Was even just fine before I ever started my ADHD meds (around 3 months ago). I firmly believe that coffee dependence is not a necessity for most people... just like nicotine dependence.

BTW, I don't turn into a zombie when I stop taking my meds. I just sleep for around 15 hours. It honestly feels less harmful than caffeine would be. Because I'm not using it recreationally.

mypastself|2 years ago

Running on 3 billion devices and all that.

bheadmaster|2 years ago

Caffeine, when taken regularly in high doses, can cause a burnout similar to amphetamines. I've done both in college.

However, caffeine in small doses (up to ~5 cups / day) is much easier to get used to without burning out, and after a period of regular use becomes more of a tool giving you control over the time you want to be awake and alert, instead of giving you superhuman focus.

krageon|2 years ago

> small doses (up to ~5 cups / day)

one cup has ~120mg of caffeine. This is 600 mg of caffeine. That's not a small dose. I would say it's above even a "moderate" dose. To be safe I looked it up, and I find up to 400 mg is considered safe. Above that is considered a high caffeine intake [1].

[1] "only limited evidence is currently available to ascertain the safety of high caffeine intake (greater than 400 mg/d for adults [...] Limited data suggest adverse health outcomes" from https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Scientific-Re...