Learn faster. Learn more. Be awesome.
flowstateengaged.comI think I'll let others do the epidemiological study on the long terms effects of this for me. In the mean time, I'll stick with good sleep, good food, and good exercise.
Don't get me wrong. I would love this to work flawlessly. I'm just afraid it may not.
So from what I could read (it's kind of hard to get to the original studies from their main site) the "multiple clinical studies" means 3 studies. One, involving navigating a computer generated city, had six participants. Which is pretty preliminary.
There were two other studies that did have a fair number of participants (one was darpa funded, the other us army), but both those studies had to do with being able to pick out and assess threats quickly. There is a strong visual/spatial component to all of the studies. Which seems a good deal more specific than the generalized learning the site seems to be pushing.
Further studies may find that there is something to this beyond the spatial realm, but I'd say the site is pretty misleadingly overselling the data.
I cannot fathom shopping for an electrical device to hook up to my brain, primarily on the basis of price.
I like how they link to the gizmodo article to reference the benefits, when in fact the article says its stupid to DIY.
The DIY stuff that I've read recommended a max of only one or two 20 minute sessions per week. Even if it increased what you could learn by 2.5x, that only buys you at most 1 hour (effective) per week. I don't see how that's worth the risk for the stated goal. If you just want to mess with your brain, then you might do it even if it didn't help you learn. That said, it does seem like it would be fun to play with if it was known to be safe.
This kind of stuff always reminds me of the movie gataca and how maybe soon our society might transform into a sort of castesized version of itself where only those who can afford it will be able to function comparably to their peers (more so than the current financial inequalities we face today).
So. Has anyone of us actually tried this?
Additionally, the site could look a lot more trustworthy.
No, but it certainly looks interesting. According to the collective intelligence that is the internets current tDCS products cost upwards of $600, so this might be an interesting alternative.
This is reminiscent of the time-machine that Kip orders off the internet in Napoleon Dynamite. Pass.
I'm not sure, but I believe sale of this kind of thing must be regulated by authorities. I mean, plug electrodes to your head? Sure, looks legit.
Wow. There's not even an attempt to hide the blatant "borrowing" of pinterest's under-header call to action. Hey, it works for the site though.
yeah, thats what i thought. This is not looking trustworthy at all. It could be a nice idea to use something like this. After all, we are stimulating ourselves in every possible way. Be it drugs or other techniques. But i think this website should spend a whole lot of time expaining why this is so awesome and useful and not scary. Darpa using it does not make me feel comfortable at all.
To be honest, I thought it was a fake reading their website and I was already laughing at the idea of reading the comments. Apparently it is not, I don't know what to think.
when will society start building things that aren't revisions of existing products. tDCS was created and used back in 80's as proven by these two scientists. http://www.news.com.au/technology/gallery-e6frflwi-122587842...
The articles they link to that talks about their product all say to not try it. I think that's probably good advice.