Some drink to remember, some to forget

Looks like I can't be too dismissive of the subtleties of drugs. According to this article, alcohol helps us focus our attention on what's in front of us. It lets us sink into anguish when drinking alone; it lets us indulge in the pleasure of company. It frees us from distractions like our insecurities, inhibitions, indecisiveness, and the whole litter of personal demons that nag at a sober mind. I think Homer Simpson said it best: "To alcohol: the cause of and solution to all of life's problems."

Let's generalize what we want from drugs, because that will help us look past chemical solutions.

Escape: When trapped under pain, suffering, oppression, depression, it's natural to look for a way out. If there's a button you can push to make it stop, you'd push it. That's simple enough, but I'm sure you've heard of the saying "treating the symptom and not the cause."

Change. How can we treat the causes then? We change ourselves and mold our environment, so instead of  just feeling better, we will become better. We learn and build and make things work the way we want; that effort makes us feel empowered and gives us a sense of purpose.

What will happen when drugs (and other technologies) offer us shortcuts? Will it undermine our effort and erode our identity as human beings? There may be more practical concerns too: will shortcuts that let us alter our own goals lead to mental instability?

Feel. "Stop and smell the roses" sounds cliche, but it points to one of the main factors for happiness. Drugs can give us a new appreciation of our senses. Instead of always chasing after an ideal, we take the time to enjoy the things we have.

Control. So much stress and anxiety comes from feeling out of control, not only of external circumstances, but also of your own mental and emotional state. The Penfield Mood Organ from Philip K Dick's famous Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep enables a user to tweak his own mind with incredible precision. Though  that kind of control may not be possible with drugs, we will definitely see a trend in neuropharma toward greater diversity and narrower focus of effects (just because that will be bring in more profits).