Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Self-Blinded Caffeine RCT, published by niplav on June 27, 2023 on LessWrong.

I test 200mg caffeine in an n=1, m=50 self-blinded RCT. The outcomes are encouraging.

Log-score of predictions of substanceAbsorption effect size d (λ, p, σ increase)Mindfulness effect size d (λ, p, σ increase)Productivity effect size d (λ, p, σ increase)Creativity effect size d (λ, p, σ increase)Happiness effect size d (λ, p, σ increase)Contentment effect size d (λ, p, σ increase)Relaxation effect size d (λ, p, σ increase)Horniness effect size d (λ, p, σ increase)200mg Caffeine (n=1, m=40)-0.60.61 (λ=13.3, p=0.00017, -0.072)0.58 (λ=11.8, p=0.0007, 0.021)0.58 (λ=28.9, p=1.3-12, 0.11)0.38 (λ=32.9, p=5.2-15, 0.09)0.27 (λ=10.6, p=0.002, 0.3)0.13 (λ=7.66, p=0.02, 0.47)-0.11 (λ=5, p=0.15, 0.42)-0.14 (λ=1.9, p=0.64, 0.11)

I am especially interested in testing many different substances for their effect on meditation, while avoiding negative side effects. The benefits from high meditational attainments valuable to me, and seem especially likely to benefit from chemical intervention, since the Algernon argument likely doesn't apply: Meditative attainments might've not led to a fitness advantage (even, by opportunity cost, to a fitness disadvantage), and so were likely selected against, but most of us don't care that much about inclusive genetic fitness and more about psychological well-being. Evolutionary dynamics favor being like Dschingis Khan (dozens to hundreds of offspring) over Siddharta Gautama (one son), but I'd rather attain sotāpanna than pillage and murder.

And meditative attainments are costly: they take tens to hundreds to thousands of hours to reach, which would make simple psychopharmacological interventions worthwhile. I also don't buy that they miss the point of meditation—most people already struggle enough, so some help doesn't make it a cakewalk; "reach heaven through fraud". One must be careful not to fall into the trap of taking substances that feel good but lessen sensory clarity (which I believe was the original intent behind the fifth precept, and so I'll exclude e.g. opiates from the substances to test.

Variables tracked (see more here):

Meditation: 45 minutes of ānāpānasati, started 0-60 minutes after taking the dose, tracking two variables.

Mindfulness: How aware I was of what was going on in my head, modulo my ability to influence it.

Absorption (often called concentration): How "still" my mind was, how easily I was swept away by my thoughts.

Flashcard performance: Did my daily flashcards for ~20 minutes, started 0-60 minutes after finishing meditation.

Arm Prediction: I tried to predict whether the substance I'd taken was placebo or caffeine.

Mood: Tracking 4 different variables at random points during the day, namely

Happiness/Sadness

Contentment/Discontentment

Relaxation/Stress

Horniness/Chastity: Chastity being simply the opposite of horniness in this case.

Productivity and creativity, recorded at the end of the day.

The total cost of the experiment is at least 21.5€:

Time: The Clearer Thinking tool for the value of my time returns 15€/hour, which gives a time cost of 18.75€ for preparing the experiment.

Time for filling: 35 minutes

Time for preparing envelopes: 40 minutes

Cost of caffeine pills: 0.0825€200mg caffeine pill 200mg caffeine pills=2.0625€

Cost of empty capsules: 0.03€capsule25 capsules=0.75€

Cost of sugar: Negligible.

200mg caffeine pills, placebo pills filled with sugar, of each 25. Put each pill with a corresponding piece of paper ("C" for caffeine, "P" for placebo) into an unlabeled envelope. Used seq 1 50 | shuf to number the envelopes, and sorted them accordingly.

Notes on the experiment:

3rd dose: Out of fear that the placebo pills have some sugar stuck outside of them, which could de-blind the dose, I take a bit (~10 g) of sugar with each pill.

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