"...In 2004, he coined the term “cosmetic neurology” to describe the practice of using drugs developed for recognized medical conditions to strengthen ordinary cognition. Chatterjee worries about cosmetic neurology, but he thinks that it will eventually become as acceptable as cosmetic surgery has; in fact, with neuroenhancement it’s harder to argue that it’s frivolous. As he notes in a 2007 paper, “Many sectors of society have winner-take-all conditions in which small advantages produce disproportionate rewards.” At school and at work, the usefulness of being “smarter,” needing less sleep, and learning more quickly are all “abundantly clear.” In the near future, he predicts, some neurologists will refashion themselves as “quality-of-life consultants,” whose role will be “to provide information while abrogating final responsibility for these decisions to patients.” The demand is certainly there..."
This New Yorker article explores the already rampant use of "off counter" drugs like Ritalin and Adderal by students and employees to boost productivity, efficiency, and subject retention. It looks into the possible future of these neuro-enhancers as an accepted part of society and addresses some of the ethical questions associated with them.
Personally, I know I would be perfectly OK with a world where neuro-enhancers were accepted, because I think it's one step closer to our inevitably adding robotic technology to our bodies (eg. nanobots in our blood streams, internet feeds implanted in the brain), which is one more step to the universe becoming ultimately self-aware as a gigantic computer construct.
But that's just my take on things.
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