In the story [Flowers for Algernon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowers_for_Algernon), Algernon is a laboratory mouse who goes through a surgery to increase his intelligence, and shows remarkable improvement. However, Algernon's intelligence begins to decline with side effects. The broader Algernon's Law is simply stated as: there's no free lunch in biology. If there was a way for you to eat a substance, or go through a procedure that would make you stronger/smarter/younger, then evolution would have done it. This is why you should be suspicious of nootropics and the like. Where it breaks a little bit is that [[Environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EEA)]] is way different than modern environment, so there could be interventions that make us more adaptive to our current environment, like Adderall. #published 2025-02-16