This is all neatly tied up in the forum's ongoing undercurrent of capitalist ideals and personal responsibility, with folks like Bakari and smedley also playing key roles even though they have not participated much in the above threads.
Wait, what? How did I get dragged into this??!!
I don't know how it is that I always seem to end up arguing with you Sol, given that we seem to both be on the same side of debate.
I see coffee as a vice. It's a drug that people take because they like the way it makes them feel, and aside from being more socially accepted it is analogous to a whole host of other drugs. I've never been a big fan of deceiving my brain with pharmaceuticals just because I'm not badass enough to deal with real life straight up.
Its worse than that. Like any drug, one builds tolerance to it. Very soon, all you are doing by drinking it is returning yourself to the baseline you would have been at were you not addicted to caffeine in the first place. In other words, you aren't becoming MORE alert, you are just treating your own caffeine withdrawal symptoms.
"A 1995 study suggests that humans become tolerant to their daily dose of caffeine—whether a single soda or a serious espresso habit—somewhere between a week and 12 days. And that tolerance is pretty strong. One test of regular caffeine pill use had some participants getting an astronomical 900 milligrams per day, others placebos—found that the two groups were nearly identical in mood, energy, and alertness after 18 days. The folks taking the equivalent of nine stiff coffee pours every day weren't really feeling it anymore. They would feel it, though, when they stopped.
You start to feel caffeine withdrawal very quickly, anywhere from 12 to 24 hours after your last use. That's a big part of why that first cup or can in the morning is so important—it's staving off the early effects of withdrawal."
http://lifehacker.com/5585217/what-caffeine-actually-does-to-your-brain"According to a recent study published in the June 2010 issue of "Neuropsychopharmacology," caffeine does not cause alertness. This study took 379 individuals; half were no or low coffee consumers and the other half were moderate or high coffee consumers. After 16 hours of abstaining from caffeine, individuals were given either coffee or a placebo, then rated their mood and physical feelings which were followed up by alertness and cognitive tests. There were no differences in alertness varying from those who drank coffee versus those who received the placebo.
Researchers involved in the study published in "Neuropsychopharmacology" in June 2010 state that those who drink coffee regularly may have a developed tolerance to its effects. The alertness regular coffee drinkers feel after having their regular amount, simply brings them back to their "normal" state."
http://www.livestrong.com/article/517164-does-caffeine-make-you-more-alert/Daily coffee is worse than pointless. The only reason you feel so slow in the morning without it is BECAUSE you drink coffee everyday. Go without for 2 weeks, you reset your brain, and you'll be equally alert without it. In fact, you will probably be better off, because your sleep quality is likely to improve, which in turn will make you wake up fresher. Plus, then you have the full effects of caffeine available to you for the
occasional times you actually do need the boost.
