In the review section of “Get Smarter”, “The Carolina Reader” brings up an excellent question with regards to drugs and augmenting intelligence. The textbook asks if the reader agrees if using drugs to augment a person’s skills in anything, from baseball to intelligence is fair. My answer to that is yes and no. I hate to be on both sides of this but, if the use an augmenting drug is fair or not depends on the given situation heavily. For instance, Cascio says using a drug is not cheating it is just having the better thing, or the upper hand. This is true, especially in military use with the modafinil, which is a drug that helps military personal stay alert and awake while deployed. To be alert and awake is necessary for their safety and survival while in combat. So, in this situation I think using an augmenting drug is appropriate and legal. However, Cascio also brings up augmenting drugs in baseball, like steroids. Here I think the usage is illegal and cheating. First, it is against the rules of baseball which already proves it is illegal. But secondly, the drug is not necessary; a person can get more muscular with hard work in the weight room, so this would be cheating. Bringing back up the military drug modafinil, it is not realistic for a person to stay awake and alert for thirty-six hours. So, for an augmenting drug to be legal, it deeply depends on the situation and whether or not the situation justifies the use of the drug in my opinion.
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