...No, this isn't a figment of my imagination. Yesterday Reuters reported that a scientist in Germany was testing a pill that has been "thwarting" hyperactivity and short-term memory in mice and fruit flies. As a result, they're called it the 'Anti-Stupidity' pill.

Last time I checked stupidity meant that someone was deficient in the area of intelligence to a great degree - as in they're slow or tend to make careless mistakes. I never stopped to think that hyperactivity was a sign of stupidity. Probably because it's *not*.

Here's a question for you - how do you make a fruit fly take a *pill*? They don't state that they're administering the drugs in any other way. Then again if it's not a pill, how do they find a vein to inject it into the fly? And this is fruit flies we're talking about - why would we want to make them smarter? They have such short life spans that short-term memory is a chronic condition with all of them - why do we want to extend such suffering to the poor fruit fly? Or am I being stupid? Didn't think so.

So while the German scientists are making these great leaps in calling something the anti-stupidity pill (incorrectly, in my opinion), let's wonder about what if there was a *real* anti-stupidity pill. Not one that would deal with short-term memory, but one that would truly increase intelligence, or conversely, banish stupidity from your biology.

First off, students would hate it. It would destroy the grading curve. That would make the non-drug enhanced intelligent students a little pissed off that this pill has made their GPA look a little less desirable. If you're truly intelligent, coming by it honestly, don't you think that you'd be threatened just a little bit by someone using performance enhancing drugs to get where you are?

There'd be discrimination - the *real* intelligent people versus those who have taken the drugs. It would be just like cycling these days. Or any other sport tainted by "performance enhancers". Speaking of performance enhancers, what would happen if sex became a competitive sport with all these drugs out there... ah, but I digress.

Here's a question - what's the effect if you overdose on the anti-stupidity pill? Can you qualify for Mensa? Do you start doing quadratic equations in your sleep? We might have a chronic problem with evil geniuses running around all over the world.

It could become a great government conspiracy - what if they put this drug in the water? Think about it - we'd have smarter fish. Smarter pets. Smarter people might become an issue. Then again, it might not be a bad issue if we're all being drugged by the government. As long as it doesn't lead to increased cancer rates. Then the discrimination thing could reach a global level - our country is smarter than yours. I suspect, however, that Europe might lead the way with something like this because that's what they do. In Japan they'd probably force you to take at least 3x of the recommended dosage every day just to try and stay ahead in the technological innovation race.

Think about what an anti-stupidity pill would do to the economy - mass unemployment. Don't think so? Think about customer service representatives and call centers. Most of the questions that come through there are stupid ones. Like how to read your credit card bill, or whether or not you have to have access to the internet to subscribe to an online service. These are real questions, believe it or not, and think what an anti-stupidity pill would do to CS Reps jobs. They'd be virtually gone, except for the occasional lack of common sense question, which is something that's not covered by the anti-stupidity pill we're dreaming of here. Unless it's a rare side-effect, but I wouldn't count on it. Chances are common sense would decrease as a side effect, knowing all the side effects that we hear on basic drugs advertised on television.

DH had a comment last night - what would happen if you took the anti-stupidity pill and Viagra at the same time? He thinks they'd cancel each other out.

I know I've only brushed the surface of what an anti-stupidity pill would do to the general population. There's probably so much more that I didn't think about. Here's a question - what if the politicians of the world started taking this imaginary anti-stupidity pill? Think about the current United States Administration. Where would we be now if Dubya was taking an anti-stupidity pill? Note - this isn't a whack at his intelligence, because this pill would probably be OTC, and unregulated.

*ANYONE* could take it.

Even me. Not that I need it...

...See? More egos would be running around too.