What It’s Like to Get Really, Really High

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/what-its-like-to-get-really-really-high

UK Sport Criticizes Ben Proud's Participation in Enhanced Games Allowing Performance-Enhancing Drugs

Ben Proud, a 30-year-old Olympic silver medallist from Great Britain, has made headlines after joining the controversial Enhanced Games, an event that allows athletes to take performance-enhancing drugs under strict supervision. Proud, who earned a silver in the 50m freestyle at the Paris 2024 Olymp... [More info]

The Enhanced Games, a sporting competition in which athletes are allowed to take performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), will take place a year from now in — where else? — Las Vegas. @time's Sean Gregory spoke to organizers Aron d'Souza and Christian Angermayer about where they got the idea, who's funding it (investors include Peter Thiel and 1789 Capital, in which Donald Trump Jr. is a partner) and how the Games will work. Gregory also interviewed those who oppose the games. Dr. Michael Joyner, a human performance expert at the Mayo Clinic, pointed out that PEDs are potentially risky to participants' health in both the short and long term. “This kind of reminds me of the Roman Circus,” said Charles Yesalis, professor emeritus of health policy at Penn State University and an expert on PEDs in sports. “If you want to destroy any concept of fair play and fair competition in sport, this would be a good way to do it,” the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said previously in a statement to Reuters.

https://flip.it/boj-.K

#Sport #Sports #Olympics #EnhancedGames #Medicine #PerformanceEnhancingDrugs #LasVegas

Performance Enhancing AI

In my opinion, performance enhancing AI is exactly like performance enhancing drugs in sports. Performance enhancing AI should be banned in the fine arts when it comes to prizing.

Why? Because the jobs that pay in the fine arts are coveted by their law abiding practitioners. When dull, boring jobs are eliminated, usually no one bats an eye or cries. But when artists, writers and performers etc. are replaced, the many who have worked their lives to get to these positions, will be sad and distraught. These coveted jobs should not be taken by machines. Even if the machines are helped by humans and thus have some human content. And it’s unfair for a human to take credit for a machine’s work even if the human did part of the work.

I know the horse is out of the stable already and how can we retroactively enforce adherence to whatever laws we make? We can try, just as they did in sports, to catch the cheaters. I believe we can do a half decent job. Sure there are examples in sport of cheaters winning here and there. Well we can catch them eventually and enforce rules much after the fact.

I am not necessarily saying goodbye to all works with performance enhancing AI. I’m just saying take them out of all awards and have all works honestly listing any and all AI used in its creation. I think we like to support artists. Not the intellectual abilities of machines and artists. Not the intellectual abilities of machines. Give consumers the opportunity to choose what they support. I believe most will eventually support the pure artists. Especially when AI is coming after their own coveted jobs.

Right now AI is being considered for making book covers. Artists are expensive and indie book writers are trying to keep costs down.

Right now starving artists are tempted to write their grant applications, a prospectus for an art show or just a brief biography of themselves with AI. Proper editing is expensive.

To both of these I say don’t do it. AI is currently angling for both positions. Notice how work for both fine arts is disappearing if you do this.

Even such a “minor” use of AI should have to be acknowledged up front and can be reason enough to ban you from awards.

AI will eventually be coming for all the other jobs, too. Yes, science, even research and theorizing can be done by AI in my belief. Computer Science is part of that. No coveted job is safe with AI. I say, legislate things so coveted jobs are still mostly done by humans.

#AIWillEventuallyGoAfterAllJobs #artists #awards #bookCovers #boringJobs #cheaters #covetedJobs #editing #fineArts #honestlyListAIHelp #performanceEnhancingAI #performanceEnhancingDrugs #prizing #rankings #sports #weWantToSupportArtistsNotMachines #writers

Started on my first-ever anabolic steroid cycle, and for once I'm actually impressed: just 20 mg of dianabol over the past few days makes me subtly but noticeably toner and trimmer, and I feel really good too. Basically no side effects either, so far.

#steroids #anabolicsteroids #drugs #PEDs #performanceenhancingdrugs #gym #fitness #aesthetics #beauty #self #diary #lifestyle

The NYT uncovered a pattern of positive #doping tests in the Chinese #swimming program. 12 members of the Chinese #Olympic team tested positive in recent yrs for powerful #PerformanceEnhancingDrugs but were cleared to compete. Until the NYT reports, none of the positive tests were publicly disclosed.

In #Paris, some swimmers said the #antidoping authorities failed to ensure that these Games were fair.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/04/briefing/olympics-swimming-doping.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

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#FarOutMagazine
Bob Weir on what "basically killed" Jerry Garcia
While there's no denying that drug addiction led to the death of Jerry Garcia, former bandmate Bob Weir also points to the hero worship from fans.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/bob-weir-on-what-basically-killed-jerry-garcia/

#BobWeir #JerryGarcia #GratefulDead #RockMusic #HealthIssues #PerformanceEnhancingDrugs #AmericanCulture