Very old news. This was a phase in the mid 90s. Modafinil is the one about which I’ve anything negative to say. There’s a crash associated with it.
Draw your own conclusions. No dog in the hunt.
My impression as well. Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw have been writing about life extension and cognitive enhancement drugs for decades. Saw some of my Silicon Valley compatriots amp up on the stuff back in The Day. They swore by certain of them - choline, certain amino acids - but I couldn't honestly tell any difference in their behavior or efficiency. I began to suspect that what they were reaching for is a state a good number of us find ourselves in most of the time without help.