Caffeine makes a convincing argument

5-02-2006 @2:09PM Dossy Shiobara said... Sounds like a really weak study to me, inferring causation from correlation.

Is it the uptake of coffee that makes people more agreeable, or is it the withdrawl that causes people to be more agreeable as the body's way of signaling that "yes, I'd like more of that [coffee]."

There's an old joke about bureaucracies that have a penchant for excessive meetings where consensus is required but never achieved: require each participant to drink 4 full cups of water in successsion immediately before the meeting starts, and no one leaves the room until a final decision has been made and consensus has been reached.

Of course, I've never heard this actually done before, but the concept is clear: it would be amazing how quickly people would be willing to compromise and reach concensus towards the end of the meeting, as everyone sits cross-legged and squirming. :-)

Perhaps the subtle withdrawl effects of caffeine (or something in coffee, anyhow) shortly after consumption puts the brain into a state whose goal is to "obtain and consume more coffee" which many people subconsciously connect "be more agreeable and cooperative."

Food for ... thought.
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5-02-2006 @3:56PM Ryan Smith said... #2, I think you misread the article. The subject was not experiencing caffeine withdrawal when he/she was measured to be more responsive to an argument. They were in the midst of their caffeine buzz - the point being that the stimulant helped them to concentrate.

This is hardly surprising. 1) Caffeine helps you focus and 2) Actually listening to someone helps you to see their point of view.


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5-02-2006 @3:58PM Ryan Smith said... #2, I think you misread the article. The subject was not experiencing caffeine withdrawal when he/she was measured to be more responsive to an argument. They were in the midst of their caffeine buzz - the point being that the stimulant helped them to concentrate.

This is hardly surprising. 1) Caffeine helps you focus and 2) Actually listening to someone helps you to see their point of view.


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5-05-2006 @10:42AM J Valdez said... #3,#4
The Caffeine "buzz" which you speak of, occurs when the caffeine blood plasma level reaches the peak of saturation rapidly following consumption. Very soon after this peak is achieved, the blood level of caffeine begins to drop off, even though the average coffee drinker, or even inexperienced coffee drinker, will not experience any noticeable effects after this happens, it can occur anywhere between 30 seconds and 30 minutes after the peak caffeine/plasma level is achieved. Even though the coffee drinker still feels most if not all effects of the first cup of coffee, they are in fact going through caffeine cravings simultaneously, because that is how the brain is wired to repeat pleasurable experiences. With cocaine, crack, heroin, cigarette tobacco, sex, and sugar, the mechanism above is extremely more noticeable than caffeine is in some individuals.

Just the same, I agree with the individual who says it's the caffeine withdrawal that makes the drinker wish to "obtain and consume more coffee" become more affable on a subconscious level, because in order to get to the next, and the next, cup of coffee, the drinker must "be more agreeable and cooperative".
I've been doing a lot of 18-hour-day 7-day a week studies on physical dependency since 2000, and myself going through caffeine binges that cause months of mania sometimes. Most drugs, sugar, even gambling, trigger the desire to repeat the experience immediately after peak levels of pleasure reenforcing endogenous opiates produced in the brain, drop even the slightest, in spite of the consumer still being "under the influence" of the just-consumed substance, here caffeinated coffee. Even an inexperienced consumer who is testing out their increased ability to concentrate and navigate the occasional twinge of anxiety that caffeine may cause them, may experience the desire to consume more coffee within nano-seconds of having the most recently consumed caffeine in their body slightly dip in peak concentration levels, almost too little to notice using testing method, from the peak concentration level.

U.S. National News television week of May 1-5, 2006, mention theory that humans are wired to repeat pleasurable experiences immediately, because at some point in development doing so made it possible for homo sapiens to survive. I guess if we didn't enjoy the first sip of water in a dry climate so much, we may have drunk it too slowly to remain hydrated without the brain immediately rewarding us and making us crave the next sip, before the first sip is even in the belly yet?

Besides, I think when anyone feels good, whether it's because of achievement, alcohol, caffeine, sex, or even drug consumption, they are more likely to resolve conflict than if they are pressured and overworked from the pressures of meeting job deadlines, or going through caffeine withdrawals. Yeah, and like the others said, not letting people go to the bathroom works too.
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