AMPHETAMINE/DEXTROAMPHETAMINE - ORAL a.k.a. Adderall

My next possible cultural artifact makes up the blue portion of the flag in the picture at the left. This blue tablet is used to treat ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and its trade name is Adderall. This drug has a more potent dosage of amphetamines and dexoamphetamines than the well known ADHD drug Ritalin. Taken orally, the drug is used to to increase the ability to pay attention, stay focused, and control behaviorial problems. This artifact "corrects" the natural behavioral patterns exhibited by persons diagnosed with ADHD. Introduced in 1996 by Shire Pharmaceuticals the original version of Adderall was known as Obetral and used for weight management.

During the 1990s the interest and alarm over children with ADHD and how they were medicated became a very public issue. This drug implies that the hyperactive behaviors of children and adults need to be corrected. I didn't know that hyperactivity and alertness were maladaptive qualities. Evolutionarily speaking, wouldn't these be advantagous rather than maladaptive behavioral patterns? This medicine implies that children and adults who can not sit still, and listen for hours are unnatural. In the wild, if a person were to sit quietly for hours, wouldn't this listlissness inhibit the ability of any creature to survive? Humans have not survived for thousands of years because of drugs like Adderall that make the user docile, in fact eccentric energy seems to be more adaptive than maladaptive. I mean that many great minds through out time have thrived through their ability to be themselves, even though they were not the quiet, attentive students. Examples: Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Vincent Van Gogh. (I will probably need better examples, and need to work on my logic, but I guess I am trying to say that these people broke the mold, and this was good) Everyone works in their own way, so maybe the educational system needs to meet their needs, rather than curtailing them.