Ethics crisis looming for the Biohacking industry?

2024 update: The "ethics crisis" for the Biohacking industry that I predicted back in 2014 is something I WAS WRONG about. The ethical standards in the industry are relatively high and there's been no great scandal in my time in the business. Especially compared with the other business I dable in, cryptocurrency! BUT I think this message is still worth repeating and relaying to my fellow entrepreneurs in the biohacking space.

A blogger in the Biohacking space, Mans Denton of TheHackedMind.com, was sentenced to 8 years in prison for the theft of historical holocaust documents. Apparently, Mans had worked at The Mazal Holocaust Library in San Antonio, Texas and he pilfered several thousand documents with the intent to sell them to the highest bidder online.

When I first heard this story, I had three quite contrary reactions:

* Disgust - At this man adding insult to injury to an entire people, by trying to profit from the theft of such ethnically sensitive documents.

* Fascination - The part of me that's probably seen too many heist movies and enjoyed reading the autobiography of a thief who stole $30 million in jewelry wonders how it went down. Did he just pack everything up in his backpack? Did he have to sneak in during the dead of the night? Was it a one-man job or were there accomplices?

* Curiosity - What Nootropic stack was he on? What inspired him to do this? Is this a case of smart drugs gone bad? How much did he make off the sale of the documents?

Just a week before his sentencing he was interviewed on one of the voices of the industry, the Smart Drug Smarts podcast. I encourage you to listen to his interview, he comes across as a level-headed and articulate normal guy (well, normal for a Biohacker!)

Thankfully the mainstream media's coverage of the story didn't make the connection between Denton's dabbling in the smart drugs industry and his diabolical crime. However, Mans's crime is an excellent example of how ripe a target our industry is for a highly publicized ethics crisis that destroys the credibility of products that genuinely make people happier and healthier.

Consider the respective reputations of these industries...

Pickup Artist industryThe closest thing to a sustainable men's personal development movement yet constantly demonized by the media and mainstream culture. One of the bestselling books of the past decade hilariously threw the whole industry under the bus.

Search Engine Optimization industryAsk any small business owner, who labors away 60-80 hours a week serving customers how they feel about "SEO Experts" and the adverbs they use will be eerily similar to how hard-working small business owners used to describe snake oil and yellow pages salesmen.

The "Business Opportunity" industryHas grown up quite a lot from the scammy pamphlets you used to get in the mail, promising to show you how to "get rich quick" to excellent educational programs like Pat Flynn's Smart Passive Income. This industry has been so unethical for so long that anyone teaching Entrepreneurship or real estate investing is met with great skepticism almost universally. Consider the old maxim: The easiest way to get rich is to teach people to get rich.

Financial Services industryRegarded as a morally bankrupt industry; strict government regulations and watchdog groups exist to police and protect consumers from this industry.

What do these industries have in common?

* Male-dominated - The Entrepreneurs, employees, and customer base are overwhelmingly male, with a lot of younger, single, high-energy, and aggressive young men.

* Geeky - These industries are almost completely dependent upon technology and the Internet, just like the Entrepreneurs and consumers driving them. Everyone comes from computer science or IT backgrounds and spends most of their waking life staring at glowing screens.

* Hacker mindset - Whether it's data analysis, ninja ad copywriting, specialized knowledge of psychology, hot new software, a proprietary process, or outsourcing to a digital sweatshop in another country you rarely hear people in these businesses say that their strategy for massive success is to: work hard, for a long time, creating valuable products, and providing excellent service to customers.

* Spectacular advertising claims - The advertising headlines in these industries frequently straddle hyperbole and puffery (advertising statements that no reasonable person would take seriously, like "Redbull gives you wings"). SEO experts promise to place you in front of thousands of new potential customers monthly, stockbrokers pitch a stock at $15 that is going over $100, Internet marketing gurus promise you a 4-hour work-week, and a pickup artist on Youtube is going to show you how to meet a girl on the street, make out with her in five minutes and bring her home for sex within an hour.

Obviously, the above attributes describe the burgeoning Biohacking industry, to an extent. Nootropics are rocket fuel for the hubris and ambition of young men, who are notorious for failing to empathize with anyone - especially their future selves.

The lifehacking philosophy and value propositions of Biohacking products have yet to make it into the sphere of public thought and awareness.

Does the average stressed-out, overworked, multi-tasking person think...?

Wow! I'm stressed out today and have a ton to do! I should take some Piracetam along with doing 10 minutes of Heart Rate Variability meditation to get coherent and maybe finish the day with some Dual N-Back training to better habituate mental compartmentalization.

Highly unlikely. Most will just cope with bad habits...

Wow! I'm stressed out today and have a ton to do! A mega-slice of pizza at lunch will make me feel better and then this evening I will have a beer or two (or three!) while watching Game of Thrones! Maybe I'll pick up a pack of smokes, just to get me through the day!

Someone with a modicum of health consciousness will think...

Wow! I'm stressed out today and have a ton to do! I will make sure to take my multivitamin and hit the gym HARD this evening!

We have a golden opportunity to solve these people's problems and turn them into loyal, repeat consumers of Biohacking products while at the same time giving t