by Bob Luck
A few years ago, I read "This Is Your Mind On Plants", Michael Pollen's book about plants that can alter human consciousness.  As part of his research, he quit caffeine, cold turkey.  After a couple of months of withdrawal, he stopped thinking about it when he woke up in the morning.  In part 2 of his self-experiment, he stopped by a coffee shop in a mall one morning and ordered a coffee.  It was the best thing he ever tasted, and the after-effects were even better: he found himself in a perfect state of alertness, optimism and enthusiasm--name an adjective for a positive emotion and that's how he felt.  "This is the trick", he thought.  "If I just drink a couple of cups a week I can have all these positive feelings without any of the side effects".  His resolution lasted until early afternoon, when he started coming up with reasons he needed to go back to the same mall to go shopping...