Hyper-stimulants (caffeine, nicotine, social media, alcohol, recreational drugs, porn) make emotional self-regulation harder for smart people; Pascet had to quit caffeine in late 2016 after noticing he couldn't emotionally regulate when stocks moved against him while drinking coffee.

normativepending

Speaker

Alex Pascet

Evidence Quote

“I had to quit caffeine... I was noticing that... a stock was going against me and usually I'm able to emotionally regulate and I wasn't able to. And it's when I quit caffeine that a lot of that came back. [28:24]”

Source

Hedge Fund Manager Alix Pasquet: Why Smart People Lose Money— Odds on Open
Created: 8/12/2026, 10:28:18 PM

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