I am surprised to hear this sentiment on HN as often as I do. It seems to imply a somewhat Luddite-like fear of technological advancement, versus the generally positive interest I would expect from hackers. Am I off base?
I'm not talking about modafinil specifically (no opinion there) but more generally.
Evolution has given us a brain that is so complex that we still have very little understanding of how it actually functions. So do I believe that a drug company came up with a way to improve upon evolution and make the brain better? No, I do not. And I think that's a pretty reasonable initial stance to take given the facts at hand.