Really? What drugs did Sir Tim Berners-Lee do when he created the World Wide Web?

Sir Tim, as a UK citizen in the late 20thC would have used many drugs in his lifetime, paracetamol, aspirin, penicillin, vaccines... I think you may have leapt to a conclusion about the drugs the parent post meant. Are you thinking about those recreational drugs a bit too much ... :-)

Please do not insult the reader. Honestly, your comment offends me. I know you're making a joke but it's so condescending I can't stand it.

Yes the last sentence was meant as a joke and is admittedly rather condescending. However the first half of my comment is I think valid - access to medicinal as opposed to recreational drugs is part of the virtuous circle that has driven human development - better agriculture, better sanitation and better medication have all had outsize impacts.

To deliberately - or perhaps honestly - miss that point and suggest access to recreational drugs (the only kind we use the term "doing drugs") is necessary to point out.

"free time and access to drugs" is clearly talking about drugs that alter mental state. s73v3r was not the one missing the point.

I disagree, in the context of the post (human society and development over thousands of years), then I read that as "free time - better agriculture" and "access to drugs - medication to improve quality of life"

I can see it as being taken either way though

Increased productivity over time hasn't correlated very well with the amount of free time people have, and there's always been room for tinkering. There were especially large amounts of free time pre-agriculture.

And I wouldn't put advances in medical drugs particularly high on the list of advances either. It's not even the top of the list of medical advances. Though I don't classify vaccines as drugs.

I meant psychoactive drugs.