5 ms·

I had 2 uncles that were high functioning alcoholics, that would do the same as you, but drink substantially more (1-2 bottles of rye a day). By the time they

by soperj 9y ago

I had 2 uncles that were high functioning alcoholics, that would do the same as you, but drink substantially more (1-2 bottles of rye a day). By the time they were in their early 60s, both of them (they were brothers) had to have their legs amputated because of circulation issues related to alcohol consumption. It can lead to more problems than you'd think. I guess my first thought when I see people like this, especially people who can clearly do their job quite well, is don't you wonder what you could accomplish when you're not drunk?

allenbrunson 9y ago
> I guess my first thought when I see people like this, especially people who can clearly do their job quite well, is don't you wonder what you could accomplish when you're not drunk? ... and that says to me that you didn't absorb what those guys wrote. like, for example, this: > If only for the fact that I didn't so much enjoy being drunk, with the knots in my brain unwound, feeling like I'm finally able to relax my consciousness with a drink like I relax my body with a massage. therefore, the answer to "what you could accomplish when you're not drunk" might well be "a whole hell of a lot less than he's accomplishing right now."
- barrkel 9y ago
  Actually, I suspect those knots are thwarted ambition or unaddressed life problems or something else that could be fixed that alcohol is just anesthesizing. It might still be rational. The costs of change on other people, like children, may make it not worthwhile, or the struggle to fulfill ambition might rationally be viewed as pointless. Just don't dismiss the knots as things that can only be treated with alcohol.
  - allenbrunson 9y ago
    i'd be willing to bet you have some problems in your life. if not, you'd be the first person in the world who doesn't. so what's stopping you from solving them, right now? perhaps you are too cowardly? see where this line of thought leads? i'd just as soon not go there.
  - hug 9y ago
    Just to clarify -- although I was hoping it would be conveyed by the tone and the flavour of my original post -- I don't have life problems. I also don't have a struggle to fulfill ambition: I passed the goal I set for myself at fifteen as a highschool dropout, and I did so with flying colours. I love my life. I don't know, really, what would improve it a whole lot. Perhaps winning the lottery would help, although I wouldn't bet on it -- I have a lovely partner, a comfortable home, enough money to spend on hobbies and travel and, yes, drinking -- I make art and I make infrastructure, and everything is great. But I still drink.
- hug 9y ago
  Thank you for listening, and for thinking. No more, no less.
hug 9y ago
I could accomplish anything. Except, maybe, being an astronaut: I've aged myself out of that one. But who cares? You might, but I don't. What I have accomplished and what I continue to accomplish and what I care about accomplishing is providing for my partner and for my life and for my hobbies and for the happiness of those I love. I'm doing just fine in that department.

by soperj 9y ago

allenbrunson 9y ago

> I guess my first thought when I see people like this, especially people who can clearly do their job quite well, is don't you wonder what you could accomplish when you're not drunk? ... and that says to me that you didn't absorb what those guys wrote. like, for example, this: > If only for the fact that I didn't so much enjoy being drunk, with the knots in my brain unwound, feeling like I'm finally able to relax my consciousness with a drink like I relax my body with a massage. therefore, the answer to "what you could accomplish when you're not drunk" might well be "a whole hell of a lot less than he's accomplishing right now."

barrkel 9y ago
Actually, I suspect those knots are thwarted ambition or unaddressed life problems or something else that could be fixed that alcohol is just anesthesizing. It might still be rational. The costs of change on other people, like children, may make it not worthwhile, or the struggle to fulfill ambition might rationally be viewed as pointless. Just don't dismiss the knots as things that can only be treated with alcohol.
- allenbrunson 9y ago
  i'd be willing to bet you have some problems in your life. if not, you'd be the first person in the world who doesn't. so what's stopping you from solving them, right now? perhaps you are too cowardly? see where this line of thought leads? i'd just as soon not go there.
- hug 9y ago
  Just to clarify -- although I was hoping it would be conveyed by the tone and the flavour of my original post -- I don't have life problems. I also don't have a struggle to fulfill ambition: I passed the goal I set for myself at fifteen as a highschool dropout, and I did so with flying colours. I love my life. I don't know, really, what would improve it a whole lot. Perhaps winning the lottery would help, although I wouldn't bet on it -- I have a lovely partner, a comfortable home, enough money to spend on hobbies and travel and, yes, drinking -- I make art and I make infrastructure, and everything is great. But I still drink.
hug 9y ago
Thank you for listening, and for thinking. No more, no less.

hug 9y ago

I could accomplish anything. Except, maybe, being an astronaut: I've aged myself out of that one. But who cares? You might, but I don't. What I have accomplished and what I continue to accomplish and what I care about accomplishing is providing for my partner and for my life and for my hobbies and for the happiness of those I love. I'm doing just fine in that department.