3 ms·

> what today will sound absurd in the future? I quite seriously suspect that answer will be "24 hour electricity and grocery stores where you can buy food from

> what today will sound absurd in the future? I quite seriously suspect that answer will be "24 hour electricity and grocery stores where you can buy food from anywhere in the world" > Our widespread and normalised alcohol abuse Until pandemic we've lived in a fairly teetotaling era. I suspect for the next decade we'll see an increase in casual drinking, becoming more similar to the 1950s. If you watch any films from that era very strong cocktails are basically a standard for just about any social occasion, any time of the day. The pandemic has instantly changed peoples views on alcohol and other drugs, what's coming the immediate future will likely continue this trend. The immediate future generations will likely look back on ours as a bizarre blend of incredibly wasteful prudes. A generation of people who gluttonously destroyed the planet while at the same time being too timid to let themselves enjoy it. I think the reaction will be a large one of revulsion "you destroyed the planet and you didn't even let yourself have fun doing it? you lived at work for what?"

dougmwne 5y ago
I’m curious what you’ve been seeing that’s given you the view that drug and alcohol use has increased a lot post-pandemic. I assume you mean in the US context? I truly hope the answer isn’t 24 hour electricity, given how cheap it is to produce. That would represent a major backslide in human capability. I’m not fully against other drawdown strategies, but surely we can leave the lights on. And yes, we are simultaneously so destructive and so unhappy. What a terrible waste.
- it_does_follow 5y ago
  > that’s given you the view that drug and alcohol use has increased a lot post-pandemic. It's fairly well studied in the medical literature [0, 1] and reported on pretty regularly in popular media as well [2] 0. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7763183/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7763183/ 1. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2770975 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle... 2. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/09/22/covid-19-pandemic-heavy-drinking-survey-alkermes/5798036001/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/09/22/covid-...
  - futureshock 5y ago
    Interesting. I wonder how this will have changed after vaccines became widely available. If it was a temporary increase vs long term. Personally, I bought a nice 1.5 l bottle of scotch a week before lockdowns began, but never bought any hard liquor since I got my vaccine.
JohnWhigham 5y ago
I quite seriously suspect that answer will be "24 hour electricity and grocery stores were you can buy food from anywhere in the world" Uh, I think that's going to be the norm in the future if anything...

dougmwne 5y ago

I’m curious what you’ve been seeing that’s given you the view that drug and alcohol use has increased a lot post-pandemic. I assume you mean in the US context? I truly hope the answer isn’t 24 hour electricity, given how cheap it is to produce. That would represent a major backslide in human capability. I’m not fully against other drawdown strategies, but surely we can leave the lights on. And yes, we are simultaneously so destructive and so unhappy. What a terrible waste.

it_does_follow 5y ago
> that’s given you the view that drug and alcohol use has increased a lot post-pandemic. It's fairly well studied in the medical literature [0, 1] and reported on pretty regularly in popular media as well [2] 0. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7763183/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7763183/ 1. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2770975 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle... 2. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/09/22/covid-19-pandemic-heavy-drinking-survey-alkermes/5798036001/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/09/22/covid-...
- futureshock 5y ago
  Interesting. I wonder how this will have changed after vaccines became widely available. If it was a temporary increase vs long term. Personally, I bought a nice 1.5 l bottle of scotch a week before lockdowns began, but never bought any hard liquor since I got my vaccine.

JohnWhigham 5y ago

I quite seriously suspect that answer will be "24 hour electricity and grocery stores were you can buy food from anywhere in the world" Uh, I think that's going to be the norm in the future if anything...