13 ms·

Beer is one of the pleasures that make life worth living.

Trasmatta 5y ago
YMMV. I cut out alcohol and my life overall has become better and more enjoyable. Alcohol can become a crutch when it's a pre-requisite to relaxing or having a good time, and then the side effects begin to make other aspects of life much worse. It's nice to be able to have fun without needing a drink first. I think the biggest thing that made me stop drinking was learning how much even small amounts of alcohol negatively impact sleep quality, and how important sleep is for mental health and mood.
- ilaksh 5y ago
  A big part of the problem is that the alcohol industry has had such a profoundly successful marketing campaign that they have actually embedded nonsense beliefs into the culture. They have convinced society that A) it's almost impossible to really enjoy oneself in a social setting without alcohol and B) anyone who has multiple negative behavioral incidents related to alcohol must by definition be severely genetically deficient (rather than the alcohol having any blame for their behavior).
  - cocoa19 5y ago
    And C)you relax from a stressful situation by drinking, like going to the bar after a difficult day.
emerged 5y ago
That’s true, along with countless other pleasures which aren’t literal poison. So at some point many of us just stick to the healthy pleasures that make life worth living.
- trmonx 5y ago
  Figurative, not literal poison. Unless you mean poison as in a substance that can cause serious harm under certain conditions. But then avoiding all such 'poisons' would probably not be that healthy.
  - rco8786 5y ago
    Pretty literal IMO. Alcohol poisoning kills thousands of people every year.
    - SigmundA 5y ago
      Then in that case water is literal poison as is just about everything else if too much is consumed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication Alcohol is more poisonous than water but less poisonous than arsenic, the main unresolved question is how much alcohol is "safe", arsenic is regulated to certain amounts in food and drinking water to be considered a "safe" amount.
      - cute_boi 5y ago
        I think this is a common fallacy. We need water to survive. If there is safer way to survive without drinking water, please let us know. However, I am certain that anyone can survive without alcohol.
        SigmundA 5y ago
        We can survive without the being in the sun and the sun gives us cancer, do you want to live without the sun? Not everything we do should be judged on that basis, many things we do for enjoyment that are not required for living have risks associated with them alcohol included. I just want good information on how risky alcohol is to make an informed decision.
        cute_boi 5y ago
        Yes, if there wouldn't be any issue with Vitamin D I would prefer to live without sun. There is reason why I use sunscreen. People take drugs for enjoyment too. There are reasons why many drugs are banned. There are few drugs that are less lethal than alcohol. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cocaine-ecstacy-drug-classification-alcohol-tobacco-damage-illegal-ban-a8976166.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cocaine-ecst... The problem I find with alcohol is not some occasional drinkers, but the one who ruins everything for the sake of pleasure. In my country, these people cause a large damage. They speak nonsense in streets, harms pedestrian by reckless driving, waste money on women etc.. I have never seen such behavior when someone drank water. Many things looks okay in ideal state or in philosophy, but in real life people have to face the naunces. Hence, I think comparing Alcohol with Water in terms of harmful effect is vacuous.
meristohm 5y ago
I used to think like this, including videogames, too, and this still long after reading in Siddhartha that everything is transitory, hah! Early in the COVID-19 pandemic I stopped habitually drinking alcohol (1-2 drinks/day, pretty much every day for years, because it was customary in our house and with friends, except a started to cut back for a year or so before quitting since I was noticing how I felt). Alcohol no longer has any pull with me, and I've replaced that habit with other, more-enjoyable activities. It's okay to change, and even better to steer the ship.

YMMV. I cut out alcohol and my life overall has become better and more enjoyable. Alcohol can become a crutch when it's a pre-requisite to relaxing or having a good time, and then the side effects begin to make other aspects of life much worse. It's nice to be able to have fun without needing a drink first. I think the biggest thing that made me stop drinking was learning how much even small amounts of alcohol negatively impact sleep quality, and how important sleep is for mental health and mood.

ilaksh 5y ago
A big part of the problem is that the alcohol industry has had such a profoundly successful marketing campaign that they have actually embedded nonsense beliefs into the culture. They have convinced society that A) it's almost impossible to really enjoy oneself in a social setting without alcohol and B) anyone who has multiple negative behavioral incidents related to alcohol must by definition be severely genetically deficient (rather than the alcohol having any blame for their behavior).
- cocoa19 5y ago
  And C)you relax from a stressful situation by drinking, like going to the bar after a difficult day.

emerged 5y ago

That’s true, along with countless other pleasures which aren’t literal poison. So at some point many of us just stick to the healthy pleasures that make life worth living.

trmonx 5y ago
Figurative, not literal poison. Unless you mean poison as in a substance that can cause serious harm under certain conditions. But then avoiding all such 'poisons' would probably not be that healthy.
- rco8786 5y ago
  Pretty literal IMO. Alcohol poisoning kills thousands of people every year.
  - SigmundA 5y ago
    Then in that case water is literal poison as is just about everything else if too much is consumed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication Alcohol is more poisonous than water but less poisonous than arsenic, the main unresolved question is how much alcohol is "safe", arsenic is regulated to certain amounts in food and drinking water to be considered a "safe" amount.
    - cute_boi 5y ago
      I think this is a common fallacy. We need water to survive. If there is safer way to survive without drinking water, please let us know. However, I am certain that anyone can survive without alcohol.
      - SigmundA 5y ago
        We can survive without the being in the sun and the sun gives us cancer, do you want to live without the sun? Not everything we do should be judged on that basis, many things we do for enjoyment that are not required for living have risks associated with them alcohol included. I just want good information on how risky alcohol is to make an informed decision.
        cute_boi 5y ago
        Yes, if there wouldn't be any issue with Vitamin D I would prefer to live without sun. There is reason why I use sunscreen. People take drugs for enjoyment too. There are reasons why many drugs are banned. There are few drugs that are less lethal than alcohol. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cocaine-ecstacy-drug-classification-alcohol-tobacco-damage-illegal-ban-a8976166.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cocaine-ecst... The problem I find with alcohol is not some occasional drinkers, but the one who ruins everything for the sake of pleasure. In my country, these people cause a large damage. They speak nonsense in streets, harms pedestrian by reckless driving, waste money on women etc.. I have never seen such behavior when someone drank water. Many things looks okay in ideal state or in philosophy, but in real life people have to face the naunces. Hence, I think comparing Alcohol with Water in terms of harmful effect is vacuous.

meristohm 5y ago

I used to think like this, including videogames, too, and this still long after reading in Siddhartha that everything is transitory, hah! Early in the COVID-19 pandemic I stopped habitually drinking alcohol (1-2 drinks/day, pretty much every day for years, because it was customary in our house and with friends, except a started to cut back for a year or so before quitting since I was noticing how I felt). Alcohol no longer has any pull with me, and I've replaced that habit with other, more-enjoyable activities. It's okay to change, and even better to steer the ship.