4 ms·

What benefits? Physical pleasure?

autoexec 3y ago
it'd be very strange to think that there are no benefits to drinking alcohol considering that humans have been going out of their way to drink it for the last 10,000 years. In all of that time, it's safe to assume that at least a few people found something worth the cost/trouble/risks.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- hospitalJail 3y ago
  The yeast out-competes other microbes that would make the water deadly? Not really relevant in 2023. It can preserve calories of carbohydrates that would otherwise go bad? Or the physical pleasure I previously mentioned?
- pcl 3y ago
  You touch on something important here. Until recently, we as a species haven’t had easy access to clean water, and somehow evolved to be susceptible to all sorts of water-borne pathogens. So our social structures evolved in the context of alcohol as a given. No surprise, then, that now that we (largely) have access to fresh water, we still find a place for alcohol in our lives.
  - autoexec 3y ago
    I doubt it would have remained as popular if it weren't so versatile, but people were quick to discover that it helps them to feel relaxed and warm. It elevates their mood. It promotes honesty and camaraderie. It has uses in the preparation of great tasting food and flavorful drinks. It works as an analgesic. Low doses help with sleep. Large doses help with trauma and grief. Long before people were doing research on cancer and steatosis people noticed that alcohol made them feel better and it was widely believed that it had a positive impact on their health. People also tended to see it as more of a moral failing when people's lives were ruined by addiction (plenty of people still fall for this trap today). More recently we gained the ability to look into the long term harms and balance them against additional benefits we might get from alcohol like the antioxidants, the increases in HDL cholesterol, or the decreases in blood sugar, some of which may improve our health, but I suspect that as long as alcohol increases people's likelihood of having fun, dancing, singing, and screwing, it'll probably stay pretty popular.
    - hospitalJail 3y ago
      Bud, if you arent an alcoholic, you are at high risk for becoming one.
      - autoexec 3y ago
        Not an alcoholic yet, but I see no reason to pretend that all the reasons for alcohol's popularity don't exist.
bowsamic 3y ago
Increased ease of social bonding and libido would be two very important ones

it'd be very strange to think that there are no benefits to drinking alcohol considering that humans have been going out of their way to drink it for the last 10,000 years. In all of that time, it's safe to assume that at least a few people found something worth the cost/trouble/risks.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
hospitalJail 3y ago
The yeast out-competes other microbes that would make the water deadly? Not really relevant in 2023. It can preserve calories of carbohydrates that would otherwise go bad? Or the physical pleasure I previously mentioned?
pcl 3y ago
You touch on something important here. Until recently, we as a species haven’t had easy access to clean water, and somehow evolved to be susceptible to all sorts of water-borne pathogens. So our social structures evolved in the context of alcohol as a given. No surprise, then, that now that we (largely) have access to fresh water, we still find a place for alcohol in our lives.
- autoexec 3y ago
  I doubt it would have remained as popular if it weren't so versatile, but people were quick to discover that it helps them to feel relaxed and warm. It elevates their mood. It promotes honesty and camaraderie. It has uses in the preparation of great tasting food and flavorful drinks. It works as an analgesic. Low doses help with sleep. Large doses help with trauma and grief. Long before people were doing research on cancer and steatosis people noticed that alcohol made them feel better and it was widely believed that it had a positive impact on their health. People also tended to see it as more of a moral failing when people's lives were ruined by addiction (plenty of people still fall for this trap today). More recently we gained the ability to look into the long term harms and balance them against additional benefits we might get from alcohol like the antioxidants, the increases in HDL cholesterol, or the decreases in blood sugar, some of which may improve our health, but I suspect that as long as alcohol increases people's likelihood of having fun, dancing, singing, and screwing, it'll probably stay pretty popular.
  - hospitalJail 3y ago
    Bud, if you arent an alcoholic, you are at high risk for becoming one.
    - autoexec 3y ago
      Not an alcoholic yet, but I see no reason to pretend that all the reasons for alcohol's popularity don't exist.

bowsamic 3y ago

Increased ease of social bonding and libido would be two very important ones