3 ms·
The problem with mind altering substances is they can short circuit your rational thinking. So you can start with the most well-considered decision process ever
by AlexandrB 2y ago
The problem with mind altering substances is they can short circuit your rational thinking. So you can start with the most well-considered decision process ever and still end up addicted. In fact, this doesn't even require a substance. Gambling is plenty addictive to many.
There's a kind of fallacy to thinking that sufficient education can counter biological human desires and impulses in all cases.
- photochemsyn 2y agoThat's the authoritarian view - people don't know what's good for them, so their behavior needs to be controlled by the state as informed by a small group of elites who themselves are somehow free from the influence of those biological human desires and impulses... which is why drug testing as a condition of employment was never implemented for political candidates, heads of bureaucratic government agencies, or corporate CEOs.
- aniviacat 2y ago>a small group of elites who themselves are somehow free from the influence of those biological human desires and impulses... They don't need to be. A person addicted to drugs is perfectly capable of creating laws prohibiting drug use. The "impulse" equivalent for a lawmaker would be that once they feel withdrawal, they will spontaneously pass a law allowing drug use again. Since (luckily) passing a law is far too complex to happen spontaneously, this scenario cannot occur. ETA: >which is why drug testing as a condition of employment was never implemented for political candidates, heads of bureaucratic government agencies, or corporate CEOs. If drug use is "only" prevented for the 99% of people who do not fill these roles, that is still a massive improvement.