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As with most things, this doesn't have to be a binary decision "drinking vs not drinking". I consciously decided to drink very little at social events some year

• frabia 2y ago
  > Everything in moderation, including moderation. Love this concept. Definitely going to steal it.
• soco 2y ago
  I never have a hangover next day and the brain still works, because I don't overdo it. The comments here are like always: we have the teetotalers which in exactly the same vein as the vegans bore you to death about the extraordinary life prolonging experience they have now after giving up drinking themselves under the table every evening. And of course their whole strawman starts assuming everybody drinks themselves under the table just like they did (or like they imagine for the sake of argument). Or that having a beer makes people dead drunk - maybe it did when they were four years old, in which case I believe there are (were) bigger problems with their lives. But, to each their own...
• ghusto 2y ago
  I agree you don't need harsh binary rules, but once you give yourself the freedom of drinking when you want to, ask yourself why you are choosing to. Many of her points are directed at the reasons not being so good.
  • stnmtn 2y ago
    The commenter you responded to mentioned a benefit, helping to assuage social anxiety.
  • consteval 2y ago
    I would argue this argument goes for many things. Its an uncomfortable conversation. Many people exercise because they hate themselves. Many people avoid soda because they feel they need to be punished. Some people are self-destructive just because they think it's what they deserve. Point being, in the grand scheme of things, its sometimes okay to do things for not so good reasons. And you won't save yourself with restriction necessarily. Part of the human condition is it feels good to feel bad. Some people take this way too far, and they won't even know they do it. They'll quit drinking not to be present, but to deprive themselves of that ounce of happiness.
• wizardforhire 2y ago
  You’ve figured it out. Alcohol is one of the oldest vetting techniques. All of nerdom is newer: What books you’ve read; what memes you know; what music you like; what sports team you’re a fan of; what city you’re from; what god you worship; what programming languages you know; your karma, so on and so forth ad nauseam. There’s an unpopular theory about the neolithic… that hunter gatherers discovering clay, made vessels to store grain, but didnt understand lids yet. The vessels filled with water when it rained and people being people drank the water and got drunk for the first time. The inhibitions lowered and those that were afraid of others found comradery subsequently organizing into larger groups. Drunk people being drunk, tend towards talk of religion and the world etc and these new groups built monuments over time to memorialize these places of reverence…. I heard this once as a possible explanation for gobekli tepe, the oldest strains of wheat are discovered a mere kilometer away in clay vessels with no lids. and while its fallen out of favor I cant help but think theres a nugget of truth to it. It would seem that for the old world at least, a coevolution for alcohol tolerance has been selected for. Contrasted with the devastating effects alcohol has had on new world populations that were not introduced to alcohol until first contact. How true its is is anyones guess… but I feel it explains a lot from what I’ve experienced
  • AnimalMuppet 2y ago
    When you put it that way, the New World had corn and potatoes. It's weird that they never discovered vodka and whiskey.
    • red-iron-pine 2y ago
      potatoes aren't much good for booze making without enzymes, and its far, far easier to malt and ferment wheat / barley / rye than corn. and they still had drinks like pulque which were fermented https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulque https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulque