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To counter your anecdotes - I know 4 "serious" musicians, ie people who regularly write and record music. 3 of them drink, especially when working. 2 of them I

by sho 17y ago

To counter your anecdotes - I know 4 "serious" musicians, ie people who regularly write and record music. 3 of them drink, especially when working. 2 of them I would consider total alcoholics. There are none of the negative effects you mention. However - personal anecdotes such as these are irrelevant to the core truth of the matter. The fact is, a lot of people do drink, and by whatever means, it enhances the creativity of some of them. That you don't happen to know anyone of this type doesn't mean they don't exist. The article did say that such behaviour only seems visible in ~10-15% of the population. Anyway it's not like they "drink to get creative", it's more like they're in the mood for creating things when they're slight/somewhat/heavily intoxicated, which is a lot of the time.

geuis 17y ago
Personal anecdotes are a person's local data set. Its why statistics are needed, by putting lots of personal data sets together we get around this he-said/she-said bs. Essentially what I mean is that the term "personal anecdotes" is often used as a way to summarily dismiss someone's accounts. Personal anecdotes are very much at the core of this matter. Dismissing someone's extensive personal experiences about the effects of alcoholism on their friends and families is not irrelevant. My brother: recovering alcoholic, dry for 10 years. His father: lifelong alcoholic, died too young from an accident caused by being drunk at the time. Had lost his leg years ago in an accident. Uncle and his wife: alcoholics, not recovering. NOT the life of the party at family reunions. Good friend: known over 10 years, he drinks like a fish. Gets extremely sad at times and I worry about him, a lot. Another friend that I was seeing/dating for a while: sweet girl when she doesn't drink. However, 90% of the time she's a violent, unpredictable raging tornado of whiskey. So while I'm glad that you know four quote "serious musicians" for whom drinking helps, I'll stick with my personal anecdotes of drinking ruining people's lives and causing them to die earlier than they should have. I'm just glad I have my brother around now.
- sho 17y ago
  Hey, I wasn't trying to downplay your personal experiences. They do sound harrowing and I'm sure they've shaped your opinions, perhaps rightly so. I was simply trying to point out that neither your nor my single data points mean much in the grand equation. You seemed to be trying to deny that alcohol can ever have this positive effect on people. I merely wanted to counter your data point with one of my own, and remind you that not only are our experiences insignificant in the final reckoning, but that the are plenty of well-evidenced cases in contradiction to what I perceived to be your thesis. Anyway, nothing personal, and I really hope it all works out better for you and yours.

by sho 17y ago

geuis 17y ago

Personal anecdotes are a person's local data set. Its why statistics are needed, by putting lots of personal data sets together we get around this he-said/she-said bs. Essentially what I mean is that the term "personal anecdotes" is often used as a way to summarily dismiss someone's accounts. Personal anecdotes are very much at the core of this matter. Dismissing someone's extensive personal experiences about the effects of alcoholism on their friends and families is not irrelevant. My brother: recovering alcoholic, dry for 10 years. His father: lifelong alcoholic, died too young from an accident caused by being drunk at the time. Had lost his leg years ago in an accident. Uncle and his wife: alcoholics, not recovering. NOT the life of the party at family reunions. Good friend: known over 10 years, he drinks like a fish. Gets extremely sad at times and I worry about him, a lot. Another friend that I was seeing/dating for a while: sweet girl when she doesn't drink. However, 90% of the time she's a violent, unpredictable raging tornado of whiskey. So while I'm glad that you know four quote "serious musicians" for whom drinking helps, I'll stick with my personal anecdotes of drinking ruining people's lives and causing them to die earlier than they should have. I'm just glad I have my brother around now.

sho 17y ago
Hey, I wasn't trying to downplay your personal experiences. They do sound harrowing and I'm sure they've shaped your opinions, perhaps rightly so. I was simply trying to point out that neither your nor my single data points mean much in the grand equation. You seemed to be trying to deny that alcohol can ever have this positive effect on people. I merely wanted to counter your data point with one of my own, and remind you that not only are our experiences insignificant in the final reckoning, but that the are plenty of well-evidenced cases in contradiction to what I perceived to be your thesis. Anyway, nothing personal, and I really hope it all works out better for you and yours.