The real truth about alcohol
So after my drinking binge yesterday I got to thinking about alcohol and the activities that surround it. Why is it that drinking is such a popular past-time? What makes it so much fun? Honestly, I doubt it could be the taste of alcohol coz. I haven't come across any alcohol that actually tastes good. Now, I'm sure lots of you will beg to differ. Especially all the beer-drinkers out there. I never really developed a palette for beer. Okay, so I'll admit that some alcoholic drinks may taste better than others, but overall, they're all somewhat bitter and burn going down (atleast the good ones do!). Even the ones which are supposed to be smooth are not really that smooth are they?
It's truly remarkable to see the whole industries that have sprung up around alcohol. The beverage companies (beer, wine, hard liquor...) the bars, the clubs, all kinds of stuff.... a whole economy fueled by alcohol (literally!) People out in the evenings to drink and get drunk. But is their goal really to get drunk? Or is their goal something completely different? To escape boredom? To escape thinking about their current predicament? To escape loneliness? To run away from the problems that they cannot run away from? Or to try and ad some fun into an otherwise mundane and boring week?
So far in my experience, drinking has never really been because I genuinely like the taste of alcohol... given a choice between alcohol and chocolate, my choice would be obvious. Chocolate wins anyday :) The times that I have consumed alcohol it has been more for the effect of alcohol than the taste. Is it the light buzz which makes you feel like it's okay to do stupid things which you woudn't do otherwise? Or is it the complete incoherence and supposed loss of inihibitions? Alcohol has different effects on different people. Some people become exhuberant, vociferous and rumbunctious, others become more reticent, subdued and pensive. I haven't been drunk often enough to know where on that scale I land when I'm hammered, but my wager would be closer to the latter camp though there may be occasional abberrations towards the former.
The popular belief is that people drink to lose their inhibitions or to forget things that they do not want to remember. I buy that. It works for short durations (tried it). But the effect of alcohol in achieving that result is transient at best. The plain truth is that alcohol is not a stimulant, but a depressant. At the end of it all, you're back where you started from, if not worse off... worshipping the porcelain goddess or nursing a hangover.
I guess the lack of a real conclusion on this topic, simply calls for more experimentation to gather more empirical data... ;-)
It's truly remarkable to see the whole industries that have sprung up around alcohol. The beverage companies (beer, wine, hard liquor...) the bars, the clubs, all kinds of stuff.... a whole economy fueled by alcohol (literally!) People out in the evenings to drink and get drunk. But is their goal really to get drunk? Or is their goal something completely different? To escape boredom? To escape thinking about their current predicament? To escape loneliness? To run away from the problems that they cannot run away from? Or to try and ad some fun into an otherwise mundane and boring week?
So far in my experience, drinking has never really been because I genuinely like the taste of alcohol... given a choice between alcohol and chocolate, my choice would be obvious. Chocolate wins anyday :) The times that I have consumed alcohol it has been more for the effect of alcohol than the taste. Is it the light buzz which makes you feel like it's okay to do stupid things which you woudn't do otherwise? Or is it the complete incoherence and supposed loss of inihibitions? Alcohol has different effects on different people. Some people become exhuberant, vociferous and rumbunctious, others become more reticent, subdued and pensive. I haven't been drunk often enough to know where on that scale I land when I'm hammered, but my wager would be closer to the latter camp though there may be occasional abberrations towards the former.
The popular belief is that people drink to lose their inhibitions or to forget things that they do not want to remember. I buy that. It works for short durations (tried it). But the effect of alcohol in achieving that result is transient at best. The plain truth is that alcohol is not a stimulant, but a depressant. At the end of it all, you're back where you started from, if not worse off... worshipping the porcelain goddess or nursing a hangover.
I guess the lack of a real conclusion on this topic, simply calls for more experimentation to gather more empirical data... ;-)
posted by sneaker @ 2:38 PM
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