Rant from my failbook page:

Anyone got any thoughts on this one? It seems that there's a lot of people who are actually incapable of having fun without dumbing themselves down on purpose, why is that?

Link to original post - http://www.facebook.com/AwesomeGarethMan...7988858625

I have worked in environments where alcohol is used daily by pretty much everyone involved, as a type of self-medication. It can seem like the easiest way to put your stresses out of your head for an hour or 2. Better than going back to your hotel room, staring at the ceiling and trying to sleep and wishing you were somewhere else.

When I was young I did drink to excess on occasion in an attempt to fit in. But I've never been other than a social drinker.

I think because people like to take the phrase "ignorance is bliss" literally. The stupider they get, the more oblivious they are to consequences andthat nothing bad will EVER happen to them. Look at Jersey Shore or go into a bar on a Saturday night for proof of my theory.

Isn't Jersey Shore that really idiotic reality show ? :/ Okay this answers my question, this video I found of Jersey Shore on Youtube which proves CaptNJigglyPuff's theory that people use the "ignorance is bliss" phrase as an excuse to be stupid ....

The next time I'm feeling like I'm nothing but an idiot, I'll just watch some Joisy Shore to make me feel better

I don't like the taste of alcohol and so don't drink it.  However, my daughter has used the illusion of drinking alcohol to help her with social anxiety.  She pretends to be a little bit drunk when she gets stressed out with too many people in her age group with the result that they tend to be far more accepting that any odd behaviour she exhibits is due to her being a bit tipsy.  

She has told me that it does work well, she stumbled on the ruse a few years ago when she was getting stressed in a social situation and was drinking iced tea from an un-labelled bottle.  Her peer group thought it amusing when she told them it was whiskey and they were easier to get on with when they thought that she was drinking like they were.  It's another example of the odd mindset of NTs, as if you're all part of the same "club" when you're all drunk.

Maybe they drink for the lack of inhibition it allows for?  Not that they seem to have much of that even when sober.  
Alison

This post was last modified: 10-03-2012 11:02 PM by Alison.

I don't like the taste of alcohol and so don't drink it.  However, my daughter has used the illusion of drinking alcohol to help her with social anxiety.  She pretends to be a little bit drunk when she gets stressed out with too many people in her age group with the result that they tend to be far more accepting that any odd behaviour she exhibits is due to her being a bit tipsy.  

She has told me that it does work well, she stumbled on the ruse a few years ago when she was getting stressed in a social situation and was drinking iced tea from an un-labelled bottle.  Her peer group thought it amusing when she told them it was whiskey and they were easier to get on with when they thought that she was drinking like they were.  It's another example of the odd mindset of NTs, as if you're all part of the same "club" when you're all drunk.

Maybe they drink for the lack of inhibition it allows for?  Not that they seem to have much of that even when sober.  
Alison

Lol, I've done that before as well. Alcohol is disgusting tasting to me, and the few times I got drunk I got really sick. I find though, that its really easy to act drunk or high, so in a way, I don't have to drink to feel drunk...if that makes sense. The good thing about that is, whenever I need to, I can be sober again, and I don't get a hang over or anything.

Binge drinking is a fad, from what I've read. Each country has different drinking etiquette and standards and in the US the standard is to get wasted punch drunk till you have no sense and do stupid sh*t. In other countries (such as peru), you might get drunk, but the "no sense" aspect of it is absent and they view american drunks as loud annoying idiots.

This post was last modified: 10-03-2012 11:43 PM by sg1008.

Naturally, liquor companies promote people binge drinking because it's good for their bottom line.  

Other organisations have a much less direct stake in widespread frequent intoxication, however.  Whatever is bad for our minds is good for their bottom line as well.  When are you most likely to get the late-night munchies or feel a need for "fourth meal"?  That's right, when you are stoned.  And I don't know how it works, but the same thing that makes potheads so boring also makes them political cripples: all they care about is weed.  They don't care about the election, or if they do it's because it might become easier to grow or to smoke pot.  It's a great way of promoting a lack of involvement.  

For those who are more likely to care about an election because of things other than pot, go after them through their religion.  Have one party promote religion, while the other promotes intoxication, and you have a generation of po0litical cripples growing up that are easily molded into handing over things like collective bargaining rights, safe streets, public mass transit, decent schools.  I mean who needs schools if all you're going to do is pray/smoke pot?

I self-medicate with cannabis, it slows my thinking down and keeps me laid back.

I dont overuse, as I dont enjoy being wasted or stupid

Also because it is expensive.

If folks want to get stupid, I feel that is their choice. As long as they are not driving around or at work, where someone else can be hurt.

I've always supported the right of anyone to do what they like to their own body, my rant was about WHY people choose to screw themselves up.

Having studied Beer Flavour Analysis at university, I can say with some authority that alcohol, in any ready-available degree of solution, is to all intents and purposes flavourless. What you're objecting to is a group of chemicals that rea by-products of the feremntation process, known as the fruity esters of acetone.

rea byproducts, hey?  Well, whatever they are, I dislike the taste of them.  
Alison

^Huh, how that happen? 'rea'. Should say 'chemicals that ARE by-products' etc.They don't come from a large South American bird!

One theory: in a protestant world, having fun is BAAAD. So you need an excuse to have fun. And if you're intoxicated, it's not your fault that you have fun, or is it?

Other people can have fun when sober ...