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Square Inc. Co-Founder Tristan O’Tierney Dies at 35

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Re: Square Inc. Co-Founder Tristan O’Tierney Dies at 35

#231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LSD is not physically toxic the way alcohol can be when taken in excess. Furthermore, this is more of a matter of opinion but I strongly feel it doesn’t dull your senses / decision making / cognition the way alcohol does.

> LSD is not physically toxic the way alcohol can be when taken in excess. On the other hand it can result in permanent personality changes / dissociative identity disorder.

Base rates, my friend. LSD can trigger dissociative type states in a very, very small percentage of the population. Compare to the far more statistically likely damage of alcohol.

LSD does cause permanent personality changes. That's what makes it such a beautiful compound. For me, it permanently altered my openness to experience, made me more intuitively empathetic, and improved my communication skills (the last two are two sides of the same coin). As a result, I am more well-adjusted, better able to communicate, more in tune with people's unspoken emotions and better at dropping into that unique state of vulnerability that we often call love. *

Your mileage may vary.

* Actually, psilocybin mushrooms were my first psychedelic so I credit them with that more than LSD per se. LSD was like the icing on top, really.

Re: Square Inc. Co-Founder Tristan O’Tierney Dies at 35

#232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> LSD is not physically toxic the way alcohol can be when taken in excess. On the other hand it can result in permanent personality changes / dissociative identity disorder.

Base rates, my friend. LSD can trigger dissociative type states in a very, very small percentage of the population. Compare to the far more statistically likely damage of alcohol. LSD does cause permanent personality changes. That's what makes it such a beautiful compound. For me, it permanently altered my openness to experience, made me more intuitively empathetic, and improved my communication skills (the last two…

> As a result, I am more well-adjusted, better able to communicate, more in tune with people's unspoken emotions and better at dropping into that unique state of vulnerability that we often call love. *

I find it difficult to call someone well adjusted when they are dependent on a hallucinogenic drug to cope with reality.

Re: Square Inc. Co-Founder Tristan O’Tierney Dies at 35

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an old Irish saying that goes "A man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, the drink takes the man." If you have a drinking problem, you just need to avoid drinking period. I have some close friends that have drinking problems and what I learned from their experiences: 1. If you're an alcoholic and think you can handle a single drink, you're lying to yourself. 2. It's honestly not worth it. Life is better t…

> 1. If you're an alcoholic and think you can handle a single drink, you're lying to yourself. 2. It's honestly not worth it. Life is better than being stuck in a multi day binger. The physically effects are taxing on the body. 3. You'll always have those urges and that feeling of wanting to drink isn't as bad as the act of actually drinking and the damage the follows. Worth noting that #1 is AA dogma and is certainl…

There's so much I would like to say about this, but let me try not to let this get out of hand.

a. The people I know attend AA are not religious and they don't enjoy that aspect of AA. b. They refuse to take medication like Disulfiram (Antabuse) and rather deal with their addiction by attending meetings. c. I'm not sure if you are an actual alcoholic, it sounds like you're not, but I would advise you to be cautious about what you're saying here. If you deal with Alcoholism, there's no "final" cure. You are aware of that right?

People who deal with Alcoholism don't view their addiction as being "diseased" and AA doesn't suggest that as well. You might want to read the Big Book which is available online. I read it to understand what my friends actually deal with.

I'm not even sure what you mean by "disease model of alcoholism". It sounds like your knowledge is not only superficial, but poorly researched.

Re: Square Inc. Co-Founder Tristan O’Tierney Dies at 35

#234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an old Irish saying that goes "A man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, the drink takes the man." If you have a drinking problem, you just need to avoid drinking period. I have some close friends that have drinking problems and what I learned from their experiences: 1. If you're an alcoholic and think you can handle a single drink, you're lying to yourself. 2. It's honestly not worth it. Life is better t…

One thing I'd put out there: AA is great if it works for you, but it's not the only game in town and can be hard to love. If it doesn't work for you, SMART and lifering are both popular and well-validated options.

I agree it's not the only game in town for sure. One close friend actually has learned to replace his addiction with working out. There's certainly a strong correlation of Alcoholism and OCD.

Once in a while he'll have dreams of drinking or the urge to drink. Whatever works to keep you sober and healthy, go for it!

Re: Square Inc. Co-Founder Tristan O’Tierney Dies at 35

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an old Irish saying that goes "A man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, the drink takes the man." If you have a drinking problem, you just need to avoid drinking period. I have some close friends that have drinking problems and what I learned from their experiences: 1. If you're an alcoholic and think you can handle a single drink, you're lying to yourself. 2. It's honestly not worth it. Life is better t…

AA is a religious organization, full stop. It's certainly not for everyone.

It certainly has it's roots in religion, but it is also effective. I have 2 friends that attend AA and both are atheists. One friend has been attending AA for nearly 35 years and the other 10 years. The latter friend did have a relapse after 6 months of not attending AA. So he now makes it a point to attend AA only to remind himself why he's sober.

In any case, it's not a bad starting point. If it doesn't work, I'm sure you'll find suggestions there for alternatives.

Re: Square Inc. Co-Founder Tristan O’Tierney Dies at 35

#236

Some of the photographs in his portfolio are amazing, I'd suggest a look: http://otierney.net/cities

Thank you for mentioning that, I up voted this with the hope it can be higher up in the comments. There were lots of comments threads about the vague "addiction" and less vague alcohol problem [1], but after reading the article, I went straight to the photography website and really liked much of it. His photos are very accomplished and beautiful, I particularly liked http://otierney.net/lights. I didn't know the guy from Adam, but was happy to stumble on his works and imagine they are a fitting legacy. I understand the importance of the addiction threads for others, but I was more moved by his art.

[1] I have to say that the HN community repeatedly amazes me with its caring and thoughtful and helpful discussions.

Edited to fix issues with asterisk footnote mistaken for emphasis markup/down

Re: Square Inc. Co-Founder Tristan O’Tierney Dies at 35

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. If you're an alcoholic and think you can handle a single drink, you're lying to yourself. 2. It's honestly not worth it. Life is better than being stuck in a multi day binger. The physically effects are taxing on the body. 3. You'll always have those urges and that feeling of wanting to drink isn't as bad as the act of actually drinking and the damage the follows. Worth noting that #1 is AA dogma and is certainl…

There's so much I would like to say about this, but let me try not to let this get out of hand. a. The people I know attend AA are not religious and they don't enjoy that aspect of AA. b. They refuse to take medication like Disulfiram (Antabuse) and rather deal with their addiction by attending meetings. c. I'm not sure if you are an actual alcoholic, it sounds like you're not, but I would advise you to be cautious a…

> If you deal with Alcoholism, there's no "final" cure.

This is precisely it. You fight it continuously and always assume you are going to mess things up even when you think you're 'finally' strong enough. Just being constantly paranoid about slipping back into old habits. It's no joke and there's no panacea.

Re: Square Inc. Co-Founder Tristan O’Tierney Dies at 35

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an old Irish saying that goes "A man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, the drink takes the man." If you have a drinking problem, you just need to avoid drinking period. I have some close friends that have drinking problems and what I learned from their experiences: 1. If you're an alcoholic and think you can handle a single drink, you're lying to yourself. 2. It's honestly not worth it. Life is better t…

AA is a religious organization, full stop. It's certainly not for everyone.

What's wrong with religion?

Re: Square Inc. Co-Founder Tristan O’Tierney Dies at 35

#239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's important to say that the way of drinking is probably everything. No shots, avoiding sugary mixers, avoiding beer if possible (at least the cheaper ones), never mixing different alcohols (even the same type, but of different brands). The worse you feel the next day after alcohol means the more significant damage you did to your body. If you feel fresh, it says that the damage was almost non-existent (besides liv…

Alcohol is a diurrhetic. The worse you feel the next day is entirely caused by dehydration. It has nothing to with what brands you drank and more to do with how dessicating your drinks are. Beer contains more water than liquor. Drinking water doesn't "clean" you, it stops your kidneys from failing altogether. You should always pound down water after heavy drinking. It's the only physiological cure for hangovers.

The worse you feel the next day is entirely caused by dehydration

This is demonstrably untrue, and trvial to prove to oneself. A more significant contributor is GABA adaptation and up-regulation by the CNS.

I'm not downplaying dehydration as a factor, but to say it's the ONLY thing is ridiculous.

Re: Square Inc. Co-Founder Tristan O’Tierney Dies at 35

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

in my younger years, up till about 26, i could get drunk and show up to work at 9am the next day, ready to go. i’m almost 30 now and i literally can’t drink a single beer without feeling hungover the next morning. if i drink 3 or more, i might as well call in sick. as a result, i just stopped completely. there’s other ways to have fun that don’t make me feel terrible.

26 was my year too.. I remember the day vividly where I became a little older. Next hit was at 34.

I can't wait.
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