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Leo Tolstoy on why people drink (2014)

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Re: Leo Tolstoy on why people drink (2014)

#191

Post by zikduruqe »

yung_steezy wrote: post #187
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's one important reason, but there's another one that is even more neglected: it just... tastes good (for those of us who like it, of course). For example, as a 90 kg man, for me drinking a single 33cl bottle of beer has pretty much the same effect as drinking water, i.e., I don't feel anything at all (note that I don't drive, in that context it would probably still be relevant). So when I have a single beer with…

Alcohol-free beers have got a lot better in the past 10 years

Also hop water is delicious.

Re: Leo Tolstoy on why people drink (2014)

#192

Post by bambax »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #171
bambax wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Drinking drowns creativity. I can do many many things almost properly while drunk, but one thing I can't do is write anything good. It's possible that's what we're after when we drink: stop the flow of ideas. That's one meaning of "stupefy".

And sometimes, that's just fine; you can't / shouldn't be "on" all the time. Give your brain / creativity a rest, let it relax. Be kind to yourself.

Maybe; but I have a feeling alcohol hurts more than creativity...

Re: Leo Tolstoy on why people drink (2014)

#193

Post by Turskarama »

yung_steezy wrote: post #187
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's one important reason, but there's another one that is even more neglected: it just... tastes good (for those of us who like it, of course). For example, as a 90 kg man, for me drinking a single 33cl bottle of beer has pretty much the same effect as drinking water, i.e., I don't feel anything at all (note that I don't drive, in that context it would probably still be relevant). So when I have a single beer with…

Alcohol-free beers have got a lot better in the past 10 years

I would say even in the last 3 years there's been big strides.

Re: Leo Tolstoy on why people drink (2014)

#194

Post by Turskarama »

fastball wrote: post #190
Scarblac wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alcohol by itself is tasteless though. And alcohol-free beer is getting better at very high speed. Keep trying it every now and then, you'll be surprised.

Many of the compounds / tastes in alcoholic drinks are byproducts of the fermentation process, even if the ethanol itself is tasteless.

And alcohol free beer is generally made by removing the alcohol after fermentation. The problem is, the process of removing the alcohol can also affect the taste, but they're much better at it these days than they used to be.

Re: Leo Tolstoy on why people drink (2014)

#195

Post by quickthrower2 »

Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #178
thenoblesunfish wrote: post #114

Let's consider this quote "All human life, we may say, consists solely of these two activities: (1) bringing one’s activities into harmony with conscience, or (2) hiding from oneself the indications of conscience in order to be able to continue to live as before." Note that he has defined all of life as two points about "one" and "oneself". This is why I and I assume many others roll their eyes. Because Tolstoy, and…

That's one important reason, but there's another one that is even more neglected: it just... tastes good (for those of us who like it, of course). For example, as a 90 kg man, for me drinking a single 33cl bottle of beer has pretty much the same effect as drinking water, i.e., I don't feel anything at all (note that I don't drive, in that context it would probably still be relevant). So when I have a single beer with…

In australia the 4 pines alcohol free* tastes so realistic (and good) that it is hard to tell the difference other than the lack of sting from the alcohol. It is good stuff. But there are many bad alcohol free beers.

* usually means < 0.5%

Re: Leo Tolstoy on why people drink (2014)

#196

Post by makeitdouble »

jasfi wrote: post #127
fferen wrote: post #118

Everyone warns you about alcohol, but I have only had positive experiences, and in fact, wish I started drinking sooner in life. When I was going through a period of general anxiety and loneliness, I used to drink alone every weekend. It was a lot of fun and led to some of my best decisions, such as applying for a new job. Nowadays, I'm in a more stable place and only drink socially. I feel like my mind is by default…

They're not trying to ruin your fun. Alcohol increases the risk of cancer: https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/alcohol/

There is so many behaviors and substances that somewhat increase cancer that we need some kind of scale to define what actually matters.

Personally a theoretical increase of 0.001% is kinda moot, even 1 or 2% would be something I'd see as a small risk given the sheer enjoyment I'd get out of alcohol (for instance, in comparison, moving to a greener city would probably decrease my overall cancer risk by much more)

Re: Leo Tolstoy on why people drink (2014)

#197

Post by ZiiS »

fastball wrote: post #190
Scarblac wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alcohol by itself is tasteless though. And alcohol-free beer is getting better at very high speed. Keep trying it every now and then, you'll be surprised.

Many of the compounds / tastes in alcoholic drinks are byproducts of the fermentation process, even if the ethanol itself is tasteless.

Most good low alcohol beers are fully fermented and just remove the ethanol via vacuum evaporation or reverse osmosis. Whilst in practice it is difficult the is no theoretical reasons it would damage the taste.

Re: Leo Tolstoy on why people drink (2014)

#198

Post by Blahah »

2-718-281-828 wrote: post #166
Blahah wrote: post #9

Drinking slows down my brain and reduces the number of threads running in parallel. Sometimes very useful to enable normal-passing interaction in social environments. Or just to be able to focus. Lots of people with ADHD drink to achieve a more single threaded experience. Edit to add: I don't meant to encourage drinking as a tool for managing ADHD. It works but it's a blunt and dangerous tool. If you're at that point…

maybe you should read up about parallelism and (multi)threading https://stackoverflow.com/questions/806499/threading-vs-para...

If you think my comment conflated them, maybe you should.

Re: Leo Tolstoy on why people drink (2014)

#199

Post by Al-Khwarizmi »

Turskarama wrote: post #193
yung_steezy wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alcohol-free beers have got a lot better in the past 10 years

I would say even in the last 3 years there's been big strides.

I tried one a few weeks ago, in my son's end of schoolyear party. I found it so bad that I couldn't even make myself go beyond the second gulp... I had to stealthily leave it somewhere and pick a bottle of water.

It could be that my local beer brand uses old tech, though.

I'll keep trying from time to time, but at the moment nothing comes even remotely close to the real thing for my taste.

Re: Leo Tolstoy on why people drink (2014)

#200

Post by Hendrikto »

medo-bear wrote: post #183
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's one important reason, but there's another one that is even more neglected: it just... tastes good (for those of us who like it, of course). For example, as a 90 kg man, for me drinking a single 33cl bottle of beer has pretty much the same effect as drinking water, i.e., I don't feel anything at all (note that I don't drive, in that context it would probably still be relevant). So when I have a single beer with…

I think culture toward drinking is the determining factor. In my culture we are brought up around wine, heavy spirits, and beer. There is no such thing as comming of age by drinking yourself stupid as in UK, US or Australia for example. Intoxication is considered VERY bad form (embarassing). Usually when people feel they are becoming intoxicated they will excuse themselves and go home.

Which culture is that?
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