21–30 of 98 posts
At the time of writing this comment, there is just one comment on this thread complaining about the amount of alcohol in company outings. That comment has been downvoted and is now marked [dead]. The question isn't about each individual's drinking problem. The question is about tech culture's drinking problem. And there's the answer: denial.
Personally, I don't drink that much. I've had maybe 4 beers in the last month.
One immediate question is when and what constitutes a drinking problem? When is it too much. There are some medical classifications stating that one glass of wine per day constitutes alcoholism. Is that true, or does it make any sense?
Unfortunately it's often much easier to access alcohol than any of the many other psychoactive substances, either prescribed or currently illegal. In comparison, alcohol is both physically and psychologically far less effective and more dangerous. I do drink myself, but there are many other drugs out there that I would much prefer that don't have the same accessibility or culture as drinking does.
I've been substituting kratom for drinking in when the opportunity arises and I've found it to be terrific improvement - much more relaxing/pleasant with less cognitive impairment, addictiveness and physical side effects.
Anyway, I guess my point is that I drink, and I think it sucks, but only because in comparison alternative substances are so much better (ex marijuana for many people). Of course this assumes moderation, safety etc. etc.
One immediate question is when and what constitutes a drinking problem? When is it too much. There are some medical classifications stating that one glass of wine per day constitutes alcoholism. Is that true, or does it make any sense?
However, she does drink a few glasses of wine a day and having tried everything else, she is adamant that alcohol is the only acceptable painkiller for her to take for the rest of her life.
I mention this because I have roughly 1-3 drinks per night -what the doctor told my mother as "average for a Frenchman" - yet when I drink even a beer I lose all motivation to go to the gym that night or to cook a healthy and properly proportioned meal. So I think the way to define a drinking problem isn't in quantity, but by the opportunity cost of drinking or drinking too much on any given occasion.
1) Quitting had basically no social consequences. The friction of ordering a non-alcoholic drink at a bar is gone by the third time. Only one person gave me shit about it, and they were a friend-of-a-friend and easy to disregard.
2) It had almost no weight-loss effect, in the absence of other diet and exercise improvements. Premise was "does this one thing have a strong effect on my weight?". Given that my previous intake was moderate (< 8 units/week), removing alcohol and leaving the rest of my diet intact resulted in < 3 lbs lost early on, but no ongoing results.
I want to stop, problem is it's just so much damn fun.