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Just a few drinks can change how memories are formed

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Re: Just a few drinks can change how memories are formed

#51

Post by jm__87 »

hamandcheese wrote: post #13

> They make people nauseous or they give people hangovers, so why do we find them so rewarding? Why do we remember the good things about them and not the bad? Is this not generally true? I like to hike, but a lot of times climbing a mountain is absolutely miserable, and I might be sore for some time afterword. Yet I always remember it as a great experience. Or with past relationships, I have to try to remember the ba…

I am quite the opposite. I remember bad things quite readily, but have to remind myself repeatedly it wasn't all bad.

As for drinking, it was an excuse to act like an idiot and have some fun when I was younger I think. The hangovers did get much worse as I got older, so I rarely drink now and when I do I don't usually enjoy it that much.

Re: Just a few drinks can change how memories are formed

#53

Post by Godel_unicode »

dilyevsky wrote: post #26
hamandcheese wrote: post #13

> They make people nauseous or they give people hangovers, so why do we find them so rewarding? Why do we remember the good things about them and not the bad? Is this not generally true? I like to hike, but a lot of times climbing a mountain is absolutely miserable, and I might be sore for some time afterword. Yet I always remember it as a great experience. Or with past relationships, I have to try to remember the ba…

There’s even more similarity because high altitude appears to be causing permanent brain damage - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16443427

I doubt that study is relevant, considering all the mountains in question are close to twice the altitude of Guadalupe.

Re: Just a few drinks can change how memories are formed

#54

Post by fitzroy »

hamandcheese wrote: post #13

> They make people nauseous or they give people hangovers, so why do we find them so rewarding? Why do we remember the good things about them and not the bad? Is this not generally true? I like to hike, but a lot of times climbing a mountain is absolutely miserable, and I might be sore for some time afterword. Yet I always remember it as a great experience. Or with past relationships, I have to try to remember the ba…

This reminds me of the book Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. There's a section were he discusses how we misremember how stressful and frustrating family vacations can be, and instead remember them as being more enjoyable due to some expectation that they should be.

In On Photography (I believe), Susan Sontag talks about how it has been a quintessentially American thing to ensure everyone was smiling in family snapshots. I wonder if cultures or families that tend to smile in photos end up taking more vacations because they misremember them as being better than they were.

Re: Just a few drinks can change how memories are formed

#55

Post by mruts »

mrspeaker wrote: post #27
hamandcheese wrote: post #13

> They make people nauseous or they give people hangovers, so why do we find them so rewarding? Why do we remember the good things about them and not the bad? Is this not generally true? I like to hike, but a lot of times climbing a mountain is absolutely miserable, and I might be sore for some time afterword. Yet I always remember it as a great experience. Or with past relationships, I have to try to remember the ba…

Even when you think of the worst (physical) pain you've ever experienced... it never seems all bad (even when it was life-threatening!) - I actually remember it kind of fondly?! Is it some sort of Stockholm Syndrome for bad things?

I dunno man, I used to be addicted to heroin, and the feelings of withdrawel still haunt me.

Don’t get me wrong, I had some fun times on the stuff, but whenever I think about it all I remember is the worst and most terrible pain you could ever possibly imagine.

Re: Just a few drinks can change how memories are formed

#56

Post by mruts »

aliteralrobot wrote: post #4
ordu wrote: post #2

Sadly enough, that all this science explores averages. I cannot drink alcohol because I remember "side effects" much more clearly than "direct" ones. I used to have fun from drinks, but with age I did it less frequently and for the last 10 years I didn't drink at all. Why? Is there is some psychological cause or some biochemistry mechanisms works at higher/lower intensity than in average fly? I cannot even make a gue…

I was going say something to this effect as well, for the other harder drugs I’ve tried. I do remember having fun while on them, but I also vividly remember the “come down”, and don’t really crave them at all because of that. I wonder if this (psychological?) trait is more common amongst people who are unlikely to become addicted to drugs.

In college I remember loving amphetamines. I would take as much adderall as I could get my hands on.

It made me feel superhuman. Just knowing I would score some would get me excited.

But the more I times I took it, the more I would think of the terrible comedown. It got to the point where I wouldn’t touch the stuff without having weed and xanax on me.

Finally, I just got too scared of the comedown and stopped. All for the best I suppose (though I do take low doses of adderall or modafinil very occasionally for work if I feel like I’m about to fall asleep at my desk)

Re: Just a few drinks can change how memories are formed

#57

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

vasilipupkin wrote: post #34
minikites wrote: post #30

If alcohol were invented today, I don't think there's any way it would be legal in most nations. The only reason we tolerate it as a society is millennia of inertia.

Geez, lighten up. Yes, some people definitely develop alcohol addiction but about 80% do not and are free to enjoy good quality drinks that not only give you a buzz, but also potentially taste great like good wine or whisky or mezcal.

Poster is not wrong though, we've banned drugs for much less.

Re: Just a few drinks can change how memories are formed

#58

Post by mruts »

obstacle1 wrote: post #42
vasilipupkin wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Geez, lighten up. Yes, some people definitely develop alcohol addiction but about 80% do not and are free to enjoy good quality drinks that not only give you a buzz, but also potentially taste great like good wine or whisky or mezcal.

The entire point of this thread is that even small doses of alcohol -- doses well within what we consider to be moderate drinking -- have fairly extreme negative effects on memory. This is a problem even for the 80% of drinkers who do not develop alcohol addiction. As we start to actually study the effects of alcohol, it really looks like it is a hard drug with no net positive effects at anything over a minuscule dos…

I mean, it’s gotten me laid a bunch, and also has had me make new friends. Also a promotion (probably)

Re: Just a few drinks can change how memories are formed

#59

Post by [deleted] »

dkarl wrote: post #5

All drugs of abuse — alcohol, opiates, cocaine, methamphetamine — have adverse side effects. They make people nauseous or they give people hangovers, so why do we find them so rewarding? Why do we remember the good things about them and not the bad? This seems like a weird question, at least in relation to alcohol. The pleasurable experience of alcohol is not only remembered but enthusiastically attested to by people…

[deleted]

Re: Just a few drinks can change how memories are formed

#60

Post by fingerlocks »

kyleblarson wrote: post #29
hamandcheese wrote: post #13

> They make people nauseous or they give people hangovers, so why do we find them so rewarding? Why do we remember the good things about them and not the bad? Is this not generally true? I like to hike, but a lot of times climbing a mountain is absolutely miserable, and I might be sore for some time afterword. Yet I always remember it as a great experience. Or with past relationships, I have to try to remember the ba…

The term I've heard to describe things like this (marathons, mountaineering, etc) is type 2 fun. Type 1 fun is actually fun while you're doing it, type 2 fun takes a couple of weeks to forget the suffering and to decide that it was in fact fun.

The term was popularized by alpinist Kelly Cordes, but goes back decades. Used frequently in ice climbing scene, because climbing a pitch of ice is generally a painful horrendous experience for most. But you’re so elated and adrenaline pumped when you reach the top, you get a “climbers high” that makes you want to keep going. Type 2 fun is a unique experience.
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