This is Part 2 of my
“Personal Choices” series. Please read Part 1: The Problem with Prescriptions for Behavior, before reading this article for a
discussion about how these choices are personal and not meant to
imply you or anyone else should make the same choices.
I have decided to
never drink alcohol again and I present the following reasoning to share my thought process:
First, I want to
distinguish what I mean by giving up alcohol. I mean that I will not
drink any ethanol containing beverage as an elective activity, which
I think captures most instances of the use of alcohol. However, I am
not talking about some draconian rule that rules out alcohol use for
highly unusual reasons. If I need to amputate a limb in the
wilderness and the only analgesic around happens to be a bottle of
vodka, I will drink it to prevent excessive pain in an emergency.
Also, if alcohol is used as a flavoring in food, this rule does not
apply as the ethanol will likely be cooked off completely due to its
low boiling point.
What about drinking
in moderation versus full abstinence? This is an easy point to make.
Many of the problems with alcohol I describe below are made even
worse the more you drink. However, my opinion, now, is alcohol is
completely unnecessary and I personally don't have any special
reasons why I shouldn't just eliminate it entirely.
So why have I made
this decision?
1) You can literally
do everything you can do when you drink, while you are sober
Some of these
beliefs sound stupidly self-evident, but they make deep sense to me.
Alcohol does not grant you any special powers. It simply causes your
brain and body to have skewed functioning for a time. Its easy for me
to think sobriety involves full functioning of the body and mind.
Whereas, alcohol is not a vitamin and there is no genetic reason why
we need it in our diet. Thus, alcohol actually reduces our
capabilities.
If I wanted to have
the same “powers” that alcohol temporarily grants me, all the
time, I'd take a baseball bat or ice pick to my brain and liver to
get similar effects. Its an illusion that alcohol is beneficial for
socializing with others, for instance. Objectively, our ability to
socialize is best when our brain can tap into its full abilities to
observe and interact with others. If you had a super computer that
could hold conversations, would you pour syrup onto its motherboards
or remove half of its RAM to help it improve?
I will not allow
alcohol use to undermine my self-confidence and self-trust for this
reason. I know I can have a good time without debilitating myself and
reducing my self-awareness to get the job done. Alcohol is not an
experience enhancer, it is an experience limiter.
2) Alcohol is
literally a poison and puts the “toxic” in intoxicant.
Alcohol is a
well-documented poison. It is known to cause systemic malfunction and
damage to the body's tissues. Yes, our body, in the short term, can
usually handle and heal from most of these insults, but why beat up
the body like this, especially if it is unnecessary to live a full
life? The liver, for example, is one of the body's most important
filters and is crucial to metabolic functioning. Alcohol destroys the
liver over time.
It seems odd to me
that we would enjoy the secondary psychological consequences of this
poisoning rather than be concerned more about alcohol's primary
effects on the body. The toxic effects are so obvious to me in the
classic hangover. Your body gets very ill if you drink a lot with
nausea, fatigue, and memory loss common symptoms of this straight-up
poisoning.
For men, the effects
extend to the healthy functioning of our hormonal system. By
literally poisoning the testicles, alcohol causes significant drops
in testosterone levels a few hours after drinking, which do not fully
recover until 36 hours later. Moreover, if you are a bodybuilder,
alcohol is shown to prevent muscle growth.
Alcohol is not even
that good at would we often use it for. Caffeine, as a stimulant, is
actually better for improving the sort of cognitive function that may
actually improve social experiences. If you want to relax, marijuana
is much better at calming you down. Further, proper diet, sleep, and
exercise is even more effective than any drug for achieving a higher
quality of life- no really, it is that simple.
3) You lose access
to your higher functions when you drink
This point ties into
numbers 1) and 2), but I thought I'd mention it because it ties more
into who you are rather than what physical experiences to you have
and want.
Its been a
fundamental belief for me, for a long time, that there is a
higher/ideal self that we should seek to discover and bring out
during the course of our lives. This is a very personal belief and I
take it not on fact, but more on faith. Believing I am on the path for unlocking greater potential for myself is fundamental to how I
hope to live my life.
Unfortunately,
alcohol does not seem to help with this task. By modifying the
functioning of my mind, it causes an artificial imbalance in the way
I order myself. Lower levels of brain functioning are emphasized as
the higher functions like those of the prefrontal cortex are
suppressed. Yes, who we are is a combination of these higher and
lower levels, so in one sense, operating from more base levels is
still being you. However, I'd argue that the natural arrangement of
these functions to each other is just as important, and alcohol
disturbs this natural balance.
I think we are
meant, in a natural sense, to have strong inhibitions. In fact, our
inhibitions stem from the more complex, higher functioning of the
brain- arguably the portion that makes us more human than a generic
animal. As we know alcohol messes with these natural inhibitions and
blurs boundaries in our mind. Is this inherently wrong? Probably not.
But, does this disorder put us in the best state of mind and ability
to healthily cope with things? I don't think so, either.
4) Its easy to name
instances of where alcohol leads to self harm or harm towards others
This reason is
probably the most “moralistic” for why I won't drink. Due to many
of the reasons already discussed, alcohol is often involved when one
makes choices that diminish ourselves and our potential, and impact others negatively. Alcohol use
is highly correlated, in a disturbing way, with depression, suicide,
sexual violence, and aggressive behavior.
On an even darker
level, it is often the cause of fractured families and relationships
which affect whole groups of people. Alcohol is involved with so many
harms, both self-inflicted and interpersonal. Its hard enough as it
is to be your best self, do we need the complications and distortions
that alcohol causes mucking things up?
5) I straight up do
not like the taste of alcohol
You may laugh at
this one, but this is probably the reason why giving up alcohol will
be easy. I, personally, have never liked its taste. It is way too
bitter and overwhelming a flavor in my mind and its telling how much
sugar, or other drinks, I usually need to cover up its taste. Why
ingest something that is not even enjoyable to do so. As I've
discussed, its not like alcohol is bringing any other magic benefits
that might justify its use.
I know many people
claim to enjoy alcohol's flavor...but, this has never been my
experience.
6) Alcohol is a big
money and time vacuum
Another fairly
straight forward one. Alcohol is an expensive habit...why not save
that money for something else. Moreover, all that time spent
pregaming or being hungover could be used for other things. I don't
know, this one seems like something a drunk person would understand,
(“a no brainer” lol).
7) Alcohol is not
who I am
As a child did you
ever dream of spending your time getting drunk? Can you really say
that alcohol use is part of who you are on a deep level, rather than
an unnecessary hobby, at best, or self-poisioning/destruction at worst?
The person you are
when you are drunk or drinking- are you proud of who that is? Do you
think that person takes good care of you and others and makes prudent
choices? Do you think that sacrifice of your true potential is
worth it for a moment of “fun” or care(less)freeness?
I think I can do
without and do just fine. We've all made mistakes and many of us have
made mistakes under the influence of alcohol. We are always
responsible for our behavior, even when drunk, so why set yourself up
for having to take responsibility for your drunken actions when it is
already hard enough to figure out how to be your best self and to
make good choices when sober?
I am personally
pledging to remove this source of unnecessary uncertainty and
carelessness in my life. Life is too short already and I'd rather
live it up according to my own standards, not according to the
standard of enjoyment alcohol companies hope you accept. I'll have a
heck of a time, because I will practice trusting myself to be fun and
have fun without the need for alcohol to be involved.
If I am the only one
who thinks like this than that is completely fine. I have no belief
that this prohibition need apply to others. It is just part of who I
wish to be going forward, and I think that person will be even better
off with this decision. I choose to make this investment in myself,
and I have faith that it will pay off.
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