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getting drunk is dumb
Vincenzi
Veteran
I tryed it once out of curiosity, and it was really not worth it.
why do anyone will think getting drunk is a good idea?
a few glasses is fine, but getting drunk is no special in any way.
why do anyone will think getting drunk is a good idea?
a few glasses is fine, but getting drunk is no special in any way.
0
Comments
Alcohol has been enjoyed by humans for thousands of years and I am quite sure it won't change any time soon. I enjoy being drunk, but am choosing not to be as being sober is more skillful. People get drunk for pleasure and through sheer ignorance
that's really sad.
@ThailandTom @Epicurus
according to my dictionary (the one included in Mac OS X) drunk is:
"affected by alcohol to the extent of losing control of one's faculties or behavior"
so, drinking alcohol in moderation (what you are referring to) is not getting drunk.
but drinking to the point of losing balance and clear judgement? why would so many people want that?
or maybe I never saw it as useful/smart/skillful?
...I tought that there were more people that shared this opinon.
If you wan the science, alcohol actually works on many parts of the brain which induce pleasure, slight euphoria, decrease inhibitions and relax the consumer. I saw a documentary once and some scientist stated that alcohol was similar to a variety of different drugs in one drink because it effects the brain in multiple areas
But the 'safely and sanely' part is often ignored by many people. And find that I cannot meditate properly if drink the night before. I think on some level alcohol saps the spirit. All that joviality is somewhat false, and if we drink heavily, we find ourselves depressed. Its because we have lost our connection to others. We have lost that real connection of bodhicitta, and replaced it with something false. And that makes use sad.
I don't avoid alcohol altogether, but I see it for what it is. Its a false escape. One that will only lead to delusion and unhappiness if abused.
I remember once going back to my teens when I was 17 I was at a local pub with a few friends. It was the only pub that would serve us as we were a year under age, but I had 5 pints of this strong cider named 'black rat'. That stuff really did get you drunk, but it also made me 'rowdy'. On the way home I saw this parked car for sale and I decide to try and run up onto the bonnet (hood) and over the whole car, however I slipped on the wet surface of the bonnet and cracked the entire windscreen. How unskillful and stupid. However, I was in fits of laughter at the time.
Often alcohol will only increase the current mood you are in at the time of consumption. So if you are depressed and decide to get bladdered, you may end up in tears the whole night. If you are in a lively good mood, you may be loud and more than merry to say the least, depending on how much you drink of course.
There was a study done on monkeys that correlated to the human brain. In a monkey enclosure they left little pots of alcohol. The found that 50% of the monkeys would go an drink from these pots rarely and not become heavily intoxicated, 25% of the monkeys maybe tried it once or twice or not at all, and 25% of them would drink from it every day. They came to a conclusion that if given the chance, the ratio is similar with humans, 25% of the population would drink every day
But as for getting drunk, if i drink some amount of alcohol that has an effect i just feel that i can't really think clearly, kinda like when i'm sleepy. People told me that might have been because i don't drink enough to get to the 'good' effects so at one party there was wine and i drunk loads of it, i really wanted to see how it was to get drunk, since many of my friends do it quite often and they always seem to enjoy it. Well i got no major effect. The sleepiness was a bit worse than normal, i don't see how that would make a party better...
So nowadays i intentionally try not to drink unless theres one of the reasons i mentioned in the beginning - which can suck too because some people will just keep on pushing it as if they can't understand that alcohol is really a sleeping pill to me =/ Why would i make myself tired intentionally? Kinda like if you told people you don't like chocolate, people don't really believe its possible^^
:rarr: but at the same time :clap:
Sure, it's not skillful. I've been tipsy a few times in my life and it's never really cause me much suffering. And certainly not to other people. Like a lot of other stuff, it's all a matter of doing it responsibly or not. Knowing you're not going to drive and stuff like that.
Something categorically "dumb" would be something that caused lots of problems for you or others, and when it comes to drinking (to a certain extent..."near-KO" is not cool) I think that depends a lot on the drinker and the circumstances.
As far as someone trying to follow a Buddhist lifestyle, or to see reality clearly and stop craving/attaching to sense pleasures, it doesn't seem skillful at all to drink. Maybe every once in a while, not regularly/habitually or excessively.
That didn't go down too well there.......
Cigarette and alcohol advertising are respectively, banned and heavily controlled in the UK.
Smoking is toxic, potentially lethal, and to some, ultimately fatal.
use of it also affects those around us adversely, and is a noxious substance to those even who don't smoke.
Alcohol in constant excessive quantites, destroys lives. I refuse to call it a disease, because it's a self-inflicted ailment and as such, completely avoidable.
why are these substances not banned outright?
£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£-> Government.
What do our adverts for alcohol on TV mean, when they ask viewers to "drink responsibly"...?
"Drink in moderation, but keep buying the stuff, because it keeps Government coffers full, enabling us to channel funds towards expenses we see as reasonable and justified"...?
So really, there are other, extremely pressing reasons as to why getting drunk may not be skilful.
N'est-ce pas?
Government scientists stated they would make alcohol a class A drug if it was being introduced in the modern day. Going along with the money side of things, if they why don't they legalize cannabis, or any other drugs and tax the hell out of that?
At university we had to deconstruct an advert by the NHS about smoking and one about drinking. The NHS seem to care about your health because they care about you, but in fact what the government wants is a healthy, large work force to buy commodities and keep the wheel of capitalism rolling.
http://www.thevisitor.co.uk/community/police_cuts_bombshell_1_3186173
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/cardiffonline/cardiff-news/2011/01/20/worries-over-police-cutbacks-91466-28019091/
http://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/8252949.No_clues_yet_on_Oxfordshire_s_2011_police_cuts/ And many health authorities will not treat patients with associated illnesses, if they're still smoking/drinking.... And quite rightly too....
The cut backs as you also probably know is due to the economical financial situation, but still, drunken disorderly conduct and the affects it has on society is a big spender to the government.
Still, I can't help thinking that the Government reluctance to ban these products is not entirely based on "it wouldn't work" though..... call me a cynic, but I still think the profit margin is too attractive for them.
margin is like 1500%.
Marijuana grows like weed in some countries.
Education is key. We need facts not emotional pleas.
All that would happen is that people would then be making it at home.
I had a discussion with someone the other day, and we came to the conclusion that the Buddha saw a sick, old, and a dead man (i hope i remember it right, although here its irrelevant if its exact or not). So when you see one of those in greater detail than the next person your common sense will probably be different than his.
Thing is, in our society people don't really see the sick man (or only briefly while they visit the hospital, no people dying at home for months without painkillers like it used to be; but only when the person is well enough or its the only option to see them for a short time in a "non-optimal" state); they don't see the dead man (the rigor mortis setting in - even if they get to see it the person seems in a normal position, as they never try to turn him and thus see how strange this is; or even a rotting corpse or such, the nearest would be finely prepared bones or organs; or dead zombies in horror movies, as if death is something supernatural); they don't see the old man, or only briefly, since they are put in nursing homes and out of television and such.
My point is, you just cannot expect people to try to prevent getting into a situation they don't actually believe they could ever get into.
Yeah, cigarettes cause lung cancer. For most people this means dying young and beautiful and quick without any major inconvenience, at least as opposed to not smoking the next cigarette while not having anything else to do. Its just 5 years difference what does it matter.
All that while general education is changing its meaning to knowing the most fairy tales and their authors by heart, and the improved ability to run quick in a sport.