It must be something genetic. I've tried loving alcohol as much as other people do, but to me alcohol is just a liquid that makes drinks taste slightly crappier. Being drunk isn't all that exciting either.

Strictly social drinker here.

I don't know either. According to my parents I was a raging alcoholic when I was a toddler though. Might explain my alcohol tolerance and memory problems...

Well, depending on the alcohol you drink, the quantity you intake and the span of time over which you ingest it, the toxicity can be so low as have a negligible impact on your body.

Alcohol is also not chemically addictive. Some people do get addicted to the euphoric sensation of being drunk, but this is neurological (in otherwords, you have to have specific brain chemistry in order for this to affect you).

Imbibing enough alcohol rapidly enough to become intoxicated ('drunk') has the effect of instilling an absolutely profound euphoria and rendering your sense of self-consciousness inert (you feel like the king of the world), at the obvious cost of, well, introducing toxic levels of the substance to your bloodstream. In reality, the actual damage that a reasonable level of intoxication (prior to levels that induce genuine alcohol poisoning) is quite limited in extent (dehydration, minor chemical damage to the liver and kidneys and overworking your perspiration system in order to purge the alcohol) due to the fact that your body is going to evacuate any substantial excess it can't handle. Generally speaking, given a week or so between binges, no lasting damage occurs (on average).

The afore-mentioned euphoria is why most people get drunk, as well as peer pressure (...frankly, I've had an absolute blast with friends while out and plastered that I know simply would not have been the same if we sober).

Uh. Well, depending on the situation, I suppose you could make that argument (drunk driving comes to mind) - but on average? I don't see entire countries being swallowed-up in war because they got drunk, or children being told that a field of science is evil because someone got drunk.

Alcohol itself isn't nearly as risky for your health as, say, owning/operating an automobile (in fact, it's only when the said automobile comes into the picture that alcohol really is seen as an immediate danger at all), and while your own mileage may vary on the actual enjoyment you get out of drinking it, I've found that the fun of getting drunk with friends tends to outweigh the headache of the next morning (and, *just barely*, the utterly nasty sensation of having to swallow the damn stuff. )

Pineapple:

No offense intended this time - you do realize that you only live once, right?

...Because you have a big list of, 'Things I definitely don't want to have done by the time my life's over', and drinking is on it?

More seriously, if you don't want to drink or get drunk, that's cool. Just so you're aware though, getting drunk once or twice will not kill you, seriously harm you or turn you into an alcoholic loser (despite the memetic connotation that tends to drift around).

If you're curious, you should feel free to experiment. No harm done, you'll know more or less conclusively what people mean when they say, 'I went out and got drunk,' and you'll be able to make an informed opinion as to whether or not you enjoy that sort of experience.

Especially Guinness, love the taste of it, but I don't go overboard, well at least not anymore. I use to about 10 years ago in my early twenties, when my friends and I would head out to the clubs and get bottle service and a our own private play area (ok so we still do I just don't drink as much anymore). With that said there are many reasons why your age group may drink excessively. Many from peer pressure, others because it is the social norm of that clique or like you said age bracket, and because many that do go out and get smashed associate drunkenness with fun. Of course there are benefits and of course risks depending on the amount of alcohol consumed, like the saying goes all things in moderation (including moderation). But myself I like the taste of alcohol, especially tequila, rum, Brandy & Benedictine, cognac and of course beer (although guinness is the one I will drink on almost all occassions unless the bar doesn't serve it.)

Over-consumption can of course have drastic effects, especially in regrads to judgement (to which I can honestly say that anything I can do drunk, I have done completely sober...including the winter streak fest ), which is there many get into trouble, because of the lack of judgement at the time, due to the mass consumption of alcohol. But in the end to each their own, especially with the up and coming generation, they will have grown up with internet their entire lives, and would have had access to all this time of information regarding alcohol, what they decide to do is up to them.

The only alcohol I have had has been in NiteQuil, and not for the purpose of getting drunk or intoxicated.

if you're this coherent when you're tipsy, you're a remarkable lady indeed. 

i've also been known to be quite the professor under the influence.  back in college, according to a couple of my fellow religion majors, after a flask of bushmills i once gave a genuinely fascinating extemporaneous lecture on the philosophical connections between rhenish mysticism and confucianism, the female aspect of the deity, and its consequences for organized religion and jungian psychology (the last bit is really fascinating since i am not even a casual authority on jungian psychology).

they genuinely enjoyed it, apparently, and i have only the foggiest memory of it.

  I have never yet encountered a person who seems more socially detached than you, Cap'n.  Judging by the nature of inquiry regarding some of the threads that that you have started it seems that you have a need to avoid human interaction. 

  For a person who is apparently old enough to be attending a university you seem to possess no frame of reference regarding typical human behavior.  Although you have an admirable intellect you appear to have the social experience of a *pre-schooler.  Have you ever been diagnosed by a mental health professional ?

[ * metaphorically speaking. ]

....tried weed at age 14 and loved it, tried alcohol at age 15....meh,

I've never been to Youngstown - although I did hear the Bruce Springsteen song.  I've also never been to Tennessee, Mississippi, LA, or Arizona.  I was in Nevada briefly - for the whole Vegas thing and a bit of downhill skiing...

So seriously Pineapple, I think we're pretty clear on everything you don't do - what is it you do up there?  I mean besides the whole God thing...

Cpt!

Alcohol has existed as a social ice breaker for hundreds of years. Originally it was created by monks to sell to royalty.  Please note, Russian sailors adopted a drinking lifestyle that pre-dates christianities' transition to the americas.  Yep, you said it, alcohol has survived throughout various cultures longer than the god principle of modern doctrines.  Alcohol is merely a tool, it can be excessive but used wisely can help a person, by degrees.

Vitus Bering, a very famous russian sailor- a man you should all know, and if you don't, you should remove yourself from this forum because you aren't adept in history, and don't belong-took a german scientist to the island of Lapak off the coast of Alaska before the european installation into america(circa 1350, on expeditions of whale fishing, and exploration.  Men staying at sea for 3 to 4 years at a time developed a nasty bug they called scurvy.  A vitamin c deficiency that if left untreated resulted in a patients agonizing death.  The scientist, in hopes of discovering an antithesis to scurvy, developed a formula made of fermented juice, whatever was available, local vegetation(scurvy grass), and sea water.  Later, people realized the leaves of the 30 or so varities of scurvygrass was the chief ingrediant to combated scurvy. The bacteria(yeast)killed the infection, and sailors could complete their duty while maintaining a clean bill of health.  To eradicate alcohol is a foolish notion because in the occupation of early America, Brits would send vast multitudes of explorers to the alaskan coast that traded rum, and firearms to the indigent peoples of Asian descent in the islands of Alaska.  The trades produced expensive otter furs that sold for immense coinage at the port in Canton

During the Plains indians reign of peaceful living, a toxin that produced hallucinogenic vibrations within the body, namely Peyote, but mescal was later formulated. Peyote, and reference this, can be brewed using the bitter, hard to find peyote plant.  Early toltec faiths, outside of any christian influence whatsoever, believed that ancestor spirits could be approached in a drug-induced state for they were too powerful to witness sober.  To deny a people his/her beliefs is hugely unacceptable. That's what archaeology teaches us. 

The isolation of alcohol today is completely commercial, no doubt about that.  But to boycott the use of alcohol might not be the best idea.  Plan your arguments before you people speak, it makes it most beneficial to the reader!

Thank you

Om3ga

Alcohol is one of those things in life that brings benefits and but comes with a price which for some  people is sometimes too high. However it not like religion or faith no one really considers you to be a bad person if you drink within reason or don't drink. No one will refuse you a job if you go to a bar occassional or if you are tea total.

No one will vote or not vote for you if you if you drink or dont drink (at least very few people will consider that).

Its is however like many thing in society if a million people drink alcohol each year and this can be linked to say 100 deaths  (including people who don't drink at all) but the other 999 900 enjoy it is this acceptable?

I think for most things in society we need to examine  the costs and benefits for every action not to just to the individual but to society as a whole and if that cost is too high we ban or at least restrict that action (alcohol is a restricted substance not a freely avaliable one)

ok, now that i know there's a ton of sex in Canada I might actually consider visiting.

1- If we can't pay for our medical emergencies we just tear up the bill and let everyone contribute by paying higher costs for medical care.

2- ¿Estás seguro de eso? Parece español se ha convertido en el segundo idioma oficial en la mayoría de los Estados Unidos.

(Are you sure about that? It seems Spanish has become the second official language in most of the United States.)

3-Yeah we hang flags on everything including boobs.

4- We unfortunately have so much corn that we have no choice but to make chips, corn sugar, and even ethanol from it. You all don't buy enough of it, so we make all kinds of snack food out of it to get rid of it.

5-One more state passed a new medical marijuana law so we are working on being as carefree and lost as you all in Canada.

6- Since our politicians set such high standards for us with their knowledge of geography such as the country of Africa we are striving to match their brilliance.

1- Youngstown, Ohio - It has the same problem as most of the state, there is so little to do they typically get drunk, high, or just have sex, usually starting at 14 or 15. Since many are Christian they end up with a family of 4 by 20.

2- Arizona has some of the most creative police in the world. They have been known to disguise themselves as a billboard or a cactus in order to catch speeders that are bored with the boring view. Wyoming on the other hand encourages people to drive as fast as possible in an effort to keep wildlife under control, otherwise they might have to lengthen deer season.

3- Nevada is a place someone as old as me or as ugly as you can always get laid. It is just about the only place in the US where you can drink 24/7 and walk down the street with a drink. Golden, Colorado used to be another but since Molson and Coors merged the city doesn't allow open containers anymore.

4- Nashville has the worst highway system of any city in the US with the exception of Atlanta. There is a different freeway merging with another nearly every mile going through Nashville. I have no idea WTF these roads all go, maybe in circles? Tennessee does have the advantage you can buy fireworks and go 500 feet out the door and set them off. You of course should be draped in an American flag. Just south of Nashville is Jack Daniel's which used to offer a free shot on the tour.

5- Mississippi has some of the best Waffle House restaurants in the US. Many have white trash hookers available.

6 Los Angeles is a great place. You can stand in line for an overly packed nightclub for 4 hours or more and maybe never get in. Or you can go to Denver, Las Vegas, or even Miami (not South Beach) and walk in. NYC is about the same as LA but with English that can't be readily understood.

Many of our citizens need to be reminded they are in the US as we are so poor in geography.

Canada has many fun places as well:

1- British Columbia - advantages - very pretty. Best city - Victoria. Disadvantage - cold, gas prices, cold, snow, high cost of cable, if there is any at all. Did I mention cold.

2- Alberta - After the Calgary Stampede one must wait for hockey season. I hear Sarah Palin is going to try out for the Flames.

3- Saskatchewan - Much like much of the US Midwest except as follows:

Hemp is legally grown. There are no "Jesus Saves" billboards on the highways as seen  in Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota.

Disadvantage - did I mention cold?

4-Manitoba - Just why can't I bring my Florida concealed weapon into Canada again?

5- Toronto - Last time I was there was in 1977. It was a nice city then but just as cold as Buffalo.I don't recall getting laid while I was there.

I can't comment on the rest of Canada as I haven't been there. Based on my experience I would never go that far north except in July as I have few long sleeve shirts and no really warm jackets.

However many latin americans have come to your country to the point that they are nearly a majority now and have made spanish the unofficial language....and a few years after a hispanic president is elected it will be THE official language....and everyone is scared of having a black president....it's the hispanics you should worry about....I know I am one

There are 30 states that do have an official language

Anything done to excess pretty much can be destructive to an individual.

For religion:

1-Excessive praying can cause callouses on one's knees. Generally applies only to Catholics and Muslims.

2-Door to door evangelizing may result in dog bites or an injured foot when door is shut faster than you can move out of the way.

3-Serving as an altar boy can result in problems later in life with sex. Or public embarassment when you sue the priest.

4-When you fail a science test or SAT because you think the world is 6000 years old and don't have any idea at all about geological ages. Weren't all rocks made at the same time?

Drinking may cause any of the following:

a)Explicit photos of you posted on the Internet swimming naked in the fountain in front of your hotel.

b)Finding your way home from somewhere when you have no idea where you are

c)Waking up to the ugliest person imaginable - it may be you in the mirror or the unknown person in your bed.

d)Having your friends tell you to please take their phone number out of your cell phone.

e)Asking your carpooler WTF they are doing at your door on Sunday when it is in fact Monday. One of my carpoolers came to the door in his underwear one Monday and told me I better have a damn good reason for walking him up on a Sunday morning.

When I was about 15 my friends and I started to drink a fair amount, usually just beer. We usually used it to get girls drunk enough so they would have sex with us, it usually worked. By the time I was 18 when drinking was legal way back in 1968 I was really not so much interested anymore. I grew up during the Vietnam war so most of us really thought we were going to get drafted and go to Nam and die. We lived our lives accordingly. Drink, party, fuck for tomorrow we get drafted and die.

When this didn't happen as in my case, I went to college and really didn't drink much at all for the next 10 years.

I don't see how experiencing drunkenness will help to explain why so many people do it.

And I'm not really seeing the whole 'relaxiation' part either considering the stupid shit people do when they're tanked.(Aside for Iwbiek's philosophical discourse increasing..)

I've actually been doing the 'whole God thing' for a while. Reading/wondering.

Anyway why does every topic I create seem to venture off to being about me?

Those "I"s were about my thoughts about alcohol, not about me personally.

i would also like to add that alcohol allows one to remember, with startling clarity, songs that one hasn't heard in ten years--sometimes, songs one has never heard.

i recall one frosty november evening, now almost exactly two years ago, when i was on an extended visit to the states and walking to steak and shake at four in the morning with my bosom companion.  he and i had spent the evening drinking innumerable bud ices and a fifth of ancient age--a combination which i am no doubt now physically incapable of ingesting--and we ended up staggering through the suburbs of lexington, ky, singing the old american classic, "snow deer."

i'm sure none of you know this song, although perhaps you've heard the tune.  the chorus goes like, "my pretty snow deer, say you will go, dear," though by that point my appalachian accent was in all its unbridled glory, so it came out as, "mah purty snow dyeer, sai yoo will go, dyear."  as a collector of old music, my knowledge of this song was unsurprising, but my friend, who is completely unaware even of woody guthrie and to whom the HEIGHT of musical expression is jack fucking johnson (ugggh)--i'll be goddammed if he wasn't singing tenor.  so off we staggered through the night, with our breath smoking in the clear air and all the constellations above us.  it was something blissful, like out of a josef lada watercolor. 

It's not ignorance, during the summer I had co-workers as roomates and they got tanked pretty much every weekend, and even during the weekdays.

Of like 30 of them, me and one other person didn't drink...

Because your questions, or the way you ask them, the non-sequiter comments you often make in response to our questions or responses, etc, strike most people as very strange, quirky, or just plain WTF?

As to why people "like to get smashed", that I don't quite understand personally, since I don't feel any urge to get into that state. I have only ever used alcohol in modest quantities, purely for the taste of certain drinks containing alcohol. The taste of relatively pure alcohol does not appeal to me at all.

I have only once or twice had sufficient alcohol to start experiencing some of the initial effects, such as difficulty focussing my eyes, and I actually don't quite understand why one would actively try and get into that state.

That said, the fact that many people will indulge in something which they find pleasant in some way, despite probably knowing that there can be bad effects on health etc, is hardly a surprising fact of human nature.

Well, for example, in this interchange:

You missed the simple point that Kevin was making, that if you haven't personally experienced what it is like to be under the influence, you don't know what it feels like to the person who is under the influence. You can only make assumptions and guesses about it, you are arguing from ignorance.

No amount of observing people under the influence is going to give you that direct experience, that seems so blindingly obvious, your response is irrelevant. We weren't questioning that you had seen lots of people who were drunk.

We understand that you have no desire to get drunk. And you may still be justified in saying it is probably not a good thing to do. I tend to agree with you, based on objective evidence of its effect on the body, and the behaviour it seems to lead to, which the people indulging may well regret later.

But if you are speculating about why people do it, and one rather important reason is what it feels like to be drunk, then without having experienced that, you are arguing from ignorance to that extent. To reply that you didn't indulge, but only watched that booze party, is the sort of non-sequiter answer that you often make, that I was referring to.

If you had instead conceded that your refusal to drink did made it harder for you to understand what the appeal was, we would have no problem with your answer.

It almost seems you have a real problem making even modest concessions when we point out a problem with your arguments.