Mathamatically speaking, it makes no sense

[captain_slinky]

I've been asked to go and get my sister's stuff from The Scene of the Crime this coming Friday. I'm going to go and do it, but it's left me in a "Meh" state of mind all day long.

I've spent a lot of time considering Alcohol, and why it just doesn't make sense to me.

It's kind of like an Algebra Problem, the way I look at it.

A = Your Life.
B = Booze.

A + B < or = A, so why bother with B? B < or = 0, though many people talk about it and perceive it to be B > A!

In words... I've known plenty of folks who's life has gotten much, mush worse because of booze. But I've yet to hear of anybody who's life got any BETTER because they stared drinking.

Ready for anyone and everyone to prove me wrong.

Comments

[nightsinger.livejournal.com]

I think you've got your greater-thans and less-thans backwards...? "A + B is greater than A, so why bother with B?"

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Little fish eats the big fish... A Plus B is Less Than or Equal To A. Your Life plus Booze is Equal To or Less Than Your Life by itself.

I stand by my math!

[nightsinger.livejournal.com]

Right, but > means "greater than", and < means "less than".

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

You are obviously mistaken, I in no way have edited the original post to correct my errors and I am offended that you would even suggest such scandalous accusations.

Don't you SEE?!?!?! I'm in full-on RIGHTEOUS MODE!!! I AM INFALLIBLE!!!

:)

[nightsinger.livejournal.com]

Of course! How did I not see this before! I render my humblest of apologies for my obviously mistaken confusion!

;)

[cunninggod.livejournal.com]

While alcohol can ruin lives of some people, there are others (like myself) who can responsibly use alcohol on a semi-regular basis and have no negative impact on ones life. I can agree that it's not likely to improve ones life, but there are many many out there who have not gotten worse.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

See, that's kinda the point. The best argument that any logical person can come up with is that their life is not effected by the booze because they are responsible and drink in moderation. And that's great, really it is... I wish that everybody would booze it up like that.

But isn't it a bit like saying "I have gay sex with African Monkeys all the time and I've never caught AIDS, because I'm responsible and do it properly"... would an argument like that make anybody in their right mind want to start having gay sex with African Monkeys? So why do people today, with all the ruined lives around them... the diseases caused by drinking... the amount of people killed by drunk drivers... etc... why would anyone wan to START drinking and take that risk when there's no pay-out?

Like, I could understand if it were an even deal. Start drinking and you might ruin your life, but you ALSO might win 10 MILLION DOLLARS!!! WOO!!!

But so far the only "Prize" for drinking is lots and lots of regrettable decisions combined with physical symptoms that, had you not been drinking, would make you think that you need to go see a doctor. And that's the GOOD prize!

[thecookielady.livejournal.com]

I must agree with the above post. It's when the alcohol becomes greater than the life that the trouble begins.

I'm not sure where that line is, but I know I've seen it. It's easy to find if you look hard enough. Problem is, once you find the line you have to look just as hard, if not harder, in the other direction to be able to walk away from it.

Some are more willing and able to do that than others, I suppose.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

So why even take the chance in the first place? What's the big pay-off? When I take a chance THAT BIG, the chance that I might ruin my entire life (or the lives of others along with it), I expect the other end of that chance to be just as good, ya know? "Okay, start drinking and the WORST that could happen is that you'll ruin your life... but the BEST that could happen is YOU WIN A NEW CAR AND A MILLION DOLLARS WOO!!!

So far, it seems that the only "Prize" is a bunch of regrettable decisions and physical symptoms that, had you not been drinking, would make you seriously consider going to the Emergency Room.

[hallerlake.livejournal.com]

the prize is that you forget about your life for a while, I think :)

[d-a-r-a.livejournal.com]

For many of us who have no family tendency toward alcoholism and grew up in an environment where alcohol was treated responsibly and in moderation...I think the point is that it's NOT A RISK for us. Having a glass of wine with dinner or a shot or two of whiskey at the bar with friends doesn't involve any chance of ruining my life for me. I'm smart enough to have a designated driver or cab fare if I'm going to be drinking even if it's just a few drinks. I don't drink to the point where I have physical symptoms - granted there were a few times I did before I learned where that line is for me and never wanted to cross it again. There are a lot of factors that go into how people relate to alcohol I suppose. And hell, even if I weren't gluten intolerant (no barley allowed) I wouldn't drink beer because I think it tastes horrid...but I do enjoy the taste of whiskey, sweeter wines and especially fruity girlie drinks. I've done a few silly things while tipsy but I honestly think I've done sillier things entirely sober and so making regrettable decisions while tipsy also doesn't factor in for me. I've made my most regrettable decisions while blindly in love with men who weren't worthy of me...haven't given up men entirely either. ;)

[nani-ka.livejournal.com]

Can't prove you wrong.

However.

Pale beers + spicy face-exploding green curry = Heaven.

OOOOLLLDDDD Scotch that has you nearly speaking in gaelic at the first sip (forgetting the $15 you just handed to the bartender for that 1 oz glass) = also glorious.

Bottling up a freshly-fermented batch of honey/christmas spice beer while drinking a glass or so (for tasting purposes, of course) and understanding why people like beer at all= lovely.

Admittedly there's quite a bit of that "facery" type alcohol consumption there... and i've had the Alcoholics Anonymous Indoctrination from my grandmother as far back as I can remember... so i'm confident this list may not apply to anyone else on this earth.

[bjorker.livejournal.com]

It's a tricky thing, for sure. Most of us are fine with it in moderation and it's just not an issue. It's like eating a really tasty burger, or something. Probably not the best for you, but it's damn good, so you consume it (not me, actually, they totally gross me out and I don't want that in my body, but other people feel differently, and that's cool). If you eat too many, you'll have a heart attack and die, or whatever. Granted, you probably won't shoot anybody when overdosed on hamburgers, but mostly my point stands.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

I think that the point fails exactly for that reason. As a general rule, Hamburgers don't lead to extremely regrettable actions such as sleeping with a stranger, calling your boss/wife/ex-girlfriend and making an ass of yourself, driving yourself in to a head-on collision killing somebody's kids, shooting your common-law husband...

Eating a ANYTHING comes with acceptable personal risk. Even eating an organic leaf of lettuce could potentially block your windpipe and cause you to die. But you need food in order to live, and luckily there aren't many foods out there that will cause harm or danger to those around you. Eating till overly full is going to hurt nobody but *me*; drinking till drunk has the distinct possibility to harm MANY PEOPLE, including me.

In summation, I leave you with this. The Bus Driver who will be driving your kid to school... would you rather that she spent the hour before work at a BUFFET, or at a BAR?

[bjorker.livejournal.com]

I'm not trying to imply that it can't be an incredibly dangerous, destructive thing. I should have left the "heart attack and die" part of my burger scenario out, actually, because my point was that alcohol CAN be an enjoyable thing for many people that do not have a problem with it. It is a drug, it can be dangerous, or it can be a relaxing thing to have with your dinner while chatting with friends. No, you don't need it, yes, it tastes good, and so on.

In your case, you've seen a lot of the "destructive in the hands of the wrong people" part, and I'm TRULY truly sorry for that. I myself am jaded towards overt public sexuality (saturating in the media, strip clubs, sexuality at the drive-thru coffee stand, etc) because I've seen how devastating and destructive that can be for people who cannot control those things in their lives (and their family members, and so on), plus the sex objects themselves and what that usually indicates in their lives. I don't know if I think that a strip club could ever be 'healthy' for anyone, but I don't advocate for their demise because I understand that I have a bias in my life, and there is a lot more to it than what I could ever understand with my limited points of view (just because I'm only one person with only my experiences, yadda yadda...)

If nothing else, this is how I relate to you. Not that I haven't seen alcohol be a factor in lots of negative ways (hell, I watched an old friend die last year because of alcoholism, it was AWFUL), but I view it as WAY more of a social problem then anything to do with the actual alcohol. THAT's what needs to be addressed. Same thing with sexuality, drugs, and so on.