Drunkenness

[Chesterton]

I recall as a kid hearing a conversation among adults and they were discussing someone who had said or done something really inappropriate. One guy said "well you got to cut him some slack, he was just drunk". Another guy said "no, booze only lowers inhibitions and makes a man act how he really is".

So which do you think is right? I suppose it could be a mixed bag, also. The same person could in the same evening say something they wouldn't otherwise, and really mean it, and also say something which is just drunken goofiness that they really don't mean. Thoughts?

 

[Paradoxum]

I'm not sure if it only lowers inhibitions, though it does do that. I think it can also heighten (and dull?), or change emotions too. It also can change perceptions.

Consider beer goggles. You might think someone is good looking while you've been drinking; that doesn't mean your just being honest with your real sober desires though.

Also, if you are in a one emotional state, you are likely to think slightly different thoughts than if you were in a different (or less) emotional state.

And what does it mean for someone to be who they really are? Suppose I want to insult someone, but I choose not to? Am I to be judged bad because I thought something insulting, or am I going to be judged good because I held back? Isn't my ability to hold back just as much me as my desire to insult?

I'd think all people good and bad impulses, not just those who speak inappropriately while drunk.

 

[variant]

I recall as a kid hearing a conversation among adults and they were discussing someone who had said or done something really inappropriate. One guy said "well you got to cut him some slack, he was just drunk". Another guy said "no, booze only lowers inhibitions and makes a man act how he really is".

So which do you think is right? I suppose it could be a mixed bag, also. The same person could in the same evening say something they wouldn't otherwise, and really mean it, and also say something which is just drunken goofiness that they really don't mean. Thoughts?

They are the same person with fewer inhibitions, inhibitions (what you generally won't say or do) though are a part of who you are.

Still since you are generally responcable for how intoxicated you are you are still the party responcable for what you say and do.

Something you say when drunk is something you might have merely thought while sober, both are you, but the drunkenness lowers your ability to moderate what you say and do in front of others.

 

[bhsmte]

People don't react the same way to alcohol.

With smaller amounts, it may have one impact on a person. In larger amounts, it will have a completely different impact on behaviors.

It does lower inhibitions and can also cloud judgment.

 

[Paradoxum]

Still since you are generally responcable for how intoxicated you are you are still the party responcable for what you say and do.

I'd still think you should give a bit more leeway when someone has been drinking.

It's not as if you know that if you get X drunk you will say something stupid. 95% of the time you might not.

Also, it's possible to not notice how drunk you are. I know I've had friends tell me I'm drunk, and I've told them I'm not. When looking bad I probably was a little, but I didn't feel like it at the time.

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

In Vino Veritas

Meaning drunken behavior reveals more about a person than sober behavior. Alcohol is the solvent of the superego. It strips away social facades and shows people for who they really are, warts and all.

It's a truth serum. It makes it easier to talk and harder to lie, especially harder to lie convincingly.

Consider beer goggles. You might think someone is good looking while you've been drinking; that doesn't mean your just being honest with your real sober desires though.

It not so much that they look different; you're just less picky.

And what does it mean for someone to be who they really are? Suppose I want to insult someone, but I choose not to? Am I to be judged bad because I thought something insulting, or am I going to be judged good because I held back? Isn't my ability to hold back just as much me as my desire to insult?

Being who you really are isn't about being good or bad. Calling somebody a "#@$*! &@%#" when drunk indicates that you really think that person is a #@$*! &@%. Right or wrong, it's what you think. If you don't talk to people that way to their face when sober, that's a self-censorship mechanism.

 

[Deidre32]

They are the same person with fewer inhibitions, inhibitions (what you generally won't say or do) though are a part of who you are.

Still since you are generally responcable for how intoxicated you are you are still the party responcable for what you say and do.

Something you say when drunk is something you might have merely thought while sober, both are you, but the drunkenness lowers your ability to moderate what you say and do in front of others.

I agree with this. The person is still responsible. Which is why there are stiff DUI laws, now. Ok...you're drunk...doesn't excuse you from any and all behaviors.

 

[rich1540]

Drunks truly frighten me. So many men today use steriods to "bulk up". Many of those use crystal meth. Along with the anger so prevalent amongst younger men and you have the potential for a perfect storm of uncontrolled rage.

I think alcohol just brings out what is already inside. As does crystal meth.

 

[juvenissun]

I recall as a kid hearing a conversation among adults and they were discussing someone who had said or done something really inappropriate. One guy said "well you got to cut him some slack, he was just drunk". Another guy said "no, booze only lowers inhibitions and makes a man act how he really is".

So which do you think is right? I suppose it could be a mixed bag, also. The same person could in the same evening say something they wouldn't otherwise, and really mean it, and also say something which is just drunken goofiness that they really don't mean. Thoughts?

It only give others who heard it an idea on what that guy could do.
So, one better not to get drunk. It hurts a person in every way. Stupid act.

 

[Paradoxum]

In Vino Veritas

I don't think that's necessarily true though. You might say something while drunk that you wouldn't think in the same situation while sober.

Meaning drunken behavior reveals more about a person than sober behavior.

I agree that you can act more truthfully, but that doesn't mean that everything you do or say is what you'd think to say or do while sober.

Alcohol is the solvent of the superego. It strips away social facades and shows people for who they really are, warts and all.

I don't think that's all it does though. I think it can also change emotions to what they might not be normally. Perception is also changed.

If a friend shouts at you, or swears at you, while drunk, I'd say it's totally reasonable to say 'It's okay, you were drunk', not to think they are really a bad person. If they were annoyed beyond what they would be sober, then they might say something they wouldn't normally be inclined to say.

It's a truth serum. It makes it easier to talk and harder to lie, especially harder to lie convincingly.

Is it harder to lie? I'd think it could just as well make it so that you don't care if you lie. On the other hand, if you are really drunk to the point of memory loss, rather than very tipsy, perhaps you don't care about lying any more.

It not so much that they look different; you're just less picky.

I think they actually look different. I know one time I was looking at a guy I knew, and I was trying to see him like I normally do, but I couldn't. I mean... he looked photo-shopped. I even wondered for a second if it was actually him.

Being who you really are isn't about being good or bad. Calling somebody a "#@$*! &@%#" when drunk indicates that you really think that person is a #@$*! &@%. Right or wrong, it's what you think. If you don't talk to people that way to their face when sober, that's a self-censorship mechanism.

I think that ignores that people might be more emotional when drunk. For example, with my ex-bf, after I'd had a few drinks, I tended to want to say 'I love you' (and I was only tipsy). The sad truth is that I didn't think that while sober.

Also, thinking someone is a #@$*!&@% at that moment, is different from thinking they are a #@$*!&@% in general.

 

[Received]

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[Received]

I recall as a kid hearing a conversation among adults and they were discussing someone who had said or done something really inappropriate. One guy said "well you got to cut him some slack, he was just drunk". Another guy said "no, booze only lowers inhibitions and makes a man act how he really is".

So which do you think is right? I suppose it could be a mixed bag, also. The same person could in the same evening say something they wouldn't otherwise, and really mean it, and also say something which is just drunken goofiness that they really don't mean. Thoughts?

The first explanation implies that we need our judgment to fully be conscious and therefore ourselves. The second implies that we're "really" our ids: our basic impulses, which are unveiled and magnified with alcohol, constitute who we most basically are.

I don't know anyone who seriously holds the second in psychology. It's correct to say we have basic drives; it's incorrect to say that any substance which brings these drives to the forefront reveals us more to be who we are. We aren't our impulses; we are our ego, which synthesizes our id and superego: what we feel immediately and what we think is the right thing to do.

 

[HerCrazierHalf]

A lower level of intoxication reveals the true self. The voice that tells you not to say certain things gets quieter. The care one has about social taboos decreases and the aspects they suppress emerge.

Of course further down the spectrum towards s***faced a person isn't really themselves anymore.

For example, I don't drink and drive, not due to poor coordination but because it lowers the inhibition that tells me not to ram cars that annoy me. But no one would say I'm a murderer behind the wheel because I suppress that action.

 

[HerCrazierHalf]

A lower level of intoxication reveals the true self. The voice that tells you not to say certain things gets quieter. The care one has about social taboos decreases and the aspects they suppress emerge.

Of course further down the spectrum towards s***faced a person isn't really themselves anymore.

For example, I don't drink and drive, not due to poor coordination but because it lowers the inhibition that tells me not to ram cars that annoy me. But no one would say I'm a murderer behind the wheel because I suppress that action.

 

[Paradoxum]

A lower level of intoxication reveals the true self. The voice that tells you not to say certain things gets quieter. The care one has about social taboos decreases and the aspects they suppress emerge.

Which can be a good thing, especially for shy people.

 

[woodpecker]

Whether or not you are a Christian, you are born with what is right and wrong, it is why we can all agree for one, that murder is wrong.

When we are highly intoxicated we no longer submit to the laws of God written on our hearts (the morals and common sense given to each of us by God), but we submit to our sin nature, doing what ever pleases us or irritates us at the time we are drunk

This is why God tells His children through the teachings of the bible not to get drunk.

 

[woodpecker]

Whether or not you are a Christian, you are born with the knowledge to what is right and wrong, it is why we can all agree for one, that murder is wrong.

When we are highly intoxicated we no longer submit to the laws of God written on our hearts (the morals and common sense given to each of us by God), but we submit to our sin nature, doing what ever pleases us or irritates us at the time we are drunk

This is why God tells His children through the teachings of the bible not to get drunk.

 

[bhsmte]

Whether or not you are a Christian, you are born with what is right and wrong, it is why we can all agree for one, that murder is wrong.

When we are highly intoxicated we no longer submit to the laws of God written on our hearts (the morals and common sense given to each of us by God), but we submit to our sin nature, doing what ever pleases us or irritates us at the time we are drunk

This is why God tells His children through the teachings of the bible not to get drunk.

You are not born with knowledge of what is right and wrong, you learn it.

 

[Paradoxum]

When we are highly intoxicated we no longer submit to the laws of God written on our hearts (the morals and common sense given to each of us by God), but we submit to our sin nature, doing what ever pleases us or irritates us at the time we are drunk

When I was Christian and drank, I don't think I did anything I wouldn't normally be okay doing. Just saying.

 

[OGM]

When I was Christian and drank, I don't think I did anything I wouldn't normally be okay doing. Just saying.

I can believe that. Just because you drank, it does not automatically make you a drunk.