On 22-6-2013 14:20, Warp wrote:
> andrel <byt### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>> On 22-6-2013 11:15, Warp wrote:
>>> andrel <byt### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>>>> if you really want to know, I don't drink alcohol, never did and
>>>> probably never will.
>>>
>>> A bit of it sometimes is actually healthy. (Also, things like red wine
>>> have other beneficial nutrients, such as antioxidants.)
>
>> I think that sort of implicitly implies that you think you know why I
>> don't drink, quod non*.
>
> To write it in such long-winded manner and with such an emphasis as
> "I don't drink alcohol, never did and probably never will" gives the
> strong impression that it's not simply a question of pure indifference,
> and never having drinked being just how things came to be rather than it
> having been a conscious decision.

That is not emphasis, just matter of fact.

> It gives the impression that you have made a decision why you "don't drink
> and probably never will." That it's a conscious choice.

One explanation is that I was such a loner at the age when most kids 
start that I did not have enough peer pressure. That none of my parent 
did drink during my childhood might also have been a factor.
I am too old now to change my habits (and it taste horrible).
[ok, that is not the full story but it will have to do for you].

> What I have found is that most people who have made the choice and avoid
> it as a matter of principle do not have all their facts straight. It's
> more akin to "knives are being used to kill people, therefore I never
> touch a knife and never will."

There was a large teetotaller movement in the first half of the last 
century (and before) in the Netherlands and elsewhere. One of the 
reasons given (e.g. by my father) was that many poor families were 
starving because the men drank all the money. That is still a big 
problem in many parts of the world.
My old boss was a teetotaller too. He lost many friends during the war 
because of people telling too much under influence.
None of these reasons have anything to do with why I don't drink (except 
indirectly via my father) but I don't think you can in general say that 
these people didn't have their facts straight.

Alcohol itself is seldom a problem, the combination of alcohol, poverty, 
and a male dominant society is. As is the combination of alcohol, a war, 
and a resistance movement. Not to mention the combination of alcohol, 
fast cars, and brick walls.


-- 
Everytime the IT department forbids something that a researcher deems
necessary for her work there will be another hole in the firewall.

Post a reply to this message