The Effects of Alcohol
At the party on Saturday, K.T. handed out pudding shots. I normally avoid most alcohol, especially strong kinds, but I ate a pudding shot. I'm not sure what it had in it.
Not long after, I became perceptibly funnier for several minutes. This is the first time I have noticed this effect from alcohol.
Explanation #1: In the past I've braced myself when I sampled a drink. I would say "I just drank alcohol. Here it comes! What's going to happen?" Then I would become de-energized, distant, and withdrawn. This time I just ate the pudding and paid all my attention to the actual social environment.
Explanation #2: Going completely alcohol-free until age 29, and drinking almost none of it since that time, may have protected against the normal effects of alcohol. It is possible that my brain is now becoming acclimated to alcohol so that it will start to have the effects that other people report as a social lubricant.
Explanation #3: It was nothing. Correlation is not always causation. The same thing happens to me without alcohol.
How much is this worth investigation and experimentation? Should I begin to always pack a tin of liquor with me and take a swig of it before every social engagement? Or is that a really bad idea?
Comments
tammylc on May. 21, 2009 7:43 PM
That's a really idea. But if you're in a social environment and alcohol is offered, have a little bit *if you'd like*, but try not to have any expectations that it will have an impact on your behavior one way or another. Alcohol for alcohol's sake is stupid - but if it's something that tastes good and that you want to try (say a cocktail someone's experimented with and people say is tasty, or in my case, and interesting bottle of wine), then don't let expectations of doom or success keep you from trying it.
atdt1991 on May. 21, 2009 8:16 PM
I am not a drinker, and only rarely a social drinker (like tonight, where drinks are a mandatory cover). One shot is rarely enough to dramatically affect someone - if you had three, I could see you experiencing a significant change.
The thing about alcohol that makes it dangerous is that a little bit is a little good, and a moderate bit is moderate good, and once you're at moderate, you (generally speaking) are dead certain that the scale continues to operate in this way.
But a lot is not a lot of good, at least not for my definitions of "good".
I don't usually give alchohol much thought, both because I prefer good-tasting drinks to strong ones and because it takes a -lot- of alcohol to make me drunk, and it is difficult for me to be at exactly the place I want to be with that.
I will say that my first time experiencing pot, I felt essentially immune to its effects. With a very mild alcohol experience, it might have been the same for you.
rachelann1977 on May. 21, 2009 9:03 PM
Usually people are funnier when there is alcohol around because everyone else is drinking, and therefore laugh more easily. Just a thought. Doesn't mean you don't generally have a good sense of humor; either way, I'm thinking it's not the fact of YOU drinking that had the effect.
amanda_lodden on May. 21, 2009 9:15 PM
My inclination is to think that most of it is due to your own perception, and that your best bet, assuming you wish to retain the "perceptibly funnier" bit and lose the "de-energized, distant and withdrawn" bit, is to let it be whatever it is. Drink alcohol if you feel inclined. Avoid it if you prefer. Don't obsess about it; if #1 is correct then obsessing about it is what causes you to go the withdrawn route. If something else is correct, then... who cares?
rbradakis on May. 21, 2009 10:06 PM
That is a really bad idea. You should do it. For Science!
matt-arnold on May. 21, 2009 10:32 PM
Thatsh right. Fer, fer SHIENSH.
Anonymous on May. 22, 2009 4:54 AM
From my own experiences with alcohol, I'm inclined to think that it's at least partially #1. For me, I'm so concerned about looking silly, saying something I'll feel embarrassed about later, that I find I've only "enjoyed" the experience of tipsiness around people I feel incredibly comfortable with. Yes, you can get lightly tipsy off a single shot, especially if you're not used to drinking -- although it's difficult to say because I don't know your metabolism. :)
Also, I find that different alcohols interact differently for me. Some I can drink several and all they do is make me giggly-nonsensical; others take me straight to feeling sick with only a shot or less; others impair my motor functions so heavily that I can't walk, but I can still do calculus that makes sense afterward. Go figure.... lol. Perhaps whatever was in the shot 'agreed' with you in some way.
It might be worth experimentation, but don't do the "tin of liquor" thing. Carrying a shatter-proof beaker is a much better (and cooler) way to go. ;P
le-bebna-kamni on May. 22, 2009 4:56 AM
It helps if I log in.
atropis on May. 22, 2009 2:22 PM
i agree with the recurring theme of 'don't expect anything in particular' from such an experiment. which is a good idea for experiments at large.
whose perception perceived you as funnier? your own, or the opinions of bystanders? hard to get a good control group for this. (also, people tend to be way extra amused at unusual behavior, such as the drinking of someone who doesn't usually drink.)
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