Agreed. Scientists, I feel, should be on the side of booze. It has been a boon to our species in so many ways, for so many thousands of years. As an aside, this is why I especially don't trust religions that require the absolute abstinence of alcohol.
Because it doesn't get you drunk? Makes sense. Alcohol is a weird thing in our society. There's so much stigma about being an alcoholic, but I'm not sure anyone can say what, exactly, an alcoholic is. IMO, if your drinking isn't negatively affecting your life, then you're probably fine. I drink enough that I always score really poorly on those silly health assessments I have to do at work (and I'm probably not very truthful on them to being with), but who gives a shit? I'm in good shape, and I've never had a DUI, or even missed work for a hangover, as far as I can remember. Could I quit? I have no idea, and I don't care to find out, because I think it's irrelevant. On the other hand, I had about 8 or 9 beers today, and I don't feel like I was "drinking" (that is, it was casual, and I wasn't out on the town to tear shit up or anything). That kind of scares me sometimes. Anyway, as long as I don't start to get fat I probably won't cry about it.
We have very similar views on this and, it sounds like, very similar habits. There are some people that are "angry" drunks and there are also some people that after the first beer are markedly changed people. I'm not like that. I just got done playing three sets of tennis and had a six pack in the process. I came home and had a long conversation with my wife and I doubt she has any clue. Not because I'm hiding anything but because I'm not wasted. I think we got lucky with our constitution.
Heh, I was more referencing the part in this article that talked about how beer has vitamins and other beneficial stuff. I don't get this society's thing with alcohol at all. "Alcohol makes money." "Yay! Let's sell a lot of it!" "Ok, but let's make people feel really shitty for enjoying it and spend tons of time outlining the dangers of it and giving it a mystique that will definitely not result in young kids binging on it because it's a forbidden thing." Alcoholism is a reality of course, but as you say, the definitions people have on what an alcoholic is are really poor, outside of "a physical and mental dependency on alcoholism." People treat life like abstaining from everything will make you live forever, which is of course false. So much guilt. I don't get it and I was raised Catholic. Why not aim to foster the idea that personal responsibility is respectable and that what is one too many for that guy is not one too many for another guy?