The clarity you get from being drunk

[marty998]

Ok so let me preface this post by saying I am blind drunk right now (I find it quite amazing I can type coherently).

Is it just me (it must be just me because normal tipsy people wouldn't come here when they've had too much), or does anyone else get the feeling that only when you're drunk do you focus on what you truly want in life.

On a looooong train ride home after 10 drinks or so (free of course, party at work, dear lord I am never paying $19 a cocktail,ever no matter how freaking good they are), I get enough quiet time in my on little mind to think about goals, wants needs, life in general. Something I wouldn't do if I had my normal wits about me.

It's quite incredible the conversations I have while drunk. It goes beyond being more sociable, more towards not being afraid to say what you really think (in a nice way of course). Like telling your work colleagues you want to retire in 8 years and they go "yeah, you know what, I'd rather be a farmer/hairdresser/firefighter", rather than the usual "oh what about your career/money" bullshit you talk about when sober.

I don't really know what is the point of this post, other than to say a few drinks makes it easier to imagine the possibilities in life without a little angel on my shoulder telling me to "be a good boy and work till you're 65 like everyone else".

anyway peace out and have a good night.
cheers

[limeandpepper]

Good to know you had a great time! I love having the occasional drinks with my colleagues too, they're really a decent bunch. We don't necessarily talk about retirement, but we all freely talk about quitting the job, ha.

[happy]

Glad you dropped in to say hi, Marty. 
The trick is to keep "the clarity"the next day, or  for that matter even remember what was so compelling the night before.
Let us know tommorrow ok?

[anastrophe]

Glad you dropped in to say hi, Marty. 
The trick is to keep "the clarity"the next day, or  for that matter even remember what was so compelling the night before.
Let us know tommorrow ok?

Write stuff down. I've always just used a notebook, it never occurred to me to post on the forums...maybe we should have some kind of virtual party here...

On second thought, never mind, that probably isn't a good idea;)

[bdub]

I always thought being drunk brought great clarity about "what's really important ". 

So, I installed a voice recorder app on my phone for those moments when I had it all figured out (ie, when I was drunk).  I then recorded myself on 2 separate occassions after a night of revelry.

It turns out, I was just drunk. Nothing I said was particularly prophetic.   As for freeing up the conversation, booze does a great job of getting people to say what they really think (which is why I don't drink with my employees or anyone whose career path I can impact).

[BlueMR2]

Dunno.  I've never been drunk.  I enjoy a drink from time to time, but have somehow managed to make it to old age without ever having been drunk!

[anastrophe]

I always thought being drunk brought great clarity about "what's really important ". 

So, I installed a voice recorder app on my phone for those moments when I had it all figured out (ie, when I was drunk).  I then recorded myself on 2 separate occassions after a night of revelry.

It turns out, I was just drunk. Nothing I said was particularly prophetic.   As for freeing up the conversation, booze does a great job of getting people to say what they really think (which is why I don't drink with my employees or anyone whose career path I can impact).

Indeed. My notebook is a good testament to how witty and clever drunk people think they are, half the stuff I write makes no sense and the rest is just drivel.

[dragoncar]

I only post on Internet forums when drunk.

[Dee18]

I am stuck on the 10 drinks.  How could you walk?

[tomsang]

I am stuck on the 10 drinks.  How could you walk?

Well we haven't heard from Marty in awhile.  Hopefully he made it home ok and is sleeping it off. 

[marty998]

Hi everyone. I did make it home (it's about 7:45am here now and I'm on my way back to work).

I can't believe I posted that. But I did, which proves my point that you need to be somewhat chemically altered with a dollop of ethanol in order to turn an INTJ person into more of an ENTJ.

I don't normally drink that much, but I seem to learn something new about myself every time I do it. Last night it was that I type faster on a keyboard writing MMM posts. Prolly cos I didn't think about what I was saying.

Interestingly there is no hangover, which would not have been the case if I was 17 or 18. Or maybe that means I didn't drink enough :)

[Fite4Rite2Party]

So, I installed a voice recorder app on my phone for those moments when I had it all figured out (ie, when I was drunk).  I then recorded myself on 2 separate occassions after a night of revelry.

It turns out, I was just drunk. Nothing I said was particularly prophetic.

Haha. Ever notice how drunk people make perfect sense when you're also drunk, but that they just seem like drunk idiots when you're sober? Why don't you give it another listen next time you're drunk. Then the prophetic wisdom will shine through.

This principle is amplified by an order of magnitude when it comes to the stickiest of the icky.

[Kriegsspiel]

I only post on Internet forums when drunk.

QFT.

[Kriegsspiel]

I am stuck on the 10 drinks.  How could you walk?

Just like every other Wednesday...

[marty998]

I am stuck on the 10 drinks.  How could you walk?

Just like every other Wednesday...

Ha thats a good one.

10 drinks is apparently "soft" amongst most people I know. Some would not blink at downing a case of stubbies and then some. But there are consequences, I did have a manager once who actually needed at liver transplant, he was only 29.

We have a song down here that is belted out loudly and obnoxiously, usually at 21st parties with a yard glass in tow. For those of you innocent souls out there a yard glass is exactly that - a glass 1 yard long - filled with your mates choice of beer.

"Here's to <.....> he's true blue
He's a pisspot through and through
He's a bastard so they say
He tried to go to heaven but he went the other way
He went DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN"

I've never seen anyone finish the entire glass, but wow some of my mates got close. Oh to be young, dumb and stupid again.

[Kriegsspiel]

[Crash87]

I am stuck on the 10 drinks.  How could you walk?

It wasn't uncommon for me to have 10 light beers in a night and run a couple miles the next morning when I was in college.

I'm pretty confident my drunk "clarity moments" only seemed clear because I was drunk. I can say with certainty I've had zero drunk epiphanies. Lots of good times though!

[arebelspy]

Lifehacker post today is relevant to this thread:
Drink Beer for Big Ideas, Coffee to Get Them Done

A few excerpts with the actual research/science:

But as researchers at the University of Chicago discovered, this can be a good thing for creativity’s sake.

The researchers devised a game where 40 men were given three words and told to come up with a fourth that could make a two-word combination with all three words. For example, the word “pit” works with “arm”, “peach”, and “tar”

Half of the men drank two pints of beer before playing the game, while the other half drank nothing. The results showed that men who drank solved 40 percent more of the problems than sober men. It was concluded that a blood alcohol level of 0.07 (about two drinks) made the participants better at creative problem-solving tasks, but not necessarily working memory tasks where they had to pay attention to things happening in their surroundings (like driving a car).

By reducing your ability to pay attention to the world around you, alcohol frees up your brain to think more creatively.

In an interesting study on the topic of alcohol and its effects on creativity, author Dave Birss brought together a group of 18 advertising creative directors and split them into two teams based on their amount of career experience. One team was allowed to drink as much alcohol as they wanted while the other team had to stay sober. The groups were given a brief and had to come up with as many ideas as they could in three hours. These ideas were then graded by a collection of top creative directors.

The result? The team of drinkers not only produced the most ideas, but also came up with four of the top five best ideas. While alcohol may not be the drink of choice when you need to be alert and focused on what’s going on around you, it seems that a couple drinks can be helpful when you need to come up with new ideas.

Also Kriegsspiel's infographic is awesome.

[Kriegsspiel]

I'll never forget remember that time at Oktoberfest drinking and singing drinking songs with some Australian bean farm workers.

[Mr. Minsc]

Some day I want to backpack in Ireland.  Some day.

But yeah, Canada!

[Kriegsspiel]

Some day I want to backpack in Ireland.  Some day.

I'll join you!  I want to go go pick up the Manhood Stones and hike from pub to pub, visit the ancestral home (County Clare) and just generally "be" in Ireland.

[Kriegsspiel]

LOL HOLY SHIT!   Those beer/hockey commercials were awesome.

[Theadyn]

Yep...  I love writing stuff down when I have 'clarity'     ...  ahem...    and then reading them the following days and wondering how in the world I was so smart.   hehe...   Cheers.

[Kriegsspiel]

You can't WRITE stuff when you're drunk that well, try recording yourself talking or something.

[kudy]

The only clarity I seem to experience is a clarity in truthfulness in my inner monologue - I don't lie to myself about what I want and how I should get it.

[gooki]

The ability to filter out the noise (ie slow my brain down enough it can only focus on one element of life at a time), is why I'm a big advocate of beer o'clock starting at 2pm not 4.30pm.

My productivity soars when I'm a little tipsy.

[Mr. Minsc]

LOL HOLY SHIT!   Those beer/hockey commercials were awesome.

It's all about the beer my friend.  Beer and hockey just seem to go hand in hand in Canada.  For the record I rarely drink or watch hockey. ;)

I'll join you!  I want to go go pick up the Manhood Stones and hike from pub to pub, visit the ancestral home (County Clare) and just generally "be" in Ireland.

Perhaps down the road when I'm more financially stable we can work on coinciding an awesomely frugal backpacking trip.  Alas, that'll have to wait.

[Freeyourchains2]

Hi everyone. I did make it home (it's about 7:45am here now and I'm on my way back to work).

I can't believe I posted that. But I did, which proves my point that you need to be somewhat chemically altered with a dollop of ethanol in order to turn an INTJ person into more of an ENTJ.

I don't normally drink that much, but I seem to learn something new about myself every time I do it. Last night it was that I type faster on a keyboard writing MMM posts. Prolly cos I didn't think about what I was saying.

Interestingly there is no hangover, which would not have been the case if I was 17 or 18. Or maybe that means I didn't drink enough :)

This is how Mark Zeckerberg got the brilliant idea and took action on The Facebook. A lot of things are made when coders/engineers drink!

[shadowmoss]

I understand Unix/Linux makes more sense (makes sense?) when one is impaired.  Since I'm stuck trying to get it to load on my laptop, perhaps a bottle of wine will help.  At least I won't care particularly if it goes well or not.  I do think the impaired making more sense to the other impaired people is at play here, as how can someone stone cold sober really code with this stuff?

[Paul der Krake]

The ability to filter out the noise (ie slow my brain down enough it can only focus on one element of life at a time), is why I'm a big advocate of beer o'clock starting at 2pm not 4.30pm.

My productivity soars when I'm a little tipsy.

The Ballmer peak is most definitely real, at least for me. In college I reached maximum efficiency when sipping on a cup of a mixed drink (roughly two shots of liquor and some mixer), refill every 90 minutes and walk around for 5 to stretch.

[AlmostIndependent]

I don't have solid numbers but I'm fairly certain that I wrote more papers in college while drinking than not. I always felt like I did better work with a few cocktails in me. Now I have some evidence to back that up. You never know what you're going to learn on the MMM forum :)