Why does drink turn some people into idiots?

stovelid · 13-04-2008 06:42PM

kearnsr wrote: »

That’s just an example of the crap we see on a typical Saturday night.

Agreed. I was in the Dice bar yesterday, and there were two twats stumbling around the tables bugging people.

They were doing that fake camaraderie (but with an large undertow of lairyness) to ensure that they didn't actually get into fights.

When they left, I saw them (through the window) annoying some young lads hanging around the corner. One can only hope that they ended their night in A and E.

Wagon wrote: »

at the back of the 77 on my way into town on friday night, snorting coke and shouting at Romanians,

Times have changed. I used to get that bus when I was younger and lived out there. It was usually glue and cider back then.

godtabh · 13-04-2008 07:21PM

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

Why so? You think people are going to get some petrol, buy a beer and drink it on the way home?
(Cue Homer - "one for me.... one for you!")

Seriously, this is a cultural thing. Not a governemnt thing. Blaming the government for this is like blaming them for the bad weather. And as soon as they do try to tighten the laws you'll be complaining that it's an infringment on your rights - look at the Good Friday argument.

Drink does not turn people into idiots. They're idiots to start off with.

It was more to do with the drink driving culture that I think its a bad idea to sell drink in a petrol station.

I'm not blaming the goverment for the drinking problem but there is a lot more they could do to solve the problem

Caoimhín · 13-04-2008 07:36PM

They were doing that fake camaraderie (but with an large undertow of lairyness) to ensure that they didn't actually get into fights.

Whats this phenomenon stovelid?

rossie1977 · 13-04-2008 07:41PM

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

The latinians called it "In Vino Veritas" or something.

Basically, people who act a certain way when pissed are that way. They just have don't act that way when sober because social protocol and basic inhibitions get in the way.

With alcohol, such concerns are dulled. Which means that people who are happy when pissed are happy when sober. People who are depressed when pissed are depressed when sober (but hide it).

People who act like arrogant little sh1ts when they're pissed are arrogant also arrogant little sh1ts when they're sober, but know better than to act that way.

i have been saying for a long time and its interesting, some of my friends only need one or two drinks and its all agro and a few of those friends are girls :eek:

i don't understand why some people want to fight when drunk; i see it all the time and lived in athlone for 5 years where i saw it 20-30 times a night

keen · 13-04-2008 08:15PM

Smoking on the night link? Big deal get over it.

Kold · 13-04-2008 08:32PM

Hagar wrote: »

Drink doesn't turn people into idiots, it just reveals them for what they are.
Many of them, when they are sober, manage to conceal it.

I don't agree, I think some mixtures just make people go nuts.

I am, for the most, the most docile human being in the world but I went f*cking ballistic the other night. I like to get steamed often enough, I'm a student and I tend to have a good time; a few beers and then down to the pub to get rowdy, go dancing and have the craic. The other night though, I drank 4 glasses of wine before heading out and drinking a good few pints and then some cider and I can't explain it but I went f*cking nuts and did some sh*t I regret. I actually can't imagine what must've been going through my head because I would have never actually done that sh*t any other night.

Also, I've never really ever wanted to start fights and in the past, gin has made me pretty aggressive.

I've taken note and will not be mixing wine and beer or drink gin in future.

Jager however tends to make me the happiest danciest lush there is. It's like the hyperactivity before coming up and it sure gives me a bit more confidence.

Capt'n Midnight · 13-04-2008 08:50PM

One theory I've heard is that in the East they drank tea and other infusions while while in the west we drank beer. In them days water wasn't always clean so drinking tea/beer was a way of staying alive in cities. Probably not true.

As a species we do have a very high tolerance of chocolate, many other mammals would be killed off by what we'd eat on easter sunday.

stovelid · 13-04-2008 09:43PM

caoibhin wrote: »

Whats this phenomenon stovelid?

Last night, it was coming over to people's tables and being initially friendly, but crowding into your space, giving you the evil eye if you didn't go along with it, or doing stuff like prodding you to make a point.

Basically, stopping short of doing something that they can get punched for, but being lairy all the same.

Caoimhín · 13-04-2008 10:11PM

stovelid wrote: »

Last night, it was coming over to people's tables and being initially friendly, but crowding into your space, giving you the evil eye if you didn't go along with it, or doing stuff like prodding you to make a point.

Basically, stopping short of doing something that they can get punched for, but being lairy all the same.

I see.
No that wouldnt have a happy ending where I drink.

Rb · 14-04-2008 11:31AM

JavaBear wrote: »

Stop putting yourself above other people.. because you're really not.

Excuse me?

I don't binge drink anymore. I'm not one of those drunken louts wandering around Dublin city after the clubs close, getting into fights/causing mayhem and using up Garda resources that could be used elsewhere, had there not been so many idiots who went OTT with alcohol so I will say what I want to those who are, or those who endorse their behaviour or the culture that has resulted from it.

Caoimhín · 14-04-2008 01:00PM

rb_ie wrote: »

Excuse me?

I don't binge drink anymore. I'm not one of those drunken louts wandering around Dublin city after the clubs close, getting into fights/causing mayhem and using up Garda resources that could be used elsewhere, had there not been so many idiots who went OTT with alcohol so I will say what I want to those who are, or those who endorse their behaviour or the culture that has resulted from it.

I'm forced to agree on this.

beautiation · 14-04-2008 09:28PM

I don't agree that idiotic behaviour when drunk is necessarily a sign that someone really is an idiot! I love getting all stupid and sentimental and doing stupid things when I've been binge drinking but it's partly voluntary, because being ridiculous every now and then is just great craic. Especially when it's in a place where everyone else is in the same condition and the usual inhibitive judgemental atmosphere of society is gone.I act extreme when sober as well when around my very best friends who I trust, I don't want to talk about intellectual things or be clever around them cos it's not half as much fun as ending up in a random giggling mess shouting nonsense at passersby. Does that make me an idiot? If so, so be it. I believe that a lot of trouble that comes from drinking isn't from the alcohol itself, but from the fact that society is so uptight when sober that the liberation of its dissolution is simply overwhelming for some people and they lose all control. That's part of the reason why I think Irish and British society are plagued so much by alcohol problems, we're so much more repressed than other societies.

Originally Posted by Ikky Poo2
The latinians called it "In Vino Veritas" or something.

Basically, people who act a certain way when pissed are that way. They just have don't act that way when sober because social protocol and basic inhibitions get in the way.

With alcohol, such concerns are dulled. Which means that people who are happy when pissed are happy when sober. People who are depressed when pissed are depressed when sober (but hide it).

People who act like arrogant little sh1ts when they're pissed are arrogant also arrogant little sh1ts when they're sober, but know better than to act that way.

There is some truth in this I think, but what about people who are really bipolar when hammered? You know, dancing on the tables at twelve, sobbing in the toilets at two. While the initial condition people are in when drunk may be a sign of their underlying hidden self, I think that that can get distorted over time, as the disorientating effects of the alcohol set in and it begins to amplify emotional reaction to the littlest events that happen. IMO sometimes people behaving unacceptably when drunk deserve to just have it written off as a bad trip or whatever, and not to be judged for it.

godtabh · 14-04-2008 10:58PM

beautiation wrote: »

it's not half as much fun as ending up in a random giggling mess shouting nonsense at passersby. Does that make me an idiot?

Yes that makes you an idiot. You are whats wrong with the drinking culture these days

BraziliaNZ · 15-04-2008 02:59AM

I get hammered quite a lot and really enjoy it. I never get in any trouble and always just walk home quietly when I leave a bar or wherever I'm leaving. For me it's just a way to loosen up and helps me socially, it's easier to meet people when I'm drinking. It's the morons who go crazy and fight and break things that are the problem. Most of these idiots have problems anyway. If I like to drink a lot and it doesn't do anyone (except my liver) and harm, no one on these boards has a right to say it's wrong.

beautiation · 15-04-2008 03:09AM

kearnsr wrote: »

Yes that makes you an idiot. You are whats wrong with the drinking culture these days

Oh wow, that's quite an honour! Though you shouldn't be so modest; judgemental buzz killers like yourself deserve part of the credit cos people probably need to be pissed to be able to put up with you!

Crumble Froo · 15-04-2008 05:02AM

cos shouting at strangers is ok?

personally, i find it quite invasive and intimidating.

Rb · 15-04-2008 09:12AM

kearnsr wrote: »

Yes that makes you an idiot. You are whats wrong with the drinking culture these days

+1. Wtf is wrong with these people?

Crumble Froo wrote: »

cos shouting at strangers is ok?

personally, i find it quite invasive and intimidating.

Just ignore them tbh.

Crumble Froo · 15-04-2008 09:33AM

the poster or the groups of people shouting at you on the street at night?

posters, i couldnt care less about, groups of obviously drunk people shouting at you while you're walking by yourself at night... ill ignore and scurry past, but that doesnt make me feel any little bit safer.

Caoimhín · 15-04-2008 04:44PM

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

I get hammered quite a lot and really enjoy it. I never get in any trouble and always just walk home quietly when I leave a bar or wherever I'm leaving. For me it's just a way to loosen up and helps me socially, it's easier to meet people when I'm drinking. It's the morons who go crazy and fight and break things that are the problem. Most of these idiots have problems anyway. If I like to drink a lot and it doesn't do anyone (except my liver) and harm, no one on these boards has a right to say it's wrong.

No, your an adult (i presume) so you can drink away until your heart (or liver) is content. It is indeed the assholes who get angry and abuse verbally or physically other people that is the problem.
Oh and if you have health insurance to cover the inevitable medical costs incurred by over indulging over a sustained period. I dont see why the rest of society should cover that cost.

godtabh · 15-04-2008 04:56PM

beautiation wrote: »

Oh wow, that's quite an honour! Though you shouldn't be so modest; judgemental buzz killers like yourself deserve part of the credit cos people probably need to be pissed to be able to put up with you!

I' well able to have a good time with and with out drink.

People can drink and get drunk with out pissing off or upsetting other people. They can be decent people drunk or sober. But as the tittle goes some people just turn into idiots

Dimitri · 15-04-2008 06:14PM

Some people are just idiots. Alcohol like many other drugs loosens inhibitions. It reminds of the simpsons episode when Barts gets the Elephant Stampy, at the very end the fella who owns the wildlife reserve remarks to Marge that elephants are a lot like people Mrs. Simpson, some react badly because they have had a rough upbringing and others are just jerks. Ther are many reasons to explain why people are idiots, alcohol in itself is not responsible. However i've noticed that that in cultures where people in general are more expressive about their emotions tend to be less aggresive when drunk and tend to get drunk less often instead prefering to enjoy a few and maintain some if not all control. That of course is speak in generalities but i think its time we as a nation faced up to the true causes of binge drinking. Its not because you can buy it in the petrol station or because its on offer in dunnes or tesco. Its because its a drug that loosens our inhibitions, for good or for bad and that a large part of Irish society enjoy this myself included, and many of us feel its necessary to have a good time.

beautiation · 15-04-2008 10:38PM

Crumble Froo wrote: »

cos shouting at strangers is ok?

personally, i find it quite invasive and intimidating.

Why? It's not done intimidatingly, or insultingly. And you're being a bit precious with "invasive" there tbh, I mean if you want to ignore it that's fine, but people are allowed address strangers as they please you know!

godtabh · 15-04-2008 10:48PM

beautiation wrote: »

Why? It's not done intimidatingly, or insultingly. And you're being a bit precious with "invasive" there tbh, I mean if you want to ignore it that's fine, but people are allowed address strangers as they please you know!

Doesnt matter if it not done intimidatingly, or insultingly. The fact of the matter is that it can be can be intimidating and/or insulting

beautiation · 15-04-2008 10:58PM

kearnsr wrote: »

Doesnt matter if it not done intimidatingly, or insultingly. The fact of the matter is that it can be can be intimidating and/or insulting

It's not my problem how people interpret my friendly gestures. And I'd say when the gang are locked we've done more brightening than frightening of people's nights.

Crumble Froo · 15-04-2008 11:45PM

beautiation wrote: »

Why? It's not done intimidatingly, or insultingly. And you're being a bit precious with "invasive" there tbh, I mean if you want to ignore it that's fine, but people are allowed address strangers as they please you know!

walking past groups of loud drunk people is, i find, veyr intimidating. wehther they're shouting 'nice' things, or abuse, it's still very intimidating, and, in my experience, they can quickly get in your face if you wont answer. very invasive in my opinion. if they were sober, they woudlnt so much as nod at ya.

Why does drink turn some people into idiots?

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