Take care of yourself or may may end up like this!

Again I ask… :thinking:

holy crud!!!

I looked up weird children on google, you did research, that is crazy! (the pic not your research.

I would say that if you think living requires a mind altering substance, then we are using different definitions of the word…

-Keld

Not quite understanding whether you mean using different definitions of ‘living’ or ‘mind altering substances’.

If I was feeling argumentative, I would argue that most things that we eat/drink are mind altering to some extent. As is unicycling.

Certainly people (and different cultures to different extents and for different purposes) have used mind altering substances (in the more traditional sense of the expression) since the beginning of recorded history. I read a book once that argued that ‘mind altering’ is something that humans are driven to from children (hence turning round and round until they are dizzy). Perhaps some people’s minds are naturally ‘altered’ more than others without iliict substances. Perhaps Muniaddict has a particularly buzzing brain without the need of chemical enhancement.:smiley:

Not quite understanding whether you mean using different definitions of ‘living’ or ‘mind altering substances’.

If I was feeling argumentative, I would argue that most things that we eat/drink are mind altering to some extent. As is unicycling.

Certainly people (and different cultures to different extents and for different purposes) have used mind altering substances (in the more traditional sense of the expression) since the beginning of recorded history. I read a book once that argued that ‘mind altering’ is something that humans are driven to from children (hence turning round and round until they are dizzy). Perhaps some people’s minds are naturally ‘altered’ more than others without iliict substances. Perhaps Muniaddict has a particularly buzzing brain without the need of chemical enhancement.:smiley:

There’s a big difference between mind altering and destructive. I believe the initial post was a comment about the destructive nature of alcohol abuse… not recreational responsible alcohol consumption.

Alcoholism is destrucive.

I quote the ever wise Mikefule:

Hypertrichosis only 19 in the word, 50 cases known since the middle ages.
crazy

DKFU-Drug knowledge from fellow unicyclists.
anyone have any better names?

Haha, I’m just ADHD! When I was a kid my parents thought about having my doctor prescribe ritalin, but our family doc advised against it; I think because he thought it would “dull” my creativity or just have a bad affect, so I never took any kind of drug for my hyperactivity.

As an adult with ADHD, it’s “normal” to me because I’ve always been very energetic, but I’ve just found ways to “channel” my [excess] energy, like with unicycling, and LOTS of it! Down side is that I have trouble falling asleep because it’s hard to just “switch off” my brain and go to sleep. I envy ppl who can just fall asleep as soon as their head hit the pillow!

My Mom used to say that “the world is like a 33rpm record, and I’m on 45rpm speed!”:stuck_out_tongue: I have mellowed with age…a little!

There may be but what is the difference?

As far as I know, one culture’s recreational user is another culture’s abusive user. And a person can become chemically dependent after their first drink. Whereas addiction is a culturally defined point it is “the global erosion of relationships in the pursuit of one source of satisfaction” (Harris, 2007).

Nobody has been able to identify how people go from non problematic use to addiction. Nor has anyone been able to find a clear biological mechanism to addiction, despite years of searching.

I think the point that I’m trying to make is that there is no clear distinction between responsible recreational alcohol consumption and destructive alcoholism. Even though we might find it more comforting to think otherwise.

Oh sure there is, if you take the simantics out of it. You’ve actually made it quite clear that there is a clear distinction simply by your writing of the above reply.

The first example generally refers to someone who is not addicted, and does not over indulge. A couple beers at the pool hall with friends once a week does not constitue alcoholism. The second is quite clearly stated: “Destructive Alcoholism”. This is genrally a person who drinks to excess regularly, and often alone.

It’s like the difference between a person who follows a reasonable, healthy diet, indulging every once in a while, but is generally in good pyhsical shape and of average weight. The other overeats, is obese and gernerally UNhealthy becuase of “destructive”, unchecked over-indulgence.

drugs and alcohol are a waste of money. and alcohol tastes like shit anyways. if you wanna do something cool and possibly die, ive always wanted to skydive

The line may not be clear, but there is a line, be it fuzzy.

My son’s grampa drank himself to death at the age of 53. Died vomiting alcohol enriched blood until he lost enough blood to die.

That’s destructive. In any culture.

Generally, in the US, having a single glass of wine when you can retain your civility under its influence is not destructive. I have a friend who is missing an enzyme so the alcohol digestion stops at formaldehyde. this behavior would be destructive for him…

So yes it is not clearly defined, but we can understand the difference if we use fuzzy logic, and among the variables we must weigh are cultural habits, individual tolerances and addictions, as well as the amount of pleasure that balances the bad stuff. If one doesn’t have an idea of what is destructive and what is acceptable in some relative capacity, one would certainly have trouble participating in society. Most of us can weigh in these fuzzy judgements without difficulty and do so regularly, be they about addictions, food and social choices, or even the choice of riding a unicycle or bike.

Can we talk about hypertrichosis again? That was more fun.

sorry that your dad died, oops, I mean your son’s grampa…

Everyone has 2 grandfathers.

My cousin’s mother died of jaundice from alcohol. She was not a sibling of my father.

I thought there are people with “addictive” tendencies.
And I thought I wasn’t the addictive type … not “addicted” to anything : alcohol, work :stuck_out_tongue:
until I started unicycling !!! :smiley:

We all make choices in this life. I had a neighbor, a woman of about 40, who drank a gallon of whiskey every week. Smoked a pack of cigarettes a day as well. She looked fully 20 years older than her age. She ended up in the hospital and the doctors told her if she didn’t quit drinking and smoking she’d never see 50. She replied, ‘If I can’t drink and smoke I don’t wanna see 50.’ To her, that was living her life to the fullest. Sad, but there are a lot of people like that. Now, I do indeed like my beer but, if I can’t unicycle, hike, bike, motorcycle, travel, be with friends, make music, make love, be with the kids and grandkids, then life’s not worth living.

hey so there are other granPas on the forum!!!
How many of us?

I’ll start a new thread for that.

Re that picture, take care that you don’t pinch anything…

I agree that there is diffinately a line, but it is different for everybody. Most people would be fine w/ up to two drinks a night. I know several people who do just that.

But throw in a tramatic event and things can go haywire:
I knew someone who had two beers almost every night and more than that maybee a couple of times a year for fifteen years. Then his son was killed and w/in two weeks he became a raging alcoholic and in a month he lost his job, and whent on unemployment. Luckily he realized he had a serious problem and three months after he lost his job he started going to help w/ AA sobering up. Two months later he got a job w/ an employer that was willing to take a chance w/ him (not as much responsibility or pay). In one more month he was completely sober, 4 mo. after his son died. When I talked to him four years later he was still sober and he told me there was no way his carreer had the same potential than before his son died.

That was the fastest and most complete alcohol recovery story I have ever heard of, and that out of quite a few. I’ve heard of dosens of stories by friends and family of those who ended up on the streets and most are still there.

Destructive is when, because of the alcohol you start treating loved ones badly.

I will never touch any of the illeagal drugs. And I can almost count the total of individual drinks I’ve had in the past year on two hands. I realized a while ago I do have an addictive personality. My problem is sweets and TV. I disconnected the cable so now my other addiction is this site:p My dad smoked cigarets and was addicted to the race track. It wasn’t until I was 17 that I realized why he was always broke w/ a good paying job.

I tried some Marjwana a few times and then I found myself really looking forward to hanging out w/ friends and smoking some pot. I realized then that was the addiction starting to take hold and I stoped. A year later when I would go hang out w/ those friends they were either smoking pot, talking about a time they were, or planning when/where to smoke and I realized they were all addicted.