Leo Tolstoy on why people drink (2014)
Let's consider this quote"All human life, we may say, consists solely of these two activities: (1) bringing one’s activities into harmony with conscience, or (2) hiding from oneself the indications of conscience in order to be able to continue to live as before."Note that he has defined all of life as two points about "one" and "oneself". This is why I and I assume many others roll their eyes.Because Tolstoy, and most essays about alcohol, don't even mention what I think is the point of alcohol. It's a drug that makes it easier to socialize, and socializing is very, very good for people. So good that I will risk it, even though alcohol is bad in many ways: bad for physical and mental health, risky for abuse, etc.If you are anti alcohol, that is reasonable, but it seems no one will ever admit what it's really for.This is important, because alcohol is unhealthy and if you want to discourage it, give people other low effort ways to connect.