I think this post does a great and important job of highlighting the harms of alcohol.
However, I would like to push back on the idea that we should necessarily abstain from doing something when there is a slight risk of harm (even if that potential harm is significant).
I think there are a quite a few things we do that have some risk of harm, and maybe the harm even outweighs the benefits in isolation. But I also think that the mental burden of restricting ourselves from more and more things can accumulate, to the extent that the accumulated costs might outweigh the benefits. In other words, I think we have a limited budget of “doing this is harmful” things before it starts to become too much of a burden.
This seems like an area where the risk of harm is relatively low, and I think sometimes drinking socially does bring people joy (above and beyond just the socialising component). If we can each only pick a handful of “doing this is harmful” things, I’m not sure alcohol would be in my top 5 priorities.
However, perhaps the trade-off would be different if you happen to have someone in your life who you know is at risk of alcoholism.
I think this post does a great and important job of highlighting the harms of alcohol.
However, I would like to push back on the idea that we should necessarily abstain from doing something when there is a slight risk of harm (even if that potential harm is significant).
I think there are a quite a few things we do that have some risk of harm, and maybe the harm even outweighs the benefits in isolation. But I also think that the mental burden of restricting ourselves from more and more things can accumulate, to the extent that the accumulated costs might outweigh the benefits. In other words, I think we have a limited budget of “doing this is harmful” things before it starts to become too much of a burden.
This seems like an area where the risk of harm is relatively low, and I think sometimes drinking socially does bring people joy (above and beyond just the socialising component). If we can each only pick a handful of “doing this is harmful” things, I’m not sure alcohol would be in my top 5 priorities.
However, perhaps the trade-off would be different if you happen to have someone in your life who you know is at risk of alcoholism.