Quite literally you have missed out, yes. The question is: is that a problem? I generally don't suffer from FOMO, and any current science on alcohol (which the WHO basically classifies as hard drug, it's just one that's culturally accepted in many places) is pointing towards the safe dose being 0.
I unfortunately come from a culture where alcohol consumption is accepted, so it's been harder than I would like to break with tradition in the face of science, but doing so it a good thing, and if your cultural background helps you a hand because it does not accept alcohol as readily as mine, more power to you.
Drugs FOMO is some of the stupidest FOMO around. I've nothing against using soft drugs, but making any drug part of your life style is almost certainly a bad idea, and if never even trying suits your personality type (some are just more easily addicted than others), then you are wise for steering clear, not an ignorant traditionalist (or at least, not necessarily so).
That does not mean gathering in third places is problematic, I do wish we could come up with ways of doing it without the expectation of the consumption of alcohol.
But we accept risk because of benefits a car moving faster than 0 brings. I might say same about some of psychedelic drugs. At least from my personal experience.
You might be stopped in your car in the parking space but someone else might just crash into your car.
So just being in the car on a public road or parking will be safer than driving but not safe as in zero chances of being involved in an accident.
The same goes with alcohol even if you dont consume you are not completely safe from its effects: someone might drink and drive or drink and operate a machinery or drink and build your house …
Probably the same can be said about tiredness or something else. We should pick our battles. I am not sure which ones are better. Just found it funny that even sitting in the car is not safe enough as long as we have vehicles
Not sure how that’s a rebuttal, the scenario you described is a danger because the speed of the other car is not zero. It’s telling that the only scenario you found to make it dangerous was to bring another moving car into the equation.
Well, yes, you have missed out. Clearly you're choosing to miss out because you don't think it's worth it - but that doesn't change the fact you're missing out.
You’ll be missing out on some experiences for sure. Would it be a net positive? Probably not. But you really can’t quite comprehend the feelings you’re missing out on.
There might be tangential things you don’t experience too, places you’ll never go, and people you’ll never meet.
I see what you're saying but this only leads to a discussion about the differences between heroin and alcohol, rather than deciding if you can roughly judge alcohol use from the outside.
If most of the population did heroine and hard drugs to socialize then probably, yeah?
I've also never drank besides the occasional cocktail, and I can count on my hands the number of times I've bent to a bar. I had other kind of experiences instead and I wouldn't change it, but of course I've missed out on certain things.
„Most of population did“ is not exactly a good meter wether something is good or bad. „Most of population did“ quite a few things that didn't turn out that well.
We're talking about "missing out", not about something being a net positive or a net negative.
But also that was just to point out that IMO the analogy with hard drugs doesn't work, I don't want to debate about a hypothetical world where most people do hard drugs.
That world is not hypothetical: there's a debate whether we should differentiate between "soft" and "hard" drugs (because we might be encouraging people to use the soft ones by doing so), but one thing is for sure: alcohol is a "hard" drug, same as heroin.
You do miss out, but of course the value of what you miss out is nothing compared to the devastating consequences to their life that practically everyone using heroin experience.
On the other hand, many people drink alcohol and live perfectly normal lives. So I don't think that's an informative comparison.
There is a community around drug users, especially the type they select to use. So - while that decision tree never happens to you, to some people, invested in the community and such would say yes.
That's the beauty of life. You write your own adventure. Whether people know it or not... eh.
Alcohol has been a significant part of many cultures for thousands of years, while heroin most certainly has not (and still is not to this day, aside from a cultural fringe here and there). That seems like a relevant difference?
Absolutely agree. When I am at home working alone under a crushing deadline for days, I feel lonely, but that's somewhat tolerable, since I accomplish something. On the other hand I love dancing, but when I go to clubs alone, I am miserable for days seeing all groups enjoying themselves while I nurture my drink, watching the other dancers. It has gotten so bad that I rarely go to any social events anymore.
