following on from this thread:
http://lesswrong.com/lw/m14/id_like_advice_from_lw_regarding_migraines/c9kr?context=3
User Algon asked:
I don't drink alcohol, but is it really all that? I just assumed that most people have alcoholic beverages for the 'buzz'/intoxication.
I related my experience:
I have come to the conclusion that I taste things differently to a large subset of the population. I have a very sweet tooth and am very sensitive to bitter flavours.
I don't eat olives, most alcohol only tastes like the alcoholic aftertaste (which apparently some people don't taste) - imagine the strongest burning taste of the purest alcohol you have tasted, some people never taste that, I taste it with nearly every alcoholic beverage. Beer is usually awfully bitter too.
The only wine I could ever bother to drink is desert wine (its very sweet) and only slowly. (or also a half shot of rum and maple syrup)
Having said all this - yes; some people love their alcoholic beverages for their flavours.
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I am wondering what the sensory experience of other LW users is of alcohol. Do you drink (if not why not?)? Do you have specific preferences? Do you have a particular pallet for foods (probably relevant)?
I hypothesise a lower proportion of drinkers than the rest of the population. (subject of course to cultural norms where you come from)
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Edit: I will make another post in a week about taste preferences because (as we probably already know) human tastes vary. I did want to mention that I avoid spicy things except for sweet chilli which is not spicy at all. And I don't drink coffee (because it tastes bad and I am always very awake and never need caffeine to wake me up). I am also quite sure I am a super-taster but wanted to not use that word for concern that the jargon might confuse people who don't yet know about it.
Thanks for all the responses! This has been really interesting and exactly what I expected (number of posts)!
In regards to experiences, I would mention that heavy drinking is linked with nearly every health problem you could think of and I am surprised we had a selection of several heavy drinkers (to those who are heavy drinkers I would suggest reading about the health implications and reconsidering the lifestyle, it sounds like most of you are not addicted). about the heavy drinkers - I suspect that is not representative of average, but rather the people who feel they are outliers decided to mention their cases (of people who did not reply; there are probably none or very few heavy drinkers, whereas there are probably some who did not reply and are light drinkers or did not reply and don't drink).
I hope to reply to a bunch of the comments and should get to it in the next few days.
Thank you again! Maybe this should be included on the next survey...
Edit 2: follow up post -http://lesswrong.com/r/discussion/lw/m3j/tally_of_lesswrong_experience_on_alcohol/
I'm kind of opposite from you, I have a fairly low-resolution sense of taste. I sometimes genuinely can't tell the difference between two foods that everyone else assures me are of very different quality. I don't mind the taste of alcohol at all. I've actually drunk a bit of 99% pure alcohol once or twice, and while it certainly wasn't a pleasant taste, it was my brain, and the instant numbness in my throat, that told me this was a really stupid idea, not the taste.
I do drink small amounts on occasion, and for me types of alcoholic beverages are hugely different, in ways that are obviously cultural not physiological. Sparkling wine, for example, is for celebration, the sensation of drinking it reminds me of a hundred different other happy occasions and makes me happy even if this particular occasion isn't really one I particularly care about. Beer, wine, cocktails all have their roles as signifiers of particular situations.
The main benefit of alcohol, it seems to me, is a particular kind of closeness between people at similar levels of alcoholic intoxication. People call it reduced inhibitions, but I don't think that's very accurate. I suspect it is more about imagining each other less complexly, which builds trust somehow. (Maybe intoxication makes you vulnerable and shared vulnerability builds intimacy. Or maybe you just know on a visceral level, that insincerity is just too hard for the both of you right now. I don't know, I don't claim to understand the mechanism, but the resulting effect seems solid.)