QUOTE(Radien @ Oct 18 2011, 07:55 AM)
NoeL, I kinda wish you'd responded to my last post. I wasn't talking to you directly, I know, but you've made some nice points and I'd like to hear what you thought.
I didn't reply because I agree with you for the most part, but a few things I'd like to comment on:
QUOTE(Radien @ Oct 18 2011, 04:52 AM)
Let me speak further on that point by replying to an earlier post of Dawnlight's....
That is, quite simply and plainly, an attempt on your cousin's part to use peer pressure to push you into doing something purely so that he (she?) could feel validated.
I wouldn't be so quick to jump to that conclusion. That's one possibility, sure, but remember that we're only hearing one (Dawnlight's) side of the argument. Taking into account Dawnlight's posts on this thread - many of which containing irrational fears of drinking (I'm not saying drinking is without risk, I'm just saying it's not nearly as risky as he seems to perceive it) - the "brainwashed" comment might not be that far from the truth. Not that he was "brainwashed" to not engage in common social/recreational activities, but "brainwashed" into thinking alcohol is more dangerous than it is. I'm not saying this is the case - perhaps Dawnlight is just naturally paranoid and overly focus on the negatives, for example - but it's a possibility.
I used to view other drugs like gas and ecstacy the same way Dawnlight views alcohol. I'd been told so much about the risks of drugs and so little about the benefits that whenever I was offered anything harder than pot I was too scared to try it. Now that I'm older and have learned more about the drugs, their effects (both positive and negative), the risks involved, and most importantly how to regulate and minimise those risks, I now realise that those fears were irrational. I had, to a degree, been "brainwashed" by anti-drug propaganda to be more fearful of these things than I should be. The "say no to drugs!" campaigns are the way they are because irrational people exist. If they were to explain the pros and cons honestly, smart and rational people would be able to take that information and enjoy drugs safely if they want, but like always the stupid people would ruin it for everyone by acting like dickheads - the same way they give alcohol a bad name. So rather than deal with the mess they just enforce prohibition, and use scare tactics to try and make people too scared to try them. It's a kind of brainwashing.
QUOTE(Radien @ Oct 18 2011, 07:55 AM)
But I don't repeatedly nag people to try anime or games (especially if they've already taken my best recommendations and didn't like them), and I DON'T hold the belief that everybody in the world would like it as much as me "if they'd only try it just once." The world's people are not all the same, and I'm fine with that.
I only nag people when they've already pre-judged something without trying it. I remember an example when I was a kid - I'd just discovered mangoes and fell in love with them. I offered them to my little sister but she refused to try them, claiming "I don't like them!" even though she'd never tasted one before. She just didn't like "fruit". Later on, our grandma offered us some icecreams - mango icecreams. My sister jumped at the opportunity, because she liked ice cream. She didn't care that it was mango flavour, and she "didn't like" mango - it was freaking ice cream! As it turned out, she loved the ice cream, which convinced her to try the fruit, which she also loved. If only she'd been open-minded enough to try something new back when I first offered it to her she could have discovered she liked mangoes much earlier.
That's about all I have to say there
QUOTE(Radien @ Oct 18 2011, 07:55 AM)
5. Never drink tequila. Period. (I've never had it, but I've known far too many people who have, and they usually regret it.)
Lol! You haven't lived until you've had a night on tequila! XD That's a pretty good rule of thumb though - especially if you're new to alcohol. Now I don't drink tequila outside of cocktails, mainly because it tastes like death
Give me a nice bourbon or rum instead!
QUOTE(Koh @ Oct 18 2011, 02:31 PM)
Lol, I like how this turned into a thread about people trying to convince others to drink.
No one is doing that
QUOTE(Koh @ Oct 18 2011, 02:31 PM)
Seriously...why chug something down you KNOW will cause you grief the next morning? It's not worth it.
It only causes you grief if 1) you drink WAY too much, and 2) you don't drink enough water. I can't remember the last time I had a hangover, but I've certainly "chug[ged] down" a ton of drinks since then (well, I very rarely "chug", I "drink". It's not high school anymore
).
I know you're inexperienced on the subject (which you should be at your age), but there's a huge difference between "tipsy" (aka "buzzed") and "s***-faced". Like anything in life, if you're a n00b it might be a while before you learn your limits, recognise the feelings, etc. This is pretty much the main time you'll end up drinking too much, throwing up, and waking up with a hangover (it might happen sporadically in your adult life, at weddings and things, but certainly not often). Once you familiarise yourself with your limits, and can recognise that drinking more will cause trouble, it becomes much much easier to go out, drink, have a good time, and avoid the consequences of over-drinking. But you'll learn that when you're older.
QUOTE(DavidReinold @ Oct 18 2011, 03:07 PM)
Not only that, but alcohol tastes so crappy
It's an acquired taste, and you probably won't like it until you're older. It's actually good that it doesn't have a taste that's appealing to children, since they shouldn't be drinking it anyway. The makers of pre-mixed vodka sodas have come under fire a fair bit because their products taste too much like fizzy drink and not enough like alcohol, which leads to kids drinking way too many of them because they're not familiar with the alcohol flavour.
When I was a kid I didn't like beer at all. It's bitter and gross. Later in life I grew to enjoy it, and it's actually really refreshing (I can remember many times when I was hot and sweaty and just dying for a cold beer). I don't drink beer much these days, I prefer spirits and cider, but I still enjoy it. Hate wine though. Never got into it.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Long story short, children don't like the taste of alcohol, but many adults do. In the same way children can eat a bucket of sugar whereas an adult couldn't handle the sweetness. Taste buds change with age.
QUOTE(Shane @ Oct 18 2011, 08:00 PM)
Eh, I'm pretty sure there are other ways of making it interesting, such as making friends etc.
What if you make friends with a serial killer?
QUOTE(Shane @ Oct 18 2011, 08:00 PM)
So if I find a game completely boring, I'm not aloud to say it isn't fun? So if I'm playing a game of basketball witch people are ruining for others, I'm not aloud to say it isn't fun?
So I'm taking it if I make a game in ZC witch is bad overall people are not aloud to say it isn't fun when really it isn't?
... was that directed at me? Of course you can say a game isn't fun - you're
playing the game! But if you've never experienced playing games then you can't say whether or not you enjoy playing games. Why is this so hard to understand?
