The myopia theory was first suggested by psychologists Claude Steel and Robert Josephs, and what they meant by myopia is that alcohol’s principal effect is to narrow our emotional and mental fields of vision. It creates, in their words, “a state of shortsightedness in which superficially understood, immediate aspects of experience have a disproportionate influence on behavior and emotion.” Alcohol makes the thing in the foreground even more salient and the thing in the background less significant. It makes short-term conisderations loom large, and more congnitvely demanding, longer-term considerations fade away. (pg 207)

I read Malcom Gladwell’s book “Talking to Strangers” and this was a portion of the book that dealt with an interaction between Brock Turner and Emily Doe. Both were blackout drunk and he was found guilty of rape when 2 Swedish students found him on top of her and she was unconscious. As someone who drinks regularly, coming to a concrete solution to a situation like this is almost impossible as there is no memory to go off of. Fortunately for the audience, I’m not going to describe my internal feelings on this situation as it’s going to sound harsh. I view this as a broader scenario and don’t care about the individuals which never goes over well.

I’d rather write about the quote I opened this post with. I have never seen a better description on the effects of alcohol. The Myopia theory hits home with me because it describes, most likely, why I drink alcohol. I drink to bring life at that moment of time to a more joyous occasion. That comes across as an alcoholic, but it’s sacrificing the long term, potentially, negative consequences and embracing the present.

Should I buy or rent? Should I add more to my retirement? Is this the job I want to do for the rest of my life? I’m asking these type of decisions to decide what is the best for me in the long term and the short term decisions attempt to align with this plan. This is logical. A large percentage of this population will not stray from their self-determined life path as it figures to give them the most comfortability. I’d imagine these straight arrowed folk tend to be the non-drinkers.

I drink to avoid the above paragraph. When you only think about the long term, you miss out on the short term. Of course the argument can be made that you can enjoy the present without alcohol and that’s perfectly acceptable. Yet, from my perspective, I have more fun when I drink. I’m more sociable. I ask questions I would never ask. I bond with people more. It makes life for me more entertaining and it relieves me from the stress of my work week which has never been more stressful in my life.

The alcohol removes the long term plans. I’ve never looked at alcohol that way, but the myopia theory puts it a bit clearer in my mind because I’ve never wondered why I want to have a beer. Because I want to get drunk. That’s not exactly the full story. It’s more along the lines of not worrying about the future. It’s making the present emotional.

NOW, along with alcohol comes poor decision making. That’s the drawback of this entire post as I glamorized the drinking aspect without touching on the penalties, which can be severe. I made a large bet on the Eagles on Sunday under the influence of alcohol that I would never have made sober. I’ll revert to this post. I didn’t give a shit about the money, only the excitement in the moment.