High sobriety | Hacker News Reader

High sobriety

smh.com.au

5 pointsteyc3 comments

While this is not tech, it is interesting because this guy (Australian) tackled the issue of the weekend binge unconventionally. Instead of harping on the problems of alcohol damage, he turned his energy into blogging over a 3 month period of self-imposed abstention.

He writes about the gradual process of insight and discovery about who he is (doesn't have to drink to be fun), and who his real friends are (when he tries to abstain for 3 months), and eventual realization he doesn't need alcohol and how alcohol has embedded itself into society.

Open articleView on HN

Before the internet, this would have to be a very isolating process. One is almost a pariah, unless one decided to become religious or joined AA. But with the internet, he has found a bigger circle of people who cheer him on and gave him support.

The site at http://hellosundaymorning.com.au/ is somewhat interesting, but I am not sure why you linked to this SMH article. The article is only tangentially related, since it is about the writer's personal journey with alcohol abstinence as opposed to Chris Raine's website.

I thought the journalists own experience when HSM validated the idea and gave it sufficient credibility to start a discussion. I am curious. In this age where we talk about gamification etc, what is the underlying approach in HSM?

I wonder if HSM offers an alternate way to socially validate oneself. e.g. the HSM offers an outlet for people who still want to be around their friends, and still want to enjoy themselves, but would rather have a Sunday without hangover. i.e. HSM works just like formspring.me or MySpace.

Or is HSM approach a easy way for people to see that they can reinvent themselves and pry people away from their dependencies by voluntarily quitting for 3 months. The end of the process seems to be one where some people no longer see why it is necessary to go back to their old ways. This is the YC model where people effectively learn new skills over 3 months in a new environment.

Perhaps blogging is a way of letting people express themselves in a different manner, one more cerebral, perhaps a more introverted one where there is deeper self analysis?

What else can we learn from here?

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