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Comment by genman | Hacker News Reader

In its extreme alcohol is a truth serum. The ones who don't drink want to keep their secrets to themselves and can't be trusted.

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You nailed it! I didn’t stop drinking because of its negative impact on sleep and health, or how it can easily become a social crutch. I did it to make sure I don’t reveal my deep dark secrets.

By that logic, the ones who don't drink should be handed the most secretive, important projects.

Whole lot of Mormons working for CIA and NSA. Just sayin.

Yeah but those same Mormons drink all the booze if there’s no other Mormons at the party.

That might be true in some cases, but I haven't seen it.

The Mormons I've seen tend to be more healthy clean living, than anything else.

It’s perhaps wrong of me to generalize but I’ve lived in Utah my whole life, some are clean and healthy others are unhealthy slobs, just like the general population. The whole ‘drank all the booze’ people are more often those pretending to believe in their faith because of the social repercussions of leaving it.

FWIW, Mormons make great babysitters.

Well, one topic which is covered in some detail when you are screened for security clearances is precisely how you use alcohol (and other intoxicants!).

I imagine it is for this precise reason.

If you read about GRU (e.g. Aquarium) you will see how agents were tested while drunk to see how they behave.

Or they just don't need it to have fun.

I'm myself all the time exactly _because_ I don't drink.

Alcohol actually has minimal effect on me aside from impaired coordination and feeling ill the next day, feeling a bit stupid & foggy.

I just don’t enjoy it much.

I do think my lying improves due to lack of inhibitions about lying (I’m quite good at lying but find it distasteful/onerous under usual circumstances, having to keep the lies straight).

I’m tight lipped when drunk because I know I’m drunk. I feel like people who spill their secrets when they’re drunk wanted people to know them but were too anxious to admit to them.

I don’t like drinking because it kills me and kills brain cells.

Not really. Alcohol can make people stupid, but it can't make them tell the truth. You will hear far more lies and boasts from a drunk than you will deep dark secrets.

The truth gets downvoted, since unpopular.

As if you never saw someone get drunk and spill their beans.

Alcohol removes inhibitors (at least to some people) from "drunk calling the ex" to "telling the boss that their idea is stupid".

Maybe that comment got downvoted because it has no truth.

Drinkers cling to their own delusions about non-drinkers.

And nothing about my life is "secret". It's just not your concern.

I hate my ex and have no problem telling my boss what’s what while sober so I guess I can drink my fill.

You make the mistake of assuming that everyone is the same as you and leads the same life as you.

It also removes inhibitors that would prevent you from manipulating someone with lies.

Alcoholics lie, cheat and steal to fuel their habit. Extreme alcohol is a horrific poison to the body and mind.

I'd wager a healthy man who can drink you under the table, wouldn't reveal any secrets. He'll finish the drink in his own time.

Having a drink with the colleagues has nothing to do with alcoholism. I used to organize nights out with colleagues even if I was never drinking alcohol (I had to drive). But the point in "going for a beer" is socializing and informal communication, not the beer.

The internet has done a great job illustrating the huge range of what people think “normal” drinking looks like.

There are a surprising amount of people that think anybody that has ever been drunk is an alcoholic.

Obviously having a drink with the colleagues has nothing to do with alcoholism.

I was responding to the comment that 'in the extreme, alcohol is a truth serum'. It isn't.

I don't think they meant extreme as in repetitive use.

I think they meant when you've drank enough to be drunk.

e.g it's not very effective as a truth serum if you've only had a little.

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