I think there is one more positive effect of alcohol: creating trust between the drinkers.
Alcohol is like a mild truth serum; it makes it more difficult to create complicated lies, and more likely to tell the truth regardless of the consequences; plus it gives social permission to others to ask awkward questions.
If you come from a drinking culture, then people who refuse to drink with you are obviously the people who want to keep secrets from you, so it makes sense to treat it as a red flag.
If you come from a drinking culture, then people who refuse to drink with you are obviously the people who want to keep secrets from you, so it makes sense to treat it as a red flag.
Of course, they might also be people who consider themselves high-risk for alcoholism and have chosen abstinence. I hope the drinking culture is able to accommodate them.
I think there is one more positive effect of alcohol: creating trust between the drinkers.
Alcohol is like a mild truth serum; it makes it more difficult to create complicated lies, and more likely to tell the truth regardless of the consequences; plus it gives social permission to others to ask awkward questions.
If you come from a drinking culture, then people who refuse to drink with you are obviously the people who want to keep secrets from you, so it makes sense to treat it as a red flag.
Of course, they might also be people who consider themselves high-risk for alcoholism and have chosen abstinence. I hope the drinking culture is able to accommodate them.