Drinking, socializing, and phone calls: thoughts on how we meet people
Plus more on life advice, Facebook groups & unbalanced electoral districts
SAN JOSE, CA — Alcohol has never done much for me. I don’t think there’s any moral value in abstinence, so this isn’t really a holier than thou approach (anymore - I’d be lying if I didn’t note that it certainly stemmed from that, in part) — it’s simpler than that. I value having full control and awareness of my body a tremendous amount, I grew up in an environment where abstinence was the norm, and perhaps most simply, I can’t stand the taste of at least 90% of drinks.
This isn’t a hardline opposition - I’ll have a drink every once in a while with friends - but almost never more than one. If one drink is occasionally appealing, anything more than that is usually not even a thought that enters my mind. It’s interesting to me that this is a behavioral pattern that isn’t replicated in most of my life — I tend to go all in on most things I do. I’ll read one thing that piques my interest and then spend 10 hours that week diving into anything I can get my hands on about it. I’ve never competed in anything without the burning desire to do whatever it takes to win. I have a hardline personal opposition to sports betting largely born out of a thought that if I place one bet, I’ll place a thousand. (This is probably highly irrational — I’m risk averse to a fault and there’s no evidence this would happen.) But just the fact that my opposition stems from a fear of slipping into the proverbial well has me thinking about the so-called addiction gene that people either have or don’t.
I’m interested in the body of research that looks at why alcohol consumption rates are decreasing significantly by generation. Prevailing theory of the case seems to be that young people are more concerned about the health impact than their predecessors, which makes sense given we have far more information at at our fingertips on the negative outcomes linked to drinking, especially in excess. And yet, those patterns of information were true 20 years ago, if not at the same scale.
There’s a growing body of research linking declining alcohol consumption rates and lower measures of socialization among young people - fewer relationships, marriages, etc. Whether there’s a causal link here and which way it goes (seems bidirectional), I think imagining alcohol as a social panacea is probably harkening for an era that isn’t coming back at scale. Beyond an increased trend of people connecting virtually (more on this below), I wonder what percentage of people now find their third spaces better served by groups and places that didn’t exist as broadly before the Internet brought disparate people together.
I don’t really have a strong theory of the case here, nor do I think I learned all that much by examining the small role alcohol has in my life, but I certainly do miss my college bar! That’s one
5 Things on My Mind:
In the late 1990’s, a then-landmark study showed clear correlation between consumption of red wine in France and increased life expectancy. This led to a huge increase in wine sales across the United States — and we now know those findings to be misunderstood, at best. People who drink red wine might live longer, but it’s almost entirely because of other correlated lifestyle factors like income, location, access to healthcare and physical activity. Most people used this as confirmation that their existing affinity towards drinking was healthy, but I’m sure there were folks who picked up a bottle or two a week solely in the hopes it’d extend their lifespan.
While I think I have a pretty good grasp on how to read research and a strong BS filter, it begs the question — what behavioral changes that we think are helpful today will turn out to be just noise, or actually flat out counterproductive?
There’s a line in Derek Thompson’s piece “The Anti Social Century” that really stuck with me - paraphrased, he notes how digital comms are great for ‘catching up’ friendships and terrible for ‘hanging out’ friendships. Friendship is one of my favorite topics of thought, and I think he’s spot on here. I feel up to date with what’s going on in most of my friends’ lives, but that’s not the same as feeling connected to them. The distinction is a difference with real meaning, and UChicago psychologist Nick Epley notes that the key aspect of connection is voice. Obviously, in-person connection laps the field in terms of social connectivity, but the difference between a phone call and a text is huge and probably not something we pay enough attention to in our lives. I’ve been thinking about this for a while and steadily becoming a call my friends person — anecdotally, it’s absolutely made a difference.
Really enjoying advice column-type content recently. I don’t know if these types of podcasts & articles are all that useful for anyone who emails in but for sheer entertainment, watching people extrapolate & problem solve from the limited description/problem statement given is great comedy.
As a society, we’ve got to find a way past Facebook groups. I get it, it’s the easiest platform to bring people together for vague things like ‘bike sale in the area’ or finding a roommate, but it’s just such a pain to use. This is an area of easy innovation, someone has to have a better interface and more purpose-driven platform for task-specific groups.
As a result of the recent Canadian presidential election, I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of looking into electoral districts and how they vary across nations. The average riding in Canada is so much smaller than the US, which makes sense proportionally — but in the US, congressional districts are roughly the same size (excepting states with a single district). In Canada, the average population per district varies wildly from province to province - ridings in Prince Edward Island are more than three times smaller than those in Ontario. Fascinated by how parliamentary systems vary across the Commonwealth.
The Bedside Stand: Read & Reading
“The Anti Social Century” from The Atlantic, mentioned above.
The Boom: Fracking and the Transformation of America by Russell Gold, which I’ve been meaning to get to for at least two years. Nothing like energy policy!
In My Ears: Listened & Listening to
I really enjoyed Abundance, and this is a good follow-up conversation and critique of the book’s policy prerogatives. I left the discussion agreeing more strongly with the supply-side interventions Abundance recommends, but the critiques are worth a listen.
Plain English is rising up my list of favorite podcasts pretty quickly - and this is an interesting listen about a geopolitical topic that I constantly feel under-informed on.
Illinois isn’t perfect, but the advancements in clean energy that Gov. Pritzker’s administration has made are substantial and impressive. Good conversation that straddles the line between policy wonk and easy to understand here.
Awesome conversation with someone who truly is one of the most impactful global health officials of the last few decades.
Phone Eats First: Some Recent Favorites
Smitten Ice Cream - Cookie dough with pretzels and chocolate chips. This was INCREDIBLE, great malt vanilla flavor. I love brown butter in most desserts and this was no exception, I will be back!
Manresa Bread - Whole wheat chocolate chip walnut cookie. Great dough and texture, toasted walnuts are so much better than the untoasted that most cookies have.
Kahnfections - I love a good scone, and this maple, oat & pecan scone is one of the best I’ve had all year. Much smaller than a normal scone, but the quality of pastry more than makes up for it.
Time to leave this coffee shop,
Mantra