

Why intelligent people drink more alcohol - cwtann
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201010/why-intelligent-people-drink-more-alcohol

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iuguy
I'm not convinced. Here in the UK the poor are regularly hauled over the coals
for buying cheap booze in supermarkets. Much of my family up north while
having a comparable lifestyle earn less than my family down south and both
sides drink just as often.

The big difference seems to be the cost of the alcohol. My southern family
drink cognac, wine and top shelf spirits. My Northern family drink special
offer standard lager like Carling, cider like Magners and rarely drink wine or
the occasional more common spirits. I'm fairly certain the southern part of my
family spends much more on the north, but they drink roughly around the same.

I'm not sure intelligence has too much to do with it, I guess it depends on
whether you're tracking consumption vs spending.

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whackberry

        The word alcohol – al kohl – is Arabic in origin, like many other words that begin with “al,” like algebra, algorithm, alchemy, and Al Gore.
    

Excellent.

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gdl
This doesn't seem to clearly identify anywhere what it is that is being
measured; everything is based on a "latent factor for consumtion of alcohol"
that is said to be standardized, but never given a proper definition. The
closest I could find was:

"Indicators of alcohol consumption in the Add Health data include the
frequency of binge drinking (drinking five or more units of alcohol in one
sitting) and the frequency of getting drunk."

That doesn't say if those are the only factors used, or if they mixed in
several different data sets until they found a combination that made for a
compelling graph. I'll give them credit for mentioning that they've controlled
for income though, as that was my first assumption.

I would be interested to know if the skew is really in total alcohol
consumption, or if one side tends to binge occasionally while the other gets
lightly buzzed frequently, or if there is a different split entirely that this
is glossing over.

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cwtann
Maybe the world would be a better place if going drinking with your friends on
Sunday mornings were the sociological norm instead of attending religious
services.

~~~
devmonk
That reminds me of another reason I drink- atheists.

~~~
Rickasaurus
Funny, watching the conservative religious destroy our country similarly
drives me to drink.

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devmonk
I drink because it helps me relax and stop thinking about what the idiots at
work and in our government have done to my life.

