
A number of great composers were fond of the bottle, but can you hear it? - tintinnabula
http://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/12/a-surprising-number-of-great-composers-were-fond-of-the-bottle-but-can-you-hear-it/
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jstewartmobile
The price you pay for original thought is isolation.

When they can't surround themselves with other original thinkers, or develop a
saintly patience for the plugged-in, the only option left is substance abuse.

Judging from "Behind the Music," substance abuse is the path of least
resistance.

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ianai
Alcohol has always been popular. Go figure.

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marsrover
It's not only great composers that are fond of the bottle et al. Many great
modern musicians have struggled with alcohol and drug abuse.

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wjnc
It's a detour but isn't "many people have struggled with alcohol and drug
abuse" the generalization? Not much greatness to be found there. The ones like
Erdos are the outliers by much greater margin than among the non-abusers imho

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pmoriarty
There are a lot of factors (including luck, temperament, motivation,
perseverance, creativity, education, etc) that go in to making someone being
perceived as "great" by others.

Whether one uses a particular drug is clearly not the only thing that
determines "greatness". But some drugs could help increase one's creativity,
or to "loosen up", shed inhibitions, see the world in a different light, or
appreciate things you otherwise wouldn't. There's often a cost to this,
sometimes it is a great cost, but it's a mistake to believe drugs are an
unmitigated evil without any benefits.

The real problem is that most people aren't taking drugs for constructive
reasons, like to enhance their creativity, but either for frivolous or self-
destructive reasons. Of course, even constructive uses can get out of hand.
That's where education, discipline, and support come in. Unfortunately, modern
societies do a pretty poor job of helping with any of these things, and focus
primarily on stigmatizing and criminalizing drugs and drug users.

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pavel_lishin
> _But some drugs could help increase one 's creativity, or to "loosen up",
> shed inhibitions, see the world in a different light, or appreciate things
> you otherwise wouldn't._

They can also act as temporary solutions to permanent problems - many people
self-medicate with alcohol or other drugs.

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mathgenius
Banach (mathematician) also drank heavily.

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cecilpl
I hear he once drank himself to pieces, and when he woke up in the morning and
pulled himself together, he had inadvertently made a copy of himself.

~~~
sn41
The Banach-Tarski paradox:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banach%E2%80%93Tarski_paradox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banach%E2%80%93Tarski_paradox)

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justinlaster
I see some of us are in good company!

