Why is drinking alcohol so popular?

You are seriously overthinking this!
Why do we (some of us) enjoy alcohol? Why chocolate? Why the company of friends? Why listening to music? Why dancing? Why a beautiful view? Why our favourite food? Why stroking the cat/dog?
Because it brings pleasure, releases endorphins, makes us feel warm and relaxed, more cheerful (usually) is associated with company and conviviality - because we like it.
I am not talking about alcohol abuse or heavy drinking or needing that glass at “wine o clock” - but if you don’t enjoy any of the above, don’t do them! A cup of coffee with a friend can bring as much pleasure, a cup of NHS tea is often essential
(childbirth or bad news bring two examples)
But don’t knock i because it’s not for you.
If you as elderly as your name implies, perhaps it is too late to start, but a good single malt, a soft red wine or a glass of champagne might yet convince you otherwise.

Alcohol is so popular because people like the taste and enjoy the feeling of relaxation it brings. Those who drink to excess are usually teenagers trying to have a new experience or adults trying to escape their boring or unhappy life for one night (or longer). Those who keep drinking may end up alcoholics and then all choice has gone.

I never really loved the taste of alcohol and only ever drank now and then socially. I do like to sit down for an evening's chat with someone and a bottle of wine, but it rarely happens nowadays.

I do find excessive drinking horrendous, nightclubbers or football hooligans can't seem to function or enjoy themselves without getting hammered. It has a terrible effect on society when you consider the number of people who end up in A&E and the women who get beaten up by drunken partners.

We would be living in a different world altogether if there were no drugs or alcohol.

It could be that we are genentically predisposed to drink alcohol. people in the middle ages drank it because it was safer than water, which could be polluted or poisoned and could kill you. So the people who survived were the drinkers. Which is why you are the exception ElderlyPerson. If you didn't like the taste then you had had it.

I think drinking alcohol is popular simply because of how it makes people feel. They feel happier and less stressed when alcohol takes effect on their brain.

I was brought up with alcohol as a normal part of life. Not wine, but my parents had a G&T / Whisky & Dry most evenings. I drink occasionally but couldn't possibly manage the amount of liquid necessary to get drunk. After a very long night of drinking, I have been drunk twice in my life. It really wasn't worth it for the headache the next day.

I have never felt peer pressure to drink, neither in my youth nor nowadays. If I don't want to drink I'll order a Coke or a plain Tonic water. Who's to know there's no gin or rum in there?

People need to buy food to survive. Yet there is no need to buy alcohol to survive. So I just asked why people choose to do it.

We’re not talking about survival though, are we? Assuming of course that your question is still about social drinking, rather than alcohol dependency.

We spend on so many things that aren’t necessary for survival. You might as well ask why anyone chooses to buy more than one pair of shoes, or a pot plant, a big TV, a season ticket or a box of chocolates. The answer would probably be the same in every case - they buy it because it brings them pleasure.

People are free, within the law, to spend their disposable income on whatever they like.

Elderlyperson
Most people drink it because they like it and those who don't do not drink it. I know many people who do not like tea or coffee, I do not particularly like them myself. But assume that those who drink them or drink lots of tea or coffee do so because they like them.

In the past it was drunk because it was safer to drink than water and people, including children drank what was called 'small beer', because it was only mildly alcoholic.

You can ask your question of any food or drink, each and everyone will have those who enjoy it and those who hate it. Alcoholic drink is just another foodstuff.

I don’t drink much these days though I do like a nice red with my evening meal. People drink because it is nice, pure and simple. In moderation it gives you a pleasant social feeling and can stop you feeling shy and awkward when you are young. I went through some boozy years when I was younger, we all did and again, it was fun and daft and at that age you recover quickly.

greenlady102

ElaineI

Don't think you are a real poster.
Some people drink alcohol because they like the taste. Some people drink alcohol because they are addicted. Some people drink alcohol to socialise. Some people drink alcohol because it makes them feel good/better. I like wine and gin. I do not like beer, whisky or rum.
£4.99 is very cheap for wine nowadays in the UK. You would be lucky to find a nice wine for that. I pay up to £10 for a really nice wine but would not pay more unless it was champagne.

they have posted before because I checked because yeah....weird.

Why weird?

Why use 'they'? The first post states that I am male.

ElaineI

Don't think you are a real poster.
Some people drink alcohol because they like the taste. Some people drink alcohol because they are addicted. Some people drink alcohol to socialise. Some people drink alcohol because it makes them feel good/better. I like wine and gin. I do not like beer, whisky or rum.
£4.99 is very cheap for wine nowadays in the UK. You would be lucky to find a nice wine for that. I pay up to £10 for a really nice wine but would not pay more unless it was champagne.

It is not trolling. The question has often puzzled me, so I asked the question in this lively forum.

A lot of responses, very interesting to read, and people are welcome to post around the topic as well as answering the question.

Very few of the posts are responses to the question.

That's OK, but it is a genuine question. Is it such a taboo question to ask in a society where drinking alcohol is so popular and mainstream?

M0nica

My response to the title of this thread, is why shouldn't alcoholic drinks be popular? One person's meat is another person's poison.

I asked the question because I am genuinely interested to know why drinking alcohol is so popular. I thought that this forum, where there are lots of people happy to participate in many discussions, would probably include a lot of people who drink alcohol, because drinking alcohol is so mainstream. Yes, freedom of choice. But why do people make that choice and spend lots of money on it? People need to buy food to survive. Yet there is no need to buy alcohol to survive. So I just asked why people choose to do it.

I was not saying that it should not be popular. It is a matter of choice. I just wonder why it is so popular.

Just because some people who drink alcohol try to pressure people who do not drink alcohol into drinking does not imply that all people who do not drink alcohol are trying to pressure people who do to stop.

It does seem that alcohol is more of a problem in Northern Europe - the long cold winters perhaps? I remember one evening we were in the bar in a hotel in Italy. A gang of local teenagers came in for drinks. "Oh that's the quiet evening gone" we thought. Theyt came and sat down with two cokes, two iced teas and a glass of wine. When they had drunk them they went off for an ice cream. They also hadn't got tanked up before they came out.

I went out one night with some young girls from work. They were all drinking alcopops and I had a glass of Grappa. They all tried a sip and thought it was horrid. I was drinking it because I liked the taste, they were drinking to get drunk and having to have their drinks heavily flavoured to hide the taste.

There is nothing remarkable about disliking alcoholic drinks and nothing remarkable about liking them.

That's it in a nutshell! I'm firmly in the liking camp, though I generally stick to the government guidelines.

I'd have thought non-drinking friends would be very popular on nights out - we have one who lives nearby and very kindly gives us a lift if we're out together. He does spend much of the evening going outside for a smoke though. Each to their own.

Don't think you are a real poster.

Why do you sat that Elaine1? If you have any concerns you should contact GNHQ directly and not troll hunt.

ElaineI

Don't think you are a real poster.
Some people drink alcohol because they like the taste. Some people drink alcohol because they are addicted. Some people drink alcohol to socialise. Some people drink alcohol because it makes them feel good/better. I like wine and gin. I do not like beer, whisky or rum.
£4.99 is very cheap for wine nowadays in the UK. You would be lucky to find a nice wine for that. I pay up to £10 for a really nice wine but would not pay more unless it was champagne.

they have posted before because I checked because yeah....weird.

Alcohol is a drug (as has been mentioned) in moderation I don't see harm in it.
As a drug it has the effect of helping lose inhibitions and your awareness is heightened so you are more relaxed in a social situation though others who are not drinking alcohol might disagree.
Later with excessive drinking, bad things begin to happen. Slurred speech, impaired judgement, vomiting etc

I enjoy a nice glass of wine or G&T and a beer occasionally. I hope I don't drink to excess and I would never drink and drive as we did years ago.

I really like gin and I'm a club
I really like wine and I'm in a club
I only drink beer if I go to the pub

I like brandy but only on very special occasions. I have a bottle I bought a few years ago for over £100, which is cheap for some people and I occasionally have a measure if someone has died. I have drank about 1/5th of the bottle

I don't really care/mind if other people don't want to drink
I don't care of people judge me either

I enjoy a drink now and again , mainly if we go out for a meal. I have found that alcohol free beer is much improved , so often choose that. Especially if I am driving , had lunch out recently and was very happy with my alcohol free drink. Elderly Person, I don't think it is an issue whether people drink alcohol or not, we have a few friends who always have soft drinks. I do recognize that alcohol has and does ruin lives and for them it is poison and it must be very difficult indeed to resist .

Don't think you are a real poster.
Some people drink alcohol because they like the taste. Some people drink alcohol because they are addicted. Some people drink alcohol to socialise. Some people drink alcohol because it makes them feel good/better. I like wine and gin. I do not like beer, whisky or rum.
£4.99 is very cheap for wine nowadays in the UK. You would be lucky to find a nice wine for that. I pay up to £10 for a really nice wine but would not pay more unless it was champagne.

I do know about the dangers of alcohol; foetal alcohol syndrome, drink driving, spiked drinks leading to sexual assaults, alcoholism destroying families.

These happen and it is terrible, but most people do drink responsibly.

Elderly person, I am just like you! I hate the taste of any alcohol apart from a mellow cider very occasionally & then just a half a pint with a meal. Each to his own and I’ve never been ostracised for not drinking alcohol but if I never have an alcoholic drink ever again, I won’t miss it.

Just enjoying a small glass of Shiraz

I may even have another one as it's Saturday night.

It was actually Brandy and Babycham-lethal.
I asked DH for one of those on about our second date.
He said later he thought "Blimey, she's an expensive date!"

Oh dear !I had some great times under the influence! Some alcohol is an aquired taste, some tastes vile, some tastes wonderful. It's no different to all the other drinks you can get- huge variety. But especially when you are young it eases social contact, makes you feel good and helps loosen you up. I can actually be quite critical of the drink I'm having, I enjoy a good red wine and love a decent single malt. My late FIL who was in the trade even trusted my views on beer which was unheard of for him. Perhaps that's why I consider drinking just part of life, many of my family were in the business. I remember being plied with "champagne cocktails" by my parents' friends when I was 17. It was actually Brandy and Babycham-lethal. My maternal GM carried a bottle of brandy in her handbag -for 'mediseenal purposes'. I was doomed from the start.

I've had my soft drinks spiked (as though I wouldn't immediately know)
I've had that too, some little so and so put a vodka into my orange juice when he served it; I was pregnant at the time but not showing.
I was very sick, perhaps just as well.

In my own personal experience, the further north you travel,
Russia, Finland, Norway Iceland the more they imbibe.
Top spot is between the Russians and Icelanders.