<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:#000000"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:16px">we have been sold this big flim flam that alcoholism is a disease, rather than a character flaw. spike</span><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:#000000"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:16px"><br></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:#000000"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:16px">Well. since I was a heavy drinker that some would call an alcoholic, I have a few thoughts on that. Alcoholism (A) is certainly a disease in the sense that it causes many physiological problems and can kill you. But it is not like a disease such as a viral infection, because you are voluntarily taking it in - with viruses you have no choice - and there are voluntary ways to stop the A, whereas voluntary actions do not kill viruses/bacteria/fungi. </span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:#000000"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:16px"><br></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans ms,sans-serif;font-size:large;color:#000000"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:"Comic Sans MS";font-size:16px">I am completely unable to explain why I was able to stop completely and suddenly and so many other people aren't. I cannot tell someone how to stop. Ditto for cigarettes. No magic wand. But clearly it is something in my personality that is not in the people who fail at quitting. I will not put a name on it. But some people would call it character. I never knew that I could quit at any time, and maybe that was totally false anyway. Maybe it was the stresses in my life bolstered by facets of my personality that came together and enabled me to quit. Frankly, it was easy. Quitting cigarettes was, physically,much harder. Craving for nicotine was not paralleled by craving for alcohol. In fact the next day I felt better than I had for many years. So maybe it's both a disease and a character flaw, but calling it the latter is useless, maybe even harmful, because we don't know how to fix the flaw or even what it is. bill w</span></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Dec 16, 2020 at 2:31 PM spike jones via extropy-chat <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="gmail-m_-3689219967493678269WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><div style="border-right:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-top:1pt solid rgb(225,225,225);padding:3pt 0in 0in"><p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> extropy-chat <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org" target="_blank">extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org</a>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat<br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, December 16, 2020 11:29 AM<br><b>To:</b> ExI chat list <<a href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org" target="_blank">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>><br><b>Cc:</b> William Flynn Wallace <<a href="mailto:foozler83@gmail.com" target="_blank">foozler83@gmail.com</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [ExI] vaccine was: RE: damn doctors!<u></u><u></u></p></div><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black">I think that you didn't really think when you wrote this:<u></u><u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Think of it this way: if it’s legal, it isn’t really drug abuse.</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:rgb(34,34,34)"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS""><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">>…<span style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">Oh but what about alcoholism? A minor point, to be overlooked, really. Life is good. bill </span>w<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">That one gets by on a technicality: alcohol is a non-prescription drug. Besides, we have been sold this big flim flam that alcoholism is a disease, rather than a character flaw. So we hafta overlook it or seek treatment and so forth.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">For that matter, grass is also a non-prescription drug, but think about it billw: the ingredient which makes ya stoned is THC: tetrahydrocannabinol. OK so we give it that long Latin name, so it sounds all chemicaley and prescriptioney and all that. But sheesh, it is in a weed fer cryin out loud. Giving it that long name doesn’t change the matter really, because we can figure out the meaning by working backwards. Tetra means “four.” Hydro means “water.” Cannabinol translates from the ancient Latin as “stuff that is in weed.”<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">Very simple really: tetrahydrocannabinol a big fancy word for a reefer and four glasses of water. We try to make it so complicated. Simplify your life, put away the weed and the alcohol, enjoy life fully sober. Lots here to enjoy.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"">spike <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS""><u></u> <u></u></span></p></div></div></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>
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