>>10476
>should I start drinking?
I would say no. Even if you take the addictive element out of the equation, because almost no one who starts drinking does so with the intention of becoming an addict, it's is just another drink with diluted poison in it.'
It's inevitable that we eat and drink things that damage our health's, so why bother seeking out another already well known trouble maker? And alcohol is a step above the usual crap like sugar and estrogen, when I called it diluted poison that wasn't a metaphor.
And don't worry about your friends, if a relation hinged on something as banal as drinking alcohol, it wasn't worth it anyway.
>everyone else is doing it and i wonder if I'm missing out on an important human experience.
First of all, you shouldn't let something like peer pressure or popularity decide if you should do something, at least not as the foremost reason. If that were the case, all of us should have bought fidget spinner when they were still a fad. For the moral reason of rejecting and fighting addiction wherever it may be found or for the physical reasons of health concern, these are good and real grounds to decide if you should do something or not.
But to get to the core of your question, are you segregating yourself from an important experience and your peers by not drinking I have to say no.
I, for example, have never drank a drop of alcohol intentional and am doing just fine in the social department. My drinking friends aren't ostracizing me just because I won't accept a drink at a birthday or party. And you're not missing out on anything, rather it are they who are missing out on a lot of brain cells and a lifespan of clarity. It's just what you value more, knowing what it is to be drunk or influenced, or how it is to develop and live without the influence of alcohol or other drugs since it's about the same story for that subject.
>at the same time, im not interested in another addiction, especially one that can kill me.
If you don't want it, don't do it. Regardless of pressure. Even in moderation, the effects will be noticed in the elder years and you'll miss the experience of living clear of mind and loyal to your own moral code.
Just so you get some perspective from the other side, since the most common standpoint is that it's good as long as it is done according to some arbitrary limit of moderation.
