Addiction Medicine Intersection (Working Theory)
Alcohol changes the brain through pharmacology; explanations do not work in the same biochemical way.
But structurally, the comparison is interesting.
Alcohol:
discomfort
↓
drink
↓
relief
↓
increased likelihood of repeating the behavior
Premature certainty:
discomfort
↓
explanation
↓
relief
↓
increased likelihood of repeating that explanatory habit
They're not identical mechanisms.
But they share a reinforcement structure.
Working question:
"The bourbon hits the nervous system before evidence is needed."
ft
"The bourbon relieves the nervous system before reality changes."
Become curious about the moment relief enters your thinking.
Ask: When did your explanation begin making you feel better?
Then: Did the evidence increase after that, or did the evidence stop mattering because the relief had already arrived?
Finally:
Did reality become clearer...
or
Did my nervous system simply become temporarily calmer?
This is a working hypothesis, not a conclusion. I don't know whether this comparison ultimately holds. I'm leaving it here because it has become useful to me while designing these assignments. If later evidence changes my mind, the assignments should change too. *That is part of the curriculum also.*
