What belief have you changed your mind about and why?

Right from my teenage years until the middle of my undergrad, I held a rigid, unexamined belief that drinking was "cheap," associated with "bad people," and inherently wrong. This deeply judgmental view was a product of my conservative household and early social circles; it was an inherited conviction without any rational foundation. I never questioned it. This baseless belief led me to push away and judge people who drank. While I recognized that judging was wrong, this experience was a crucial learning opportunity that shaped my current perspective.

Fast forward to the time after graduation, and a complete dynamic U-turn has occurred. I have spent significant time analyzing the topic, observing people who drink, including myself, and my perspective has fundamentally changed. My conclusion is a mix of psychological and philosophical insight.

The Corrupted Soul and the Group Dynamic

Every person is born as a pure soul, free from attachments. As this soul grows in the world, it undergoes a form of "corruption." It becomes influenced by external opinions, beliefs, biases, rights, and wrongs. Over time, the soul becomes a highly biased, layered individual, whose every action is preceded by a thousand learned thoughts which is the clutter absorbed from the world.

The person’s most inner circle reinforces this belief system, even rewarding conformity. When an individual attempts to defy these established norms, the group reacts defensively. They behave like the defensive mechanisms in the movie Inception, resisting the architect who tries to change their constructed reality. They believe so intensely in their world that they feel attacked by anyone who chooses a different path, even if that person is causing them no harm. This dynamic is pervasive in many facets of life.

The Role of Substance: A Glimpse of Illumination

Now, returning to the change in my opinion about drinking: What precisely is happening when a person consumes alcohol?

There is a temporary cognitive degradation : a short-term decrease in mental performance. Paradoxically, this decreased performance can momentarily clear the immense clutter of the mind: thoughts about self-image, other’s perceptions, and societal pressures. The soul, buried deep beneath the sands of corruption, is suddenly illuminated, if only by a tiny ray of light.

The path from the outermost, conscious layer to the inner soul is a deep journey, traversing various internal personalities, some calm, some pleasant, and others chaotic or violent. These characters emerge the moment one is under the influence. The depth of the light ray changes based on the intensity of consumption, bringing out the characters hidden at that particular layer. Reaching the purest soul is incredibly difficult, but the path is momentarily opened. Unfortunately, many users become so consumed by the middle, emergent personalities that they get stuck there, forgetting to go deeper, and the soul returns to the dark.

A crucial note on this analysis: Please do not misunderstand this as an assertion that you need to drink a maximum amount to reach the soul. This discussion uses the substance merely as an example to illustrate a philosophical concept regarding the temporary clearing of mental clutter and the layering of the psyche.

This entire analysis of human behavior, this profound understanding of the layers of the psyche and the dynamics of social conditioning, was made possible by observing the effects of this substance.

My former belief that drinking was "cheap" has dissolved. I no longer view it as a moral failing, but as a complex social ritual and, for the purposes of my own reflection, a potent tool for understanding the layered dynamics of human behavior.