Not gonna lie, Steven REALLY annoys me, I find him super irritating and arrogant but I really don’t think what he said was that deep and warrants the level of mocking he’s got, I agree optimisation culture is stupid and unhealthy but also, I kind of agree with him and his take on alcohol, 3 glasses of wine is almost a bottle of wine depending on the measure. My husband has actually given up alcohol not because he wants to optimise every inch of his life but because it makes him feel like tit for about 3 days afterwards and I can’t lie I agree it does, Steven was right that it does mean you don’t eat as well the next day, which also adds to you feeling tit. I do drink alcohol but not a lot, I have a baby and when I have gone out and had a few large glasses of wine I am a worse parent the next day, I just am, I feel rubbish and like I can’t be arsed! So I don’t drink much now.
I totally understand why people push back on optimisation culture. Not everything in life has to be about productivity and performance. Sometimes it’s nice to have a few drinks with your mates and not analyse it to death, but we’ve got to a point where saying “alcohol negatively affects me for a few days afterwards” is apparently enough to get you mocked by half the internet. British culture is so centred around drinking that I sometimes think people take any criticism of alcohol really personally. If someone saying they don’t drink because it makes them feel awful offends you, or if someone pointing out that alcohol has consequences beyond the actual night out bothers you that much, then maybe that’s worth thinking about.
I also don’t think Steven literally meant three glasses of wine ruined his life. It was obviously just a figure of speech. The reaction has been far more ridiculous than the comment itself.
