Liquor Is Quicker

A lot of fictional works use the But Liquor Is Quicker trope to facilitate sex. What basis, aside from lack of inhibition and impaired judgement, does this actually have in fact? How realistic is it, really, after one or two drinks (or a keg, if you're a fictional dwarf) to go to bed with the next person you see? Thoughts? Aversions?

Also, on a related note, I often see the assumption that drinking an alcoholic beverage can make one feel full. Again, how realistic is this, and what's the basis in Real Life? Can it actually work, or is it a load of crap?

edited 1st Mar '11 12:51:17 PM by punkreader

1. Liquor disinhibits. It has similar effects on the central nervous system as Valium and other benzodiazapines. One or two shots of some alcoholic beverage will alleviate a lot of the performance anxiety of meeting new people and will make people less self conscious. A lot of tasks can be improved by moderate imbibbing. There is a sweet spot between looseness and intoxication that can be very useful if nervousness is a major problem. I used to know a concert violinist who always had two drinks before a recital but never before a concert. It helped when she was going up alone but hurt when she as going up in a group.

Enough liquor and you can't make decisions. But by the point that you would be going to bed with a dwarf your wick would be non functional. CNS depression means no boners.

2. Liqour is not exceptionally filling, in and of itself. Part of the numbing effects on the CNS can decrease then feeling of hunger but the better explanation is from the fact that beer is exceptionally filling. It has enormous amounts of carbohydrate calories. A lot of harder liqours also have high sugar levels which provides a temporary sense of fullness.

edited 1st Mar '11 1:04:22 PM by Shrimpus

It's not the one or two that gets it going; it's the fourth, fifth, sixth...

Most people (in my experience) are fine after one or two. The problem stems from knowing when to stop.

Yeah, one or two is more likely to get them to do something they actually want — like, not against their moral code but they're just too shy to do it. It's when you start getting into several drinks that it goes from "less inhibited" to "considerably easier to pressure into something they don't want".

The problem being alcohol is one of those things that tends to be cascading. Those one or two drinks won't just lower their inhibitions against interaction, it'll also lower their inhibitions against taking the next three drinks.

edited 1st Mar '11 4:17:10 PM by Pykrete

And if you're past the point of stopping by yourself, you've lost the ability to stop yourself from doing stupid stuff. Like having sex with someone you don't necessarily trust.

However, is it quicker? Not if you need to get that many drinks down someone's throat.

I get drunk, I fall asleep. I prefer my sex awake thanksallthesame.

@OP: Depends on the person. Some people are dancing naked on tables by drink three, others polish off a whole bottle and don't do much more than smile.

I couldn't tell you what the variable is, though it seems to be related to how in denial you are about something.

And as has been stated, alcohol lowers your inhibitions. So things you want to try become things you will try when alcohol's added to the equation.

Ditto. A glass or two of wine and my spouse and I are pretty much done for the night as far as anything sexual is concerned. I guess we just don't hold our liquor very well.

What Ratix is saying is an important point. Liquor won't help you with someone you are already comfortable with. It will simply knock you out (CNS depressant that it is). Liquor is only helpful in a situation where you would be experiencing anxiety.

"Only" is hyperbole here. In my experience, I'm very tightly wound most of the time, and the disinhibition effect of two or three drinks works wonders for my assertiveness and confidence, and actually focus some of the time too - since I'm not fixating on worrying about a task or situation, I can put all my energy into actually doing it. Do I NEED alcohol for that? No, obviously. But it speeds up and simplifies the process considerably, so the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

As has been said, the issue is that one or two drinks can very easily lead to eleven or twelve, and depending on the person problems can start at any time between then (or later than that of course). Knowing where to stop is key, but the disinhibiting effect of the drink also deprives you of your willpower/capacity to actually do so, so must be taken into account ahead of time. Ie, if you think, sober, you can stop yourself after 6 drinks, it's a good bet that after you've had those 6 you'll be too loose to do so, so you should really stop after 4.

Well you have a baseline level of anxiety.

I've always been an extremely anxious person.

But that's not a bad thing, nor is using alcohol to relieve that problem.