Why do people stupify themselves? in Buy a Ticket, Take a Ride

Tolstoy asked: why do people do drugs?

I love this blog, Brain Pickings, it makes me wish I read more books. It basically steals and comments on sections from amazing books from old fantastically intelligent people, such as Tolstoy, who here asks, why do people do drugs? or, in his vernacular, “Why do men stupefy themselves?”

And while I always look forward to what old dead great writers have to say, especially when they have something to say about drugs, I thought Tolstoy’s explanations were weak.

My problems begin with his very wording of the question, to stupefy, to make one stupid, as if drugs make you less smart. They certainly make you perceive and act differently, but I doubt they make you stupid. To say they make you stupid is myopic. Lots of people, smart and dumb, do drugs. Some of them are very, very, smart. Do smart people do drugs to make themselves artificially stupid? Sometimes maybe, but mostly I don’t think so.

Nevertheless, he begins his inquiry by asking the people who do the drugs why they do them, which seems logical. But he is not satisfied with their answers, which seem to be by my reading:

• “I like it,” seems like a valid reason to me.
• “Everyone else does it,” or peer pressure.
• “It is good for you,” which Tolstoy does not believe in the face of health hazards. But it was a common belief in the past that drugs such as cocaine were actually good for you back when they were sold in the Sears catalog.
• “It passes the time,” or “they make me happy,” because drugs are entertaining, which brings us back to the first point, doing drugs because we like them.

Tolstoy goes on to observe that those under the influence of drugs do or think things they would normally not do, actions he describes are contrary to the indication of conscience. As if we do drugs to suppress our conscience and to not feel shame of our actions.

Which is strange because while I can say drugs alter my sense of shame they do not eliminate it or suppress it entirely, yet, I have learned to be less ashamed of myself from my drug experiences, and I do not think that is a bad thing. I am not a bad person who should feel immense amounts of shame aside from a few normal human transgressions.

Tolstoy goes on to describe drugging other people to lower their inhibitions in order to manipulate them, which the blog correlates to date rape, which I think is an interesting conundrum and certainly a real risk of doing drugs– they make one more vulnerable.

Sometimes vulnerability is good. It is a trait I find endearing in anyone. I wish to protect vulnerable people. Vulnerability helps us connect with each other. But when vulnerability is taken advantage of, it becomes a disadvantage obviously. Which is why I advise to try not to do drugs around untrustworthy people, or at least do drugs with friends that you trust to protect you if you must mix with strangers while on drugs.

But maybe Tolstoy has this understanding of drugs because he mostly mentions alcohol specifically, one drug I’ve never really enjoyed doing very often to be honest.

Last updated January 05, 2015