From time to time, I go through a process where I debate whether or not some of the things I do in life are necessarily the best things I could do for myself. Two of the most frequent topics are the amount of alcohol I drink and the amount that I blog. While the former isn't really that bad (I rarely drink outside of social interactions, as I prefer milk/water with meals over alcohol), the latter sometimes spirals out of control. I write a little too much perhaps, as if I'm not writing on here I'm writing on my comic blog Multiversity Comics, and if I'm not doing that I'm dropping tweets at an almost absurd volume. It seems like it should be a negative at this point.
Thankfully, the world has scientists to prove to me that not only are they not bad things, but they're even good for me! Huzzah!
One study discussed in Time shows that those that abstain from alcohol are actually more depressed on average, and those that drink regularly (but not binge drinkers) are less socially anxious and less depressed. The reason for it is fairly obvious - those that drink are blessed with social lubricant, thus less social anxiety. Those that are less socially anxious are likely to have more friends, those with my friends are likely to be less depressed. Delightful! Of course, no one mentioned anything in the study about the fact that they only studied Norwegians, a people who are known for their drinking. The fact that those that do not drink may actually be shunned does not come up, but that's fine with me: science says I'm doing the smart thing, so I'm down.
Then, another study discussed in the New York Times has found that those that have to deal with nonsense (mostly in the print form) often are more intelligent. The reasoning is that those that deal with nonsense primes the brain to sense patterns a person would likely miss otherwise, allowing for the average person to effectively become the equivalent of Simon Baker in The Mentalist (or at the very least James Roday in Psych). Given that I have to deal with my own writing on a day to day basis (most of which is non-sensical until I beat it into a bloody pulp), I'm probably the most intelligent person on the planet at this point.
Of course, if you read this blog regularly, that probably means you are intelligent as well. Not because you read my blog, but because you actually attempt to comprehend what I'm saying. So bravo to you dear reader.
Now excuse me, as I have to work on becoming more intelligent while becoming less depressed. Duty calls...