absinthe experiment #1

It's one thing to theorize about how absinthe can release inhibitions and another to prove it through experimentation.  What better way than to gather a group of unsuspecting drinkers for an absinthe party and study the results?

I never intended to use this gathering of people as test subjects and I never considered studying the results, which makes this experiment all the more credible because I had no preconceived notions as to what to expect.  It was simply a party with a case of absinthe as the offered drink, followed up by inputs and observations from the people in attendance.  Not everyone was drinking absinthe, which made the absinthe abstainers serve as a base-line average to compare with those who invoked the green fairy.  The results were interesting, to say the least.

The absinthe was produced using the original Pernod recipe with the addition of a larger quantity of wormwood, giving it a higher thujone count than even Czech absinthe.  The proof was 160, reduced to 45 to 50 proof by addition of ice water, which made the alcohol content equivalent to a stiff highball.  The primary difference was the selection of herbs.
 
The day after, I was told there was some extremely stupid talk from the absinthe drinkers that could only come from a total lack of social filtering.  I've been to countless parties fueled by booze of every variety and found myself in situations where massive quantities of alcohol washed away all inhibitions but I've never seen a collective transformation this dramatic in such a short time.  I won't give all the details of what happened that night because there are some things best left unmentioned and I'm pretty sure I know more about what happened and everyone else just has only a few bits and pieces.  I noticed only those who drank the absinthe dropped the walls of conventionality and took all the craziness in stride.  Only the wine, whiskey, and rum drinkers, the baseline average, found offense to such extreme, unbridled openness.

This experience got me thinking about cabaret life in the good ol' absinthe days when all those uninhibited artists, writers, can-can dancers, and ordinary people got together to wallow in unrestrained freedom.  Under such conditions, everyone's true self emerged and no one cast judgement.  Social restraints were put aside and unconventionality was the norm.  No wonder the world changed.

Our politically correct 21st century has conditioned us to be something we're not.  Homemakers became domestic engineers, garbage collectors became sanitary specialists, and people with handicaps became handiable and it was all taken as a big joke.  When personnel directors became human resource managers I could see where all of this was heading.  We came to believe our made up titles that gave us a fake feeling of pride that defined us as what we do as opposed to who we are.  Individual thought is replaced by group think and speaking your mind is acceptable as long as it falls within the guidelines of PC.  We went from crime, to hate crime, to hate speech, and thought crime is in the works.  Our social PC conditioning is so successful we almost lost the capacity for rational thought and have to look over our shoulders before telling a joke that might offend someone.  Male and female co-workers are forced to treat each other as androgynous or lose their job from a mis-read compliment.  We're no longer individuals but just another resource to be replaced as easily as changing a light bulb and the threat of poverty keeps us in line.

This careful conditioning succeeded in creating in each of us a social personality acceptable to be shown in public.  A facade personality with a set of fake values and fake thought processes constructed by you with elements of your personality that falls within the strict guidelines of the newly established norms of conditioned society.  Our original personality, formed by thoughts, emotions, and experiences of our personal lives, is still there as a running program but submerged and hidden from view, like the crazy uncle you keep locked in the basement.

The PC facade personality might say, "I'm not a racist."  While the original, submerged, core personality might say, "I'll never let my daughter marry a (insert race or national origin)."  Two diametrically opposed statements, equally valid and believed as truth, from the same person.  Hmmmm.... Sounds a little like multiple personality disorder to me.  George Orwell might call it double-think.  Add some major trauma, like 911, and you could possibly compartmentalize these separate personalities to operate as master/slave hard drives on your computer.  Kinda smacks of MK ULTRA, don't it?

Anyway... It seems drinking absinthe has the unique ability to temporarily erase inhibitions, override our social programming,  release our submerged personalities, and expose our true self, free from social restraints.  Imagine a cabaret filled with artists, writers, royals, and commons swilling absinthe and partying like equals while the can-can dancers are flashing bare legs to the unbridled, cheering crowd as the band plays faster and louder.  Everyone is drinking absinthe and nothing is too bizarre for this crowd.  Sounds like some of the parties I participated in before everyone got so serious about everything.  

Keep in mind, the age of absinthe was the age of Freud and the belief that man's core personality was an irrational, violent brute bent on mob rule and self destruction and had to be controlled through psychoanalysis and conditioning.  Of course, Freud was an idiot but his ideas scared the hell out of the ruling class and absinthe was the monkey wrench in the machine and was soon outlawed.  Besides, man's nature isn't the brute Freud believed but a spiritual being with the capacity to grow, adapt, and recreate the universe at will.  It's this soul, this dormant personality that drives man to the stars.  It's also what distinguishes a free man, as opposed to a slave.

Judging from my limited observations, it appears absinthe not only lowers inhibitions but deconstructs social conditioning, eliminating guilt and its ugly handmaiden, shame.  Appropriate guilt can function as social glue, spurring one to make reparations for wrongs.  Excessive dwelling about one's failures, however, is a surefire recipe for resentment and depression.
Know anyone on meds for depression?

It's just my humble opinion, but I can't help thinking absinthe does the same as orgonite.  It wakes you up, frees your soul, and uncovers vistas you never knew existed.  Absinthe is much more than the sum of it's parts and the effect it has on human brain chemistry is nothing short of instant, fluid enlightenment.

Anyone up for a little experimentation?