Talk:List of common misconceptions/Archive 31

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Alcohol is a drug

For #Alcoholic_beverages

With a long history as one of the oldest beverages, alcohol consumption is normalized in many cultures, leading to unique drinking cultures. This leads to the misconception that alcohol is separate from other drugs. Phrases like "drugs and alcohol" unintentionally reinforce this idea, implying alcohol isn't a drug itself. Some people might not consider alcohol a drug because it has different effects and legal status compared to illegal drugs. However, according to scientific definition, alcohol is a drug. 94.255.152.53 (talk) 22:16, 1 June 2024 (UTC)

Do you have a reliable source that supports that this is a misconception, and is this "misconception" mentioned in any of the topic articles? We'd need both of those to meet the inclusion criteria. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 13:46, 2 June 2024 (UTC)
@Mr swordfish: No, but many adult people that I've talked to say "alcohol and drugs" (see above). I bolded the text above + cn that we need to find a source for. --94.255.152.53 (talk) 00:02, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
Alcohol, sometimes referred to by the chemical name ethanol, is one of the most widely consumed psychoactive drugs in the world and falls under the depressant category.[1][2] It is found in fermented beverages such as beer, wine, and distilled spirit[3] – in particular, rectified spirit.[4] With a long history as one of the oldest beverages,[5] alcohol consumption is normalized in many cultures,[6] leading to unique drinking cultures. This leads to the misconception that alcohol is separate from other drugs. Phrases like "drugs and alcohol" unintentionally reinforce this idea, implying alcohol is not itself a drug. Some people might not consider alcohol a drug because it has different effects and legal status compared to illegal drugs.[citation needed] However despite being legal, alcohol, scientifically classified as a drug, has paradoxically been demonstrably linked to greater social harm than most illegal drugs.[7][8] 94.255.152.53 (talk) 22:16, 1 June 2024 (UTC)

I bolded the text above + cn that we need to find a source for. Who is "we"? This doesn't seem to be any particular misconception, rather a use of the word drug in different contexts with alcohol. signed, Willondon (talk) 00:49, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

@Willondon: Please be kind. I found this "The alcohol industry has been keen to emphasise that alcohol is not a drug" - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1995479/ --94.255.152.53 (talk) 00:58, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
(no need to ping here) People have varying understandings of how the concept of drug and alcohol intersect, and in varying contexts. That doesn't indicate any conceptual confusion as to whether alcohol is or isn't a drug. And your argument that it's a common misconception is the efforts of The alcohol industry has been keen to emphasise that alcohol is not a drug, even though it's a common misconception. signed, Willondon (talk) 01:12, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
"(no need to ping here)" -- You're boring. --94.255.152.53 (talk) 01:23, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
As the ethanol article itself says, it is the "second most consumed drug globally behind caffeine". Should we also mention that people don't think of coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola as drugs? By the way, the phrases "marijuana and other drugs", "heroin and other drugs", etc. are not uncommon either. Not to mention that "drug" is a very broad and vague word. The "drugs" referred to in "penicillin and other drugs" are presumably not the same as the ones being referred to in "heroin and other drugs". --Macrakis (talk) 18:18, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
  • I decided to use "Alcohol is a drug" for this Talk section to make it consistent with w:Alcohol (drug) (which describes that it's a psychoactive drug). So, I agree, "Alcohol is a psychoactive drug" is a clear and informative title for the section. It aligns with scientific definitions and how other psychoactive drugs are presented on Wikipedia. To delve deeper, we could add a sentence about the concept of normalization. The term "drug" encompasses a wide range of substances, including commonly consumed psychoactive drugs like caffeine and nicotine. Unlike some illegal drugs, alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine are normalized in many cultures. This normalization can contribute to the misconception that because something is common, it's not a drug. --94.255.152.53 (talk) 19:07, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
  • "By the way, the phrases "marijuana and other drugs", "heroin and other drugs", etc. are not uncommon either." -- Exactly, they are commonly referred to as drugs, while alcohol is often treated differently; As I said earlier, Phrases like "drugs and alcohol" unintentionally reinforce this idea, implying alcohol is not itself a drug. (which is equal to "alcohol and drugs" but not "alcohol and other drugs). --94.255.152.53 (talk) 19:24, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
I see your point. But very few people would deny that alcohol, caffeine, etc. are psychoactive (although they might not use that word). It's just that the word "drug" that has come to mean "illegal drug" or "illicit drug", to the point that medical professionals seem to avoid talking about "drugs" and instead talk about "medications". By the way, the definition in drug is clearly inadequate. It reads: "A drug is any chemical substance that when consumed causes a change in an organism's physiology, including its psychology, if applicable." This would cover water, salt, and sugar as well as poisons such as cyanide. --Macrakis (talk) 20:18, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
" It's just that the word "drug" that has come to mean "illegal drug" or "illicit drug", to the point that medical professionals seem to avoid talking about "drugs" and instead talk about "medications"." -- Thank you, I don't think we can get broader than this. "The terms drug and medicine are used interchangeably, although the word “drug” has the connotation of an illegal substance, such as cocaine or heroin (controlled drugs in the UK)." - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7120710/ -- I don't mind if we change the subject to: The term "drug" shouldn't be confused with "illegal drugs". What do you think about it? --94.255.152.53 (talk) 21:38, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
This is an article about misconceptions, not about ambiguous words, and it doesn't give advice like 'The term "drug" shouldn't be confused with "illegal drugs".' --Macrakis (talk) 21:53, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
Obviously I meant: The term "drug" is misconceived as "illegal drugs". --94.255.152.53 (talk) 23:43, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
That's not a misconception, just semantic drift, to the point that it's becoming a skunked term that you can't use in the general sense for fear of misunderstanding. In that sense, it is perfectly true that alcohol is not a drug (sc. illicit drug). --Macrakis (talk) 14:08, 4 June 2024 (UTC)
Thank you very much, I appreciate your use of precise vocabulary. I added "Drugs can have a negative connotation, often associated with illegal substances like cocaine or heroin. This is despite the fact that the terms "drug" and "medicine" are sometimes used interchangeably." to Skunked_term#Other_terms. Do you think the text/article/section is correct? --94.255.152.53 (talk) 06:35, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

References

  1. ^ Crocq MA (June 2003). "Alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and mental disorders". Dialogues Clin. Neurosci. 5 (2): 175–185. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2003.5.2/macrocq. PMC 3181622. PMID 22033899.
  2. ^ Costardi JV, Nampo RA, Silva GL, Ribeiro MA, Stella HJ, Stella MB, Malheiros SV (August 2015). "A review on alcohol: from the central action mechanism to chemical dependency". Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira. 61 (4): 381–387. doi:10.1590/1806-9282.61.04.381. PMID 26466222.
  3. ^ Collins SE, Kirouac M (2013). "Alcohol Consumption". Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. pp. 61–65. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_626. ISBN 978-1-4419-1004-2.
  4. ^ Różański M, Pielech-Przybylska K, Balcerek M (September 2020). "Influence of Alcohol Content and Storage Conditions on the Physicochemical Stability of Spirit Drinks". Foods. 9 (9): 1264. doi:10.3390/foods9091264. PMC 7555269. PMID 32916918.
  5. ^ Patrick CH (1952). Alcohol, Culture, and Society. Durham, NC: Duke University Press (reprint edition by AMS Press, New York, 1970). pp. 26–27. ISBN 978-0-404-04906-5.
  6. ^ Sznitman SR, Kolobov T, Bogt TT, Kuntsche E, Walsh SD, Boniel-Nissim M, Harel-Fisch Y (November 2013). "Exploring substance use normalization among adolescents: a multilevel study in 35 countries". Social Science & Medicine. 97: 143–151. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.08.038. PMID 24161099.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nutt_2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Nutt D, King LA, Saulsbury W, Blakemore C (March 2007). "Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse". Lancet. 369 (9566): 1047–1053. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)60464-4. PMID 17382831. S2CID 5903121.

Decline

[1] "older people tend to underestimate their cognitive decline" Benjamin (talk) 05:04, 9 June 2024 (UTC)

Curiosity's "Happy Birthday"

I would like to propose the addition of the following text under the "Astronomy and spaceflight" section:

  • Mars rover Curiosity does not sing "Happy Birthday to You" to itself each year on the anniversary of its landing. While its sample-analysis unit did vibrate to the tune of the song on the first anniversary, it has not done so in subsequent years.

These sources make it clear that that the song was a one-time occurrence and that there is a misconception that the song is played annually. One or both of them could be used as references:

While the misconception is not mentioned in the current text of the Curiosity article, the fact that the song was sung is, and I believe it would be perfectly justifiable to add the misconception to the rover's article as well as to this one.

For full transparency, I will mention that I attempted to add this misconception to this article back in 2019, but it was reverted by another editor, and I gave up on it. However, this is a real misconception and I stand by my view that it warrants inclusion in this article.

- Sensorfire (✎|‽) 01:44, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

Where are the reliable sources showing that this is a common misconception? Meters (talk) 07:54, 11 June 2024 (UTC)
I think the sources I linked are already sufficient to establish that, but if you want it laid out a little more explicitly, here you go, from CNet: "Some fans asked Curiosity about the widespread belief that the rover sings "happy birthday" to itself every year, but it turns out that's not quite right." (emphasis mine)
By the way, if you'd like some examples of the misconception appearing in published news, here are two:
  • From ABC13 Houston: Headline: "Mars rover sings 'Happy Birthday' to itself" (published 2017, a year in which that did not happen). "On the anniversary of its landing, Curiosity is programmed to sing the "Happy Birthday" tune."
  • From The Telegraph: "So, every year on August 6, Curiosity is programmed to sing a lonely birthday tune." (again, emphasis mine).
Also, both of these latter two articles end with the sentence "Perhaps someday, someone on Mars will finally hear it." So maybe ABC13 Houston plagiarized The Telegraph.
I hope this helps. Sensorfire (✎|‽) 01:42, 12 June 2024 (UTC)
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