It's interesting to note that alcohol is both socially acceptable and neurotoxic, with direct effects on nerve cells. If ancient man had discovered Testors cement before alcohol we would undoubtedly be living in a world of glue huffers who demonize drinking alcohol in cautionary PSA films.
That idea seems to hinge on the notion that the cultural acceptance of alcohol intoxication somehow "filled a niche" that would otherwise have been filled by some other intoxicant.
The first problem to overcome if one wishes to support that idea is that alcohol had other uses than getting plastered. Weak ciders were ubiquitous before refrigeration because they were safe to drink when the local water wasn't. It was also a pain reliever before there were many others and used as a disinfectant.
I could be reading it wrong, but I think the grandparent jumped back to speaking about alcohol in general somewhere along his line of reasoning (without specifically saying where).
> When sodium levels in the blood become very low, water enters the brain cells and causes them to swell. This results in increased pressure in the skull and causes hyponatremic encephalopathy.
My point being the fact that something is "neurotoxic" says little about its practical safety.
Perhaps people don't think you're being funny, just not contributing anything to the discussion without further clarification. Water is not neurotoxic given average consumption for water-consuming humans. Are you implying that alcohol isn't either? Can you explain to us how you came to that conclusion?
The brain is made up of 73% water. What you're describing isn't caused by having too much water, it's caused by having too little sodium. Hyponatremia is an abnormally low plasma concentration of sodium ions.
