Synthesis
Breathing. Living. Existing. This is the only way to really become less intoxicated. Of the 12 people interviewed for this study, only two stated that there was nothing you could do to sober up, outside of giving it time. As for the other responses, the most popular claims for sobering up revolved around drinking water and coffee, eating some "salty food", or by "dancing a lot". The act of sobering up can not be affected by any choice a person makes, but yet people still have found ways to feel more sober, even if they are technically not.
One of the most common misconceptions is that water will help individuals become more sober. This misconception can be traced to the gross exaggeration surrounding the benefits of water in our society. As Aubry (2008) explains, water does not actually clean toxins out of your system, nor is the proverbial eight glasses of a water a day necessary. If society believes that water is capable of clearing toxins from your system, then it would be reasonable to assume that water can clear the toxin of alcohol out of the drinker’s system. As Doucleff et al. (2014) demonstrate, water can make a negligible impact on reducing the consumer’s BAC, but it is not the cure that many drinkers believe it is. The mythological qualities of water have helped contribute to making drinking water the leading misconception surrounding sobering up.
Caffeine is also a common solution for getting the mind/body to act sober. Many of our respondents indicated they they, or others they knew, had been told at one time to drink either coffee or tea to sober up. Though these kinds of drinks may help someone who is intoxicated to feel more alert, it will not actually help them expel the alcohol from their bodies. In fact, “people who have consumed both alcohol and caffeine may feel awake and competent enough to handle potentially-harmful situations, such as driving while intoxicated or placing themselves in dangerous social situations” (Gulick & Gould, 2009). Some of our interviewees indicated that bouncers at bars/clubs were advising visibly drunk people to get a cup of coffee before entering, unintentionally encouraging them to find a way to feel like they can drink more.
Another variant on confusing ‘being alert’ vs. ‘being sober’ in the interviews came in the form of exercise. While dancing can help pace drinking—the more you remain sedentary, the more you are likely to drink—there is little evidence that suggests that strenuous activity will somehow speed up the sobering process. Along with this idea is the misconception that it is possible to sweat out the alcohol through running or sitting in a sauna. Artificially speeding up metabolism will have a negligible effect on how alcohol makes its way through the bloodstream.
As educators, it is important to see how hearsay, myths, and prior knowledge affect how our students reasonably understand their world and our content. By conducting this study, we have seen how something as vague as “personal experience” can become so ingrained in how people think and act. Our student’s personal experiences directly impact their thoughts and beliefs in the classroom. Context deeply matters. When we realize the risks these misunderstandings about alcohol pose, we can then apply that to how we treat our students’ prior knowledge in class, and ultimately how we work with them to understand their own understanding.
One of the most common misconceptions is that water will help individuals become more sober. This misconception can be traced to the gross exaggeration surrounding the benefits of water in our society. As Aubry (2008) explains, water does not actually clean toxins out of your system, nor is the proverbial eight glasses of a water a day necessary. If society believes that water is capable of clearing toxins from your system, then it would be reasonable to assume that water can clear the toxin of alcohol out of the drinker’s system. As Doucleff et al. (2014) demonstrate, water can make a negligible impact on reducing the consumer’s BAC, but it is not the cure that many drinkers believe it is. The mythological qualities of water have helped contribute to making drinking water the leading misconception surrounding sobering up.
Caffeine is also a common solution for getting the mind/body to act sober. Many of our respondents indicated they they, or others they knew, had been told at one time to drink either coffee or tea to sober up. Though these kinds of drinks may help someone who is intoxicated to feel more alert, it will not actually help them expel the alcohol from their bodies. In fact, “people who have consumed both alcohol and caffeine may feel awake and competent enough to handle potentially-harmful situations, such as driving while intoxicated or placing themselves in dangerous social situations” (Gulick & Gould, 2009). Some of our interviewees indicated that bouncers at bars/clubs were advising visibly drunk people to get a cup of coffee before entering, unintentionally encouraging them to find a way to feel like they can drink more.
Another variant on confusing ‘being alert’ vs. ‘being sober’ in the interviews came in the form of exercise. While dancing can help pace drinking—the more you remain sedentary, the more you are likely to drink—there is little evidence that suggests that strenuous activity will somehow speed up the sobering process. Along with this idea is the misconception that it is possible to sweat out the alcohol through running or sitting in a sauna. Artificially speeding up metabolism will have a negligible effect on how alcohol makes its way through the bloodstream.
As educators, it is important to see how hearsay, myths, and prior knowledge affect how our students reasonably understand their world and our content. By conducting this study, we have seen how something as vague as “personal experience” can become so ingrained in how people think and act. Our student’s personal experiences directly impact their thoughts and beliefs in the classroom. Context deeply matters. When we realize the risks these misunderstandings about alcohol pose, we can then apply that to how we treat our students’ prior knowledge in class, and ultimately how we work with them to understand their own understanding.