WHY SCIENCE IS MAKING LIFE BORING... | Teen Ink

WHY SCIENCE IS MAKING LIFE BORING...

October 4, 2009
By OscarDonovan BRONZE, Cowes, Other
OscarDonovan BRONZE, Cowes, Other
4 articles 0 photos 40 comments

Favorite Quote:
You should try everything in life, except incest and barn-dancing.


I’m sorry to say it, but scrolling through this category makes me a little ashamed of being a teenager.

By the looks of things, most of us are intent on gabbling on about the news that (shock-horror) smoking, drinking and drugs can shorten your life-span. As if we haven’t been told enough already. Now, I’m not advocating a life that revolves around the next fix, cig, or flagon - but let’s at least enjoy ourselves. Without these three deadly sins, where would we be?

Where would art, music and our beloved literature be without drugs? How could the artist, musician or novelist survive without the odd hasty cigarette clenched between their troubled lips? Where would the weekends of stumbling, spewing and stupidity be without the litres of white cider and mysterious mixed spirits?

If we are all as clever as we would like to think, why is it that we still torture our bodies with these fatal excesses?

The answer is fun - doing stuff for the pure hell of it - it’s supposed to be what we (teenagers) live for. Now is the time to feast on rebellion, however petty, and believe ourselves to be invincible. So why waste it preaching to the unconvertible, when there’s plenty of sensible heads on aging shoulders to do that for us?

Let’s stop patronising each other, and just enjoy surviving. After all, good health is merely the slowest rate at which we can die!

The author's comments:
I know bad ratings are going to be inevitable (if anyone even reads this) but I hope that if you actually do give it a glance, you'll be able to see where I'm coming from. I understand the terrible affects that drink and drugs can have on our lives - but let's not forget the unforgettable and inspirational moments that they can provide...

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This article has 265 comments.


on Feb. 18 2012 at 4:49 am
samwhoam PLATINUM, Granby, Massachusetts
25 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Good thought, I do think that "substance" use is a pivotal part of life, and the experiences and stupors engaged in are essential. There are many different ways of learning. Of course everything in moderation plays its part also, and you made that evident.

on Feb. 12 2012 at 10:35 pm
Welllll...this is a really interesting perspective...Personally, I do not believe in drinking/smoking/etc. I do believe that we should live our lives as much as we can, though. "Carpe Diem" is a phrase that I live by. I think life is alot more fun and interesting when you take risks with a clear head. All that smoke and substance clogs your brain and makes everything all fuzzy...but "to each his own..."

on Jan. 27 2012 at 5:47 pm
RealisticWoman BRONZE, Nowhere Land, Alabama
2 articles 0 photos 16 comments
I agree with you too. Artists probably have a lot of things wrong with their life and are able to paint their sorrows or joys with the talent of practiced hands. The drugs and alcohol do nothing to enhance their works. They do that to supress their depressions.

on Jan. 27 2012 at 5:44 pm
RealisticWoman BRONZE, Nowhere Land, Alabama
2 articles 0 photos 16 comments
I agree with you about being clean and all. But where did the conservative thing come from? I'd also like to mention that if you would bungee jump in Africa instead of smoking or drinking, I'm sure it would cost a lot lest yearly than either of those activties.

on Jan. 5 2012 at 5:18 pm
BlueRain BRONZE, Clarkston, Michigan
2 articles 5 photos 254 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you was beyond my control."

Drugs don't make you live your life to the fullest. All they do is make you waste a huge chunk of time if you're caught driving under the influence, along with all the other accidents you can cause that can seriously injure or kill people. There is no good side to drugs except temporary relief for the drugged, and you usually regret it anyways.

on Jan. 5 2012 at 5:16 pm
BlueRain BRONZE, Clarkston, Michigan
2 articles 5 photos 254 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you was beyond my control."

Ironic comment, considering it's about smoking.

on Nov. 10 2011 at 10:02 pm
I get where ur coming from EoinC, but I agree w/ TheAdvocate...u have to be responsible with ur body. I mean, I'm all 4 living life on the edge and stuff...but I'd like to b clear headed while doing it. Drugs inhibit ur judgement and ability to think...I'd rather go bungee jumping in Africa off Victoria falls than waste my time smoking... Does bungee jumping sound like a "conservative" activity to you? lol

Snowed GOLD said...
on Nov. 10 2011 at 11:09 am
Snowed GOLD, Dublin, Other
14 articles 0 photos 24 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Tread softly because you tread on my dreams" - Yeats

So you'll have a nice conservative life, follow the rules, don't take any chances, generally acting responsibly... Then BOOM, it's over. That's it. I think that's what he was trying to get across in his article. 

Snowed GOLD said...
on Nov. 10 2011 at 11:06 am
Snowed GOLD, Dublin, Other
14 articles 0 photos 24 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Tread softly because you tread on my dreams" - Yeats

It's about time somebody took this take on the matter... Well done :) Breath of fresh air.

Scoobydoo said...
on Sep. 17 2011 at 7:53 am

Yikes. (First of all, doing stuff for the "h***" of it is absolutely not a good reason) ... yes, artists and dramatists(etc.) who were also addicted to crack, opium, were alcoholics...well, if you look at their personal lives(apart from their amazing art), they were often wrecks.

p.s. Coke and alcohol don't make wonderful art. The person's talent does, and they probably dumbed themselves down from what --even more-- amazing artists they could have been.

 


ambnyc SILVER said...
on Aug. 19 2011 at 10:39 pm
ambnyc SILVER, Rego Park, New York
6 articles 0 photos 133 comments

Favorite Quote:
You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. - Dr. Seuss

I agree with this. While I am not a fan of drugs or drinking, the occasional drinking-at-a-party doesn't hurt. I like to be young, have fun with my friends, all that. :)

ambnyc SILVER said...
on Aug. 19 2011 at 10:37 pm
ambnyc SILVER, Rego Park, New York
6 articles 0 photos 133 comments

Favorite Quote:
You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. - Dr. Seuss

He's not endorsing addiction. Makes that pretty clear in the article.

on Aug. 8 2011 at 3:29 pm
emolover95 GOLD, Park City, Utah
13 articles 0 photos 25 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

I do not agree with this. Yes, we should live our lives to the fullest. I honestly believe that the activities described in your article would be living life to its fullest. Drugs tear lives apart. I've seen it happen in my own life, why would I endorse drugs? They are terrible! Nothing about them are wholesome or fun. Addiction is not living life to its fullest. It's making you a slave, you are no longer free, because you are a slave to your own addiction. I like how you started it out.

SilverSurfer said...
on Jul. 11 2011 at 1:42 pm
Don't you think it would be cool to try to become a legend w/out drugs? And for every artist who did drugs, there is one who didn't.

TheAdvocate said...
on Jul. 11 2011 at 1:37 pm
well I believe people should "live their lives to the fullest" as the next dude, but honestly drugs and drinking do NOT make life anymore fun. They lead to accidents, death, overdoses, depression and diseases. And sure, there are people who live full, happy lives while doing drugs, but how do you know that you'll be one of them? Drugs don't discriminate, and neither do diseases like cancer. There are alot of people who would kill to have a healthy body-don't taint one if you have one! Alittle fun now can mean alot of PAIN later....be responsible, guys. Think about your actions and get help if you've got a problem. Trust me, looking back someday, you'll be glad you didn't pick up a cigarette or drink that bottle of beer.

on Jun. 23 2011 at 6:54 pm
Thoreau420 SILVER, Martinsburg, West Virginia
7 articles 0 photos 39 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is its destruction." - Bob Marley

I agree, mostly. We're not invincible, but yes, we should live, we should act for the hell of it. We should live life to the fullest, experience everything possible. 

on Jun. 23 2011 at 6:51 pm
Thoreau420 SILVER, Martinsburg, West Virginia
7 articles 0 photos 39 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is its destruction." - Bob Marley

"Where would art and music be without drugs" Highly modified. I'm assuming you've heard of someone called Stephen King? Big stoner, quoted to sanction marijuana legalization. He's just one, there have got to be countless artists and musicians: sublime, cypress hill, even George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew marijuana on their farms and were quoted to enjoy smoking it. Drugs like marijuana gives people a new outlook on their world and life, a reality check, a new perspective. It's inspired millions, but it's been built up as something evil. People have bought into the propoganda, and seeing as how you can't even manage to say "hell", you've accepted their lies whole-heartedly. You've been accepted into the system. Welcome to the machine.

Lilliterra said...
on Jun. 21 2011 at 6:40 pm

where would we be without these three? Somewhere better than we are!

Where would art, music, and literature be? Why the exact same place, or close to it. No good art or writing has ever come out of drugs or drinking...

Where would artists be without this stuff? Better off than where they are! If they are troubled, they need to find a SOLUTION, not a narcotic.

I don't know about you but I want to get rid of weekends of "stumbling, spewing, and stupidity".

Your next question makes no sense. Are you admitting that these "fatal excesses" are a stupid bad idea? that's what it seems like, anyway.

And doing stuff for the pure he(ck) of it is NOT what teenagers live for. And you said it is "supposed to" be, but who told you that? Is it just what you glean from people's inane, immoral lifestyles?

OscarDonovan, you are not invincible, and you know it. Remember this when you are dying of lung cancer and then tell me you were still right... When you're dying from a drug overdose, will you really be glad you wasted your life in a stupor? No one knows when they're going to die. It could be tomorrow. You're not guaranteed old age, especially if you keep living like this.

If good health is merely the slowest rate at which we can die, wouldn't you rather have it? Wouldn't you rather be in good health and your right mind so that you can fully enjoy the life that you do have?


Scoobydoo said...
on May. 25 2011 at 9:04 am
Oops...for some reason my comp is doubling everything I say. :/ It will probaly do it to this too...

Scoobydoo said...
on May. 25 2011 at 9:04 am

(This was in reply to a comment below)

Should we acclaim Al Capone for adding an element to Chicago culture/society?

Or what about the family life of these drugged artists/musicians? Obviously there was something troubling them...why else would they drown themselves in drugs and alcohol. Yes, they were still able to produce many amazing works of art/music, but gracious...drugs do nothing but dumb you down and space you out. Seriously. Real artists are ones who need NOTHING to "enhance" their perception of reality. True art is being in control of your senses, and through that control, creating a masterpiece.