When my friends get together, they all drink at their own pace. Some will have 8 drinks by the end of the night, some will have 2. This was the case in high school and college for me, as well.

My point is that anecdotes are not data and have no bearing on the truth of the original article.

It's a bit tautological, but the idea is that the very definition of "not on the same level" includes being annoying/boring to the other people around you.

It could be less about literally 1:1 matching, and more about attitude and enthusiasm matching.

> Part of this is because it's very hard to enjoy the company of people who are much drunker than you.

Fuckin ay. I can definitely get annoyed when I'm hanging with someone/people more drunk than I am to the point where I feel it sobers me up even more and compounds the problem!

It seems like you keep company with other binge drinkers. The decision of how much to drink doesn't happen at the group level during the drinking session, but at the group level when everyone decides to meet up knowing how the group dynamics often play out.

I remember being maybe 16 to 19 where yes, that was definitely the case. It was a matter of trying to be cool and able to handle my beer like everyone else, and blacking out was respected. However, I know I and most people around me grew up (not to sound negative on your situation, just the best wording I could come up with) and grew out of that. Now it's a matter of enjoying ourselves, and for some people that is a six pack in two hours and for others it is a beer lasting them all evening. Enjoying the drink and socializing has become more important than getting drunk, so someone being much more drunk than anyone else, at least in a negative sense, just doesn't happen.

The group reinforcement thing becomes a problem as people get into their 30s - often you’ll find that your heavy drinking friends start to drop off as they get more responsibilities or health concerns, and new ones come in. Eventually you look up and many of your friends are alcoholics.

Well then stop drinking with kids and go get some responsibilities. Be the one that drops off the heavy drinking train.

Yeah, but that's just its own vicious circle. You start hanging out with adults only through your kid's playdates, have more kids like the Joneses due to peer pressure etc.

Your drinking starts suffering as a result, and soon enough you won't even know what IPA is in this summer.

Hahahaha, already there buddy, already there. Can’t say I hate it though, it’s a different stage of life. Use it to learn and grow in different ways.

Also I’d take a Bud Heavy over an IPA any summer day.

There is nothing stopping drinking on playdates.

Depends not just on personal preference, but on the drunk friend. My old boss, who has a very pleasant personality when wasted, and opened up about all sorts of insights into how work was going? Great. Brother-in-law who starts being a dick to his wife and kids? Not so much.

Sure, but the average preference trends towards "on your level" in my experience.

As long as they’re not killing the vibe and zapping the energy, they’re good.

If I'm in a bar with friends or colleagues, I also tend to drink at the same rhythm as everybody, but once I had enough (it can vary depending if I've eaten and if I'm tired or not, but generally around 3 pints), I will generally to stop even if other people around me continues.

I agree completely here with the keeping pace with each other. In college we drank like fish and were all usually on the same level. Now we’re old and have responsibilities and don’t drink anymore. Sure someone went overboard once in awhile, but we all turned out ok.

Damn dude, college was F.U.N.

Do you regret how much you drink?