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A comment on Alcohol as a social technology to check the trustworthiness of others (2014). Parent comment

Re:Alcohol as a social technology to check the trustworthine... by distantaidenn on Saturday August 08, 2020 @12:47AM (#24089072)
This is patently false. You drink at the nomikai because everyone drinks at the nomikai. If you don't join, then you are seen as not being a team player. It's as simple as that. There is no subterfuge going on. Hell, the boss is usually the one that ends up the most drunk. Yes, perhaps some people may use it as a way to gain some insight, but you can apply that to anything.

And in addition, whatever is said or done at the nomikai stays in the nomikai. It's a way for the team to blow off some steam and be honest with each other. The next day, people carry on as if it never happened. I've been the drunk guy and the sober guy in these situations. You do learn a lot, but it's not the purpose of the gathering.

Source: I've lived and worked in Japan and Korea for over a decade.

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Re:Alcohol as a social technology to check the trustworthine... by tempestn on Saturday August 08, 2020 @01:00AM (#24089129)
You open with, "This is patently false," but then don't really seem to contract what the OP said.
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Re:Alcohol as a social technology to check the trustworthine... by unabst on Saturday August 08, 2020 @01:46AM (#24089373)
OP is saying nomikais are about trust. P is saying they are about team, and that they help bring the boss down and lift the workers up.

Nomikais are both. If anything it's just an excuse to drink, and each company or team would decide how they drank. It starts in college with bukatsu nomikais. And there are good ones, and the ones where the ring leader is arrested for serial rape. That happened at Todai, and is definitely not normal, but unless you're the leader (there is always a leader) how are you to know until you show up and everyone starts drinking? Much like frat recruiting in the States. My year, someone died (1997 I think it was).

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Re:Alcohol as a social technology to check the trustworthine... by tempestn on Saturday August 08, 2020 @03:15PM (#24094278)
Yeah, it could be both. Also the two are somewhat complementary. Hence my (apparently typo'ed) statement that it didn't contradict the OP's comment.
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Re:Alcohol as a social technology to check the trustworthine... by nhlx2 on Saturday August 08, 2020 @01:27AM (#24089289)
Exactly my confusion!
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