8 glasses of water is pretty close to the suggested amount. Adequate average daily intake is 15.5 cups for men, and 11.5 cups for women. The saying doesn't say how large is a glass, but 16 cups is 8 16oz glasses, or with 20% from food, 8 12oz glasses.

Most of the largest mammals live their entire lives without a sip of fresh water.

You realise not all mammals have the same nutrition and hydration requirements right?

Unless you are an aquatic mammal specifically designed to live in saltwater, that seems mostly irrelevant.

I live a mile in elevation, if I wait till I am thirsty to drink, my hands turn to ash, my voice gets coarse, and my brain turns to mush. Not everyone has the same needs. Don’t worry about anyone else drinking too much water please.

The first time I visited Denver I walked around a lot and was very confused why I felt hungover when I hadn’t been drinking. I was living in Louisiana at the time, which is at sea level and very humid!

Your specific circumstances don't change the general rule, which is that for most people and under most conditions, hydration status is correctly balanced by thirst. There are indeed exceptions, such as when getting older, which I addressed in my initial comment.

I live about a thousand feet above you.

I notice very few effects of "under-drinking". So yeah, not everyone has the same needs.

On the flip side, I was working outdoors in the sun all day today, and probably ended up drinking about 2 gallons of water without needing to pee much. So not everyone has the same needs even on a day to day basis.

> I live about a thousand feet above you.

I’ve also lived extensively over 9,000ft in altitude. Are we getting into a height pissing contest? If so, why?

Just drink water. Fucksakes.

You're the one who opened with a statement about elevation, presumably to note that it made a difference, somehow. Fucksakes.