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Originally Posted by Boogster
We're getting into semantics.
An athlete takes steroids to enhance his performance; a shy person drinks to hide his inadequacy. It might not be 'escapism', but it's the same thing.
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Its not really the same thing, because (assuming the athlete was competant and had properly researched his training and drug routine), he would only be taking steroids to break through a genetic barrier - ie there would be no way for him to significantly improve his performance through natural means alone. However, the shy person who uses alcohol to boost his confidence is treating the symptom rather than the disease. They would probably be better off working out why they were shy, and doing something about it directly.
I agree with Dante that 'escapism' is generally a meaningless term. In some strands of existentialist literature, you will encounter the claim that pretty much everything humans do on a day-to-day basis is essentially just a way of escaping the dread of non-being/anxiety/whatever. Is this just playing with words? Of course. But it doesnt seem all that different to what people try to do with the word when applying it to people who drink.