Social Construction of Reality

Critical Thinking Question Chapter 6 #3: George Jean Nathan once quipped, “I only drink to make other people interesting.” What does this mean in terms of reality construction? Can you identify the elements of humor in this statement?

Social Construction of Reality is the process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction. The quote, “I only drink to make other people interesting,” attributed to George Jean Nathan, shows aspects of reality construction. The speaker is not necessarily pleased with the reality he is in (people are not interesting to him) and that he is altering his version of reality by drinking to make people seem more interesting.

Nathan obviously finds himself surrounded by people he does not find interesting, who to him are dullards and boring. He does not find this situation pleasing to himself, so he alters the reality he is experiencing by drinking (although it is not known if Nathan was a heavy drinker). Drinking is a simple way to alter one’s reality - it dulls the mind - in this case making Nathan’s mind less sharp, thereby making the people around him seem more interesting, more intelligent.

This is, perhaps, a drastic means to make a person’s reality more palatable to themselves, but not uncommon. People drink for many reasons, including relaxation, escaping from personal problems, to meet new people, to spend time with friends, and sometimes simply to get drunk. More often than not, drinking is a social occasion, a gathering of people. In any gathering of people, one will find themselves with people who they like and enjoy, and people who are annoying and irritating. Numbing the mind with alcohol, as anyone who has had too much to drink can attest, does a wonderful job of making the most irritating person seem fascinating – of changing the reality one is experiencing.

This quote appeals to our sense of humor because we can relate to it on several levels. It points to a situation that the majority of people have found themselves in – that of being amongst people who are not interesting - and the very common experience of how alcohol affects one’s perceptions. Humor is created by the contrast in reality of our minds when sober versus when we have been drinking, and by appealing to a near-universal experience – uninteresting people around us.

Written for Professor Swanson's Sociology I class at Pikes Peak Community College, 13th October 2003.