It’s an effect most of us have encountered at one time or another. The hour is late, someone new is looking mighty attractive to you, and then when you sober up you wonder “what the hell was I thinking?”
We call them “ten to two” girls (or guys). You know, they start looking really good at about ten minutes to 2 AM.
Can this phenomenon be expressed in a mathematical formula? Apparently so.
Researchers at Manchester University say while beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder, the amount of alcohol consumed is not the only factor.
Additional factors include the level of light in the pub or club, the drinker’s own eyesight and the room’s smokiness.
The distance between two people is also a factor.
- An = number of units of alcohol consumed
- S = smokiness of the room (graded from 0-10, where 0 clear air; 10 extremely smoky)
- L = luminance of ‘person of interest’ (candelas per square meter; typically 1 pitch black; 150 as seen in normal room lighting)
- Vo = Snellen visual acuity (6/6 normal; 6/12 just meets driving standard)
- d = distance from ‘person of interest’ (meters; 0.5 to 3 meters)
BBC News: ‘Beer goggles’ effect explained
(via Mental Floss)
Speaking of beer goggles, this music video illustrates the phenomenon rather well. NSFW.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4BA6F5SfTM
Personally I always think “beer goggles” is pretty lame – indeed I don’t think there are many people who do things when drunk that they don’t really want to do. Also people who claim to conveniently “forget” things they do when lashed never convince me. Alcohol lowers the inhibitions, but it doesn’t turn us into automatons.