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by cainxinth·6y ago·view on hn ↗
A quote often misattributed to Hemingway puts it even simpler: “Write drunk, edit sober.”
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“If an important decision is to be made, they [the Persians] discuss the question when they are drunk, and the following day the master of the house where the discussion was held submits their decision for reconsideration when they are sober.”

Herodotus, allegedly

You left out the rest of it: " Conversely, any decision they make when they are sober is reconsidered afterwards when they are drunk." So it's not just that all decisions should be considered sober; it's that they should be considered both sober and drunk.
> You left out the rest of it

Intentionally, yes. I couldn't find a definitive translation that I liked. Here's another take:

"They [the Persians] are accustomed to deliberate on matters of the highest moment when warm with wine; but whatever they in this situation may determine is again proposed to them on the morrow, in their cooler moments, by the person in whose house they had before assembled. If at this time also it meet their approbation, it is executed; otherwise it is rejected. Whatever also they discuss when sober, is always a second time examined after they have been drinking."

I really just wanted to riff on the subject of involving alcohol in decision making.