A man may choose whether he will have abstemiousness and knowledge, or claret and ignorance.

Appetite and attention draw on the same account. Evenings spent softening the edges are evenings not spent learning anything, and the mornings after are dulled as well. The point is less moral than arithmetical, and the arithmetic holds whether or not you look at it. Most people would rather keep both options open than admit they have already picked.

Pick one small evening this week and see what it buys you. Notice what the next morning feels like, and whether the hour you gained went anywhere. That is the whole experiment.