system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How can you still function while being black out drunk?

So I get really drunk the other night. I was looking at my debit card statement and I took out $200 from the atm. When i woke up, I only had 20 left. I remember vague things from the night, such as getting into a cab to go back to my hotel room, Not having enough money to pay the cabby, so I had to go in to the hotel lobby and withdraw cash. I then remember meeting some people in the lounge, but have no recollection of their names or how they look. The next thing I remember is waking up in my room, and being thankful that I had my wallet, keys, and phone with me. I have no recollection of the cab ride home, or how I spent the money I took out. How is it possible to not have any recollection of part of the night, yet still being able to find my way back alright?
gpt
The part of the brain that not working is the memory. Alcohol stimulates some neurotransmitters and inhibits others. You can function reasonably well, barring motor or judgement impairments, but you can't form new memories while you're that tanked.

It's not that you 'forgot'. It's that your brain was too pickled to even make the memory.