Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization

Edward Slingerland is Distinguished University Scholar and Professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, as well as Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Human Evolution, Cognition, and Culture and Director of the Database of Religious History. Slingerland is the author of Trying Not to Try, which was selected one of the finest books of 2014 by The Guardian and Brain Pickings and was featured in the New York Times by John Tierney.

While there have been many interesting books written about the history of alcohol and other intoxicants, none have provided a thorough, persuasive answer to the fundamental question of why people want to become high in the first place.

Drunk deftly cuts through the tangle of urban tales and anecdotal impressions that surround our ideas of drunkenness to present the first rigorous, scientifically-backed explanation for our addiction to alcohol. Drunk demonstrates, using evidence from archaeology, history, cognitive neuroscience, psychopharmacology, social psychology, literature, and genetics, that our taste for chemical intoxicants is not, as we are frequently taught, an evolutionary blunder. In fact, drunkenness aids in the resolution of a number of uniquely human problems, including increasing creativity, relieving stress, fostering trust, and performing the miraculous feat of persuading strongly tribal primates to work with strangers. Our urge to get intoxicated, as well as the individual and collective benefits afforded by drunkenness, aided in the emergence of the first large-scale societies. Without intoxication, there would be no civilisation.

Drunk is crammed with fascinating case studies and engaging research, as well as practical applications for individuals and societies, ranging from invading Vikings and bacchanalian orgies to sex-starved fruit flies, blind cave fish, and problem-solving birds. The result is an enthralling and long-overdue inquiry of humanity's oldest vice—one that explains not just why we desire to get drunk, but also why it can be beneficial to us to do so now and then.

Author: Edward Slingerland

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/Drunk-Sipped-Danced-Stumbled-Civilization-ebook/dp/B08KQ18XLF/

Ratings: 4.4 out of 5 stars (from 458 reviews)

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