Drunk
How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization
by Edward Slingerland
Drunk describes the effects alcohol has had on human civilisation. It covers the physiological, mental, psychologic/creative, and communal effects of alcohol, as well as its negative aspects. Slingerland keeps one foot in the scientific fields but his text is more for the general public.
It is certainly fun to read.
Published in 2021, it is a timely addition to the popular conversation about alcohol’s place in society. Countries, for the past half-century or so, have been adopting more and more stringent regulations against drinking. The results have been safer roads, fewer unnecessary deaths, less property damage, and the list of benefits goes on. But Slingerland dares to ask if we aren’t losing something valuable through this modern-day prohibitionism at the same time.
We are shown that communal society arose hand in hand with inebriating substances. The earliest archeological sites have clear evidence of alcohol use. And the written historical record gives support to the idea that alcohol, wherever humans have gathered, has been present and appreciated.
It seems there’s no separating groups of people and alcohol.
Slingerland posits that it is our Prefrontal Cortex being dialed down a few notches by alcohol that allows us to better cooperate, that the rush of endorphins into the brain makes us more sociable, and that, every once in a while, humans need to stop operating so cerebrally.
Slingerland explicitly discusses the Dionysian/Apollonian duality of humankind. This is refreshing because it is so easy to forget.
Most of the time it feels that there’s no time for drinks out with friends and that the drinking days of college are finished. But here, a case is made that a little unruliness and disorder are necessary to make life worth living.
Because of Drunk’s clear organisation and its brevity, it is very accessible. Even as an audiobook.
Those with an interest in history, civilisation, psychology, or sociology should read Drunk, though it is not an academic text. Rather, it’s a popular science response to the logical question: If alcohol is so bad, why do we keep drinking it?
Did you read Drunk? What did you think? Please leave a comment below.