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

Slingerland (Trying Not to Try), a professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, delivers an entertaining and informative look at the “popularity, persistence, and importance of intoxicants throughout human history.” Citing chemical traces of alcohol found on Chinese pot shards from 7000 BCE and peyote buttons carbon-dated to 3700 BCE found in human cave dwellings in Mexico, Slingerland contends that the benefits of intoxication, including boosted creativity, stress relief, and enhanced cooperation, were key to the rise of the “first large-scale societies.” He also delves into biology and neuroscience to explain how alcohol’s inhibition of the prefrontal cortex helps foster a “childlike creativity and receptiveness in otherwise fully-functional adults,” and cites psychological studies showing that moderate intoxication breaks down the social barriers that can prevent people from bonding. Acknowledging that modern distillation techniques and increased social isolation have amplified the dangers of drugs and alcohol, Slingerland suggests ways of “taming Dionysus” such as allowing young adults to sample wine at dinner, so they view it as a “source of aesthetic pleasure” rather than a “forbidden substance.” A witty and well-informed narrator, Slingerland ranges across a wide range of academic fields to make his case. Readers will toast this praiseworthy study. (June)