25 Oct 2021 - David Baker
Tag: books
I finished reading Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization by Edward Slingerland. The book is an entertaining read because it’s a combination of social psychology, evolutionary history, and a history of alcohol. Peppered with some quality quotes from historical figures about alcohol. Did you know George Washington made the case to Congress to open several distillaries as critical to the moral of his army? This is despite the fact that he won several battles because the enemy was drunk, so he was well aware of the negative effects.
In my view it makes 2 arguments regarding alcohol:
Slingerland makes the case that these are actually one and the same point. He says we are evolutionarily adapted to consume alcohol to our benefit. There is evolutionary precedent for some animals to have an alcohol resistance if it’s beneficial to them, such as some fruit flies who’ve evolved to resist the effects of alcohol and lay their eggs in fermented fruit where predators wont eat them. There is also human precedent in genes that reject alcohol, such as “Asian Flushing Syndrome”. One might think that given all the negative health effects of alcohol any adaptive gene that rejects alcohol consumption should have taken over the world.
While alcohol sensitivity didn’t evolve, other parts of the human gene pool did. Early humans who could trick and deceive their peers were more likely to survive. This caused an evolutionary response to those who could detect trickery and micro facial expressions, and increased their own chances of survival. This cycle evolved to our current state of being extremely attuned to both facial expressions and lying. If only there was a way to level the playing field, so both sides could be sure of the other’s sincerity and honesty when making peace pacts, or signing contracts. It should come as no surprise that historically alcohol was used extensively when deal making. It is difficult to maintain trickery and dishonesty while intoxicated. The romans knew this too and coined the term In Vino Veritas - In wine there is truth.
In adults, our fully developed prefrontal cortex gives us our inhibitions, our practical style of problem solving, and our socially accepted behavior. A child has none of these, their undeveloped prefrontal cortex is actually an evolutionary necessary for their learning processes. They can outperform adults on tests that measure creativity and lateral thinking. Their lack of inhibitions make it extremely helpful during language learning; they are not afraid of pronouncing things wrong and finding things that stick. Their blank slate regarding social behavior makes them completely adaptable to whatever cultural and social norms they need to learn. The point of this is, what if there was a way to stunt our adult prefrontal cortexes and reap the benefits of a child in it’s learning stages? Alcohol does exactly that. With a stunted prefrontal cortex we enhance our human creativity, we adapt to cultural differences, and vastly increase our communal bonding. The book makes the case for all 3 of these with historical examples and scientific studies.
Regarding the second point, there is a famous 2018 article in the medical journal The Lancet that concluded that there is no safe amount of alcohol. These types of studies focus exclusively on the health effects and have a blind spot to the more complicated psychosocial effects. For instance, there is correlational data that suggests couples that are moderate drinkers have healthier relationships with each other, their friends, and their communities. It also fails to measure the effects on professional relationships. The bar, and other alcohol fueled work events, offer politicians, executives, professors, and others opportunities to connect with voters, workers, and students on a truly human level outside of rigid social hierarchies. Without alcohol, these events are just extensions of their already existing organizational structures and don’t provide the same opportunity for human connection.
Man, being reasonable, must get drunk Lord Byron
Slingerland argues that the negative effects of alcohol can really be traced down to a single event: distillation. Never before in evolutionary history had our bodies been exposed to such a high content of alcohol during such a short amount of time. The most alcohol we’ve ever squeezed out of wine in the absolute best circumstances has been 16% ABV. With beer and wine it was quite difficult to overdose and die from drinking alcohol. With liquors suddenly it became quite easy. Combine liquors with the less communal lifestyles that we have now, heavy machinery (cars), and mental health, distillation really did create a perfect storm of alcohol related deaths. Another issue that appears only in the US is that our servers are tip based, so they disinsentivised to regulate excessively inebriated customers.
Slingerland does not shy away from the other side effects of alcohol either. Harrassment, abuse, marginalization, and many other negative social interactions are easily exacerbated by alcohol. He doesn’t offer a great solution, but rather suggests it’s worth embracing the benefits and putting the effort into avoiding the negatives. Mindful drinking, or only drinking when you can savor and enjoy it is one. Another is portion control through several “hacks” like smaller drink sizes. Lastly and most importantly is completely avoiding liquors altogether, since we are so evolutionarily unadapted to handle it. Slingerland also notes that some cultures like Italy, have quite a high amount of alcohol consumption, but a relatively healthy relationship with it. Their drinking is almost entirely a social and ritual experience, largely around food, and mostly wine. Children are exposed to healthy volumes of alcohol, and drinking alone is taboo.
My takeway, unsurprisingly, is that moderation is key.