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

by Edward Slingerland

This is historically myopic and scientifically unsound. At the end of the day, despite the potential chaos he brings in his wake, we should welcome Dionysus into our lives. We should do so partly in recognition of the challenges we face as a species and the functional benefits he can continue to provide us only partially civilized apes living in artificial modern hives. We should also accept the fact that pleasure is good, for pleasure’s sake, and requires no further justification. We need to debunk the view that alcohol and similar intoxicants are sinister inventions of capitalist modernity, sold to us by nefarious advertisers, leading to nothing but hangovers, lost income, and bulging waistlines. Drinking can make us fat, harm our livers, give us cancer, cost us money, and turn us into useless idiots in the mornings. It can even be lethal, to both us and those around us. It has, nonetheless, always been deeply intertwined with human sociality, and for very good evolutionary reasons. Moreover, its important functions are very difficult, if not impossible, to replace with other substances or practices. Let us therefore embrace Dionysus with appropriate caution, but also with the reverence that he is due.