Is Drinking Alcohol an Evolutionary Mistake? feat. Edward Slingerland

The short answer is no. According to Edward Slingerland our taste for alcohol is a practice found in nearly every culture, meaning that its consumption must offer benefits which outweigh its obvious costs.

Edward Slingerland is a professor of philosophy at The University of British Columbia up in Vancouver, and is also the author of multiple books. His most recent being “Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization.”

So today we are looking at alcohol from a historical perspective: the origins of alcohol production, why humans allocate so many resources to it,and how it helps with the downregulation of certain aspects of human cognition. Many of the themes build on another of Edward’s books, Trying Not to Try: The Art and Science of Spontaneity.

Episode Quotes:

What we spend on alcohol:

People report spending 1/3 of what they spend on food on alcohol. That's a pretty big chunk of your income. And it's almost certainly an under-report because in large parts of the world intoxicants are black market. So you don't really get accurate reports of that. 

Using alcohol to relax:

But it occurred to me at one point that alcohol might be a technology that cultures have stumbled upon to get you around the paradox of trying not to try, because what you can do with alcohol is just take a substance that will reach in directly to your brain and turn the PFC down a few notches.

The role of alcohol consumption in commerce:

Edward: And so if it's a relatively simple thing, like I'm contracting you to deliver me some paper clips   

Greg: I'm gonna download an app on my phone. I don't need to have a drink with the company that makes it. 

Edward: Yeah, it probably is okay. But if I'm engaged in a really long-term complex undertaking with you where there's lots of lee- there's always leeway, right? That's what I'm going to get on a plane and fly to Shanghai and get drunk with you before I sign the contract.

Alcohol for camaraderie:

Some companies have replaced the annual office party with heavy drinking with laser tag outings or rock climbing. And it's probable that that's doing some of the same stuff. So with extreme exercise or getting absorbed in some kind of game, you can get some of that same downregulation of the PFC effect. So there are other ways to do it. It's just, alcohol is really efficient and a pleasurable way to do it. 

What if we ban alcohol:

Maybe if we ban alcohol we'll eliminate drunk driving, we'll lower liver damage. We’ll lower our cancer rates, domestic violence will probably go down. There'll be a lot of great benefits. But we'll be losing stuff. We'll be losing creativity. We'll be losing innovation. 

Show Links:

Guest Profile:

• Faculty Profile at the University of British Columbia
• Edward Slingerland’s Website
• Edward Slingerland on Twitter
• Edward Slingerland on Youtube
• Edward Slingerland on TEDXMaastricht

His work:

• Edward Slingerland on Google Scholar
• Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization
• Trying Not to Try: Ancient China, Modern Science, and the Power of Spontaneity