Sobriety May Be Overrated

 Ammo for Alkies

  

    I read a book review this morning that provides me with an opportunity to break free from a minor case of "blogger's block" which, like many cases of "writer's block", is symptomatic of nothing more than nice summer weather. This will be kept short and I will make clear that the sage wisdom offered is meant for those who: 1) prefer not to be sober; 2) like to consume alcoholic beverages; 3) need a better rationale for doing so; 4) need one quickly for the approaching holiday and 5) want to feel less guilty when leaving the LCBO store or pub. 

  If you incline toward intoxication, you would have been intrigued, as I was, by the title of a review that reads: "A History of Getting Hammered, and Why Some of Us Should Keep Doing It," by Zoe Lescaze, New York Times, June 19, 2021. I realize that those of you on the far right side of things, think that the New York Times is not to be trusted, so I will quickly add that the book under review was written by a university professor. I suppose that doesn't help much for those of you in that category, but I will quickly add again, for my Canadian readers, the fact that the professor resides at a respected Canadian university (UBC.) The title of the book is, for us boozers, as compelling as the title of the review; it is: Drunk: How We Slippped, Danced and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization.  The author is Professor Edward Slingerland and he is a Distinguished University Scholar, whose skills are appreciated in different departments, even in different faculties. He is also a PHILOSOPHER, so if you buy this book, you will be looking at an academic treatise that helps you justify your alcohol consumption, plus you will be the only one at the beach not reading a book by James PATTERSON.

  

   Happy hour approaches, so I will now turn this over to the reviewers and sources, and highlight the bits that you need if you are drinking too much and don't have time to actually read the book. 

   After noting that, even Frederick the Great of Prussia recognized "that beer was a uniquely powerful bonding agent, and key to morale,"the reviewer, Ms Lescaze, goes on to offer the following points:

For thousands of years cultures around the world have “implicitly understood that the sober, rational, calculating individual mind is a barrier to social trust,” Edward Slingerland writes in “Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization,” an effervescent new study that’s equal parts anthropology, psychology and evolutionary biology. Drawing on recent experiments, Neolithic burials, eclectic myths and global literature, Slingerland teases out the evolutionary advantages and enduring benefits of getting blitzed. It’s a rowdy banquet of a book in which the ancient Roman historian Tacitus, Lord Byron, Timothy Leary, George Washington, the Chinese poet Tao Yuanming and many others toast the merits of drowning Apollonian reason in Dionysian abandon..."

"For our ancestors, inebriation was especially essential, “a robust and elegant response to the challenges of getting a selfish, suspicious, narrowly goal-oriented primate to loosen up and connect with strangers.” This is why hunter-gatherers likely began producing beer and wine before bread...."

“It is no accident that, in the brutal competition of cultural groups from which civilizations emerged, it is the drinkers, smokers and trippers who emerged triumphant,” Slingerland writes: Human society would not exist without ample lubrication..."

Disclaimer Alert

   I realize it is a little late and I should have provided this warning at the beginning.  But, in my defence, I only realized that such a warning is now required, when I saw one at the beginning of a CBC report about an upcoming quilting convention in Moose Jaw.  I did not risk reading on, in that case and am not sure what was upsetting, or who was being offended.  Perhaps the quilters simply forgot to ask the Indigenous for permission to temporarily occupy their space. 

   I hope you have not been made anxious or traumatized  by what has been written here so far, but I suggest you have a drink if you want to continue.

An Additional Warning

   Everyone now is rather 'touchy' and as a society we are tending toward temperance, so to protect myself and Professor Slingerland from those such as the MADD people, it should be noted that excessive alcohol consumption has been associated with some health concerns. Even my drinking buddies know that and practice moderation in some matters and generally avoid butter on their toast and salt on their eggs. The professor acknowledges this issue:

Slingerland is adamant that chemically induced communion is just as valuable (and perhaps particularly necessary) in modern times, but he does address alcohol’s more obvious medical and economic costs, the devastating effects of addiction and the subtle, pernicious ways in which drinking can alienate and exclude outsiders. Some readers might find the treatment cursory given the gravity of these issues, but Slingerland simply argues that they have been well documented, whereas serious scholarly work on the value of intoxication is surprisingly scant. As a result, poor alcohol stands “defenseless” against doctors and government policymakers who paint it as pure vice. Slingerland takes up the cause with all the chivalry of a knight-errant, and his infectious passion makes this book a romp as well as a refreshingly erudite rejoinder to the prevailing wisdom.

   Additional information is provided by the publishers, Hachette Book Group, where this blurb is found: 

A "entertaining and enlightening" deep dive into the alcohol-soaked origins of civilization—and the evolutionary roots of humanity’s appetite for intoxication. (Daniel E. Lieberman, author of Exercised)

  Another review is found in the New Scientist and this is found in it:

Slingerland, a philosopher at the University of British Columbia in Canada, has a novel thesis, arguing that by causing humans “to become, at least temporarily, more creative, cultural, and communal… intoxicants provided the spark that allowed us to form truly large-scale groups”. In short, without them, civilisation might not have been possible.

See: "Drunk Review: Could Alcohol-induced Creativity Be Key to Civilisation?" June 2, 2021.

   See also the review in the New York Journal of Books:

Slingerhand does not defend alcohol, but he does point out that it has positive benefits from the past to the present. Alcohol serves as a disinfectant (including for water) and as an anti-parasite medicine, including anti-fungal protection.

“Drunken words are spoken straight from the heart” and Slingerhand devotes much space to the many different dimensions of social drinking. “Sobriety diminishes, discriminates, and says no; drunkenness expands, unites, and says yes.” “The political function of alcohol is practical as well as symbolic.”

   For more, go directly to:

The Wikipedia entry for Professor Slingerland.

The UBC website.

The website for the book:  

The Bonus:

Professor Slingerland has authored other works including: Tying Not To Try. Perhaps he is a better professor than some found on the other side of campus. Our granddaughter is enrolled at UBC. Maybe I will encourage her to stroll over there when an actual visit is allowed. 

In Trying Not To Try, Edward Slingerland explains why we find spontaneity so elusive, and shows how early Chinese thought points the way to happier, more authentic lives. We’ve long been told that the way to achieve our goals is through careful reasoning and conscious effort. But recent research suggests that many aspects of a satisfying life, like happiness and spontaneity, are best pursued indirectly. The early Chinese philosophers knew this, and they wrote extensively about an effortless way of being in the world, which they called wu-wei (ooo-way). They believed it was the source of all success in life, and they developed various strategies for getting it and hanging on to it.