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Drunk : how we sipped, danced, and stumbled our way to civilization / Edward Slingerland.

By: Publisher: New York : Little, Brown Spark, 2021Copyright date: ©2021Edition: First editionDescription: ix, 369 pages ; 25 cmContent type:
  • still image
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 0316453382
  • 9780316453387
Other title:
  • How we sipped, danced, and stumbled our way to civilization [Portion of title]
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 394.1/3 23
  • 394.1/3 23
LOC classification:
  • GT2884 .S56 2021
Contents:
Why do we get drunk? -- Leaving the door open for Dionysus -- Intoxication, ecstasy, and the origins of civilization -- Intoxication in the modern world -- The dark side of Dionysus.
Summary: Drunk cuts through the tangle of urban legends and anecdotal impressions that surround our notions of intoxication to provide the first rigorous, scientifically-grounded explanation for our love of alcohol. Drawing on evidence from archaeology, history, cognitive neuroscience, psychopharmacology, social psychology, literature, and genetics, Slingerland shows that our taste for chemical intoxicants is not an evolutionary mistake, as we are so often told. In fact, intoxication helps solve a number of distinctively human challenges: enhancing creativity, alleviating stress, building trust, and pulling off the miracle of getting fiercely tribal primates to cooperate with strangers. Our desire to get drunk, along with the individual and social benefits provided by drunkenness, played a crucial role in sparking the rise of the first large-scale societies. We would not have civilization without intoxication. From marauding Vikings and bacchanalian orgies to sex-starved fruit flies, blind cave fish, and problem-solving crows, Drunk is packed with fascinating case studies and engaging science, as well as practical takeaways for individuals and communities. The result is a captivating and long overdue investigation into humanity's oldest indulgence--one that explains not only why we want to get drunk, but also how it might actually be good for us to tie one on now and then.
Holdings
Item type Current library Shelving location Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode
Book Book NMC Library Stacks GT2884 .S56 2021 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 33039001461556

Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-349) and index.

Why do we get drunk? -- Leaving the door open for Dionysus -- Intoxication, ecstasy, and the origins of civilization -- Intoxication in the modern world -- The dark side of Dionysus.

Drunk cuts through the tangle of urban legends and anecdotal impressions that surround our notions of intoxication to provide the first rigorous, scientifically-grounded explanation for our love of alcohol. Drawing on evidence from archaeology, history, cognitive neuroscience, psychopharmacology, social psychology, literature, and genetics, Slingerland shows that our taste for chemical intoxicants is not an evolutionary mistake, as we are so often told. In fact, intoxication helps solve a number of distinctively human challenges: enhancing creativity, alleviating stress, building trust, and pulling off the miracle of getting fiercely tribal primates to cooperate with strangers. Our desire to get drunk, along with the individual and social benefits provided by drunkenness, played a crucial role in sparking the rise of the first large-scale societies. We would not have civilization without intoxication. From marauding Vikings and bacchanalian orgies to sex-starved fruit flies, blind cave fish, and problem-solving crows, Drunk is packed with fascinating case studies and engaging science, as well as practical takeaways for individuals and communities. The result is a captivating and long overdue investigation into humanity's oldest indulgence--one that explains not only why we want to get drunk, but also how it might actually be good for us to tie one on now and then.

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