Drunk (book)

Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, And Stumbled Our Way To Civilization is a nonfiction book by Edward Slingerland. It was published by Little, Brown Spark in 2021.

Written by Canadian-American philosopher Edward Slingerland, the book argues that alcohol has had a positive impact on human civilization. The book argues that alcohol increases social trust and collaboration by reducing inhibitions, and that it encourages creativity. These traits give humanity an edge over other species, allowing human civilization to advance. Slingerland uses evidence from psychology, anthropology, evolutionary biology and human history to argue that alcohol provides benefits to society that can outweigh costs like addiction and negative health effects.

"For most of our history we've been drinking two to three percent beers," Slingerland explains, noting that historically built-in safety systems helped regulate alcohol consumption. He describes how before modern distillation, alcoholic beverages had natural limits. Beers contained only 2-3% alcohol by volume (ABV) and wines reached 8-10% ABV since "yeast are turning sugars into alcohol which is a poison, so the yeast are slowly poisoning themselves." Social customs provided additional moderation, as "we're drinking typically historically in a communal situation where there's really clear ritual restrictions on drinking." Slingerland emphasizes that concentrated alcohols through distillation only emerged in the 1300s in China and 1500-1600s in Europe, meaning "we really haven't had time culturally or genetically to adapt to access to this kind of alcohol" that can exceed 80 proof.^[1]

Slingerland surveys drinking practices across history to illustrate how ritual intoxication shapes communal life:

• Göbekli Tepe - 11,000-year-old Turkish site with evidence of ritual drinking vessels and feasting
• Neolithic China - c. 7000 BCE site known for fermented rice-honey-fruit drink for rituals
• Sumer - Beer drinking rituals formed core of religious ceremonies and social gatherings
• Ancient Egypt - Festival of Drunkenness honored Hathor
• Ancient Greece - Wine-centered symposia facilitated philosophical and political discourse
• Shang dynasty - Bronze vessel alcohol rituals connected rulers to ancestors and reinforced power
• Viking Culture - Communal mead drinking central to military bonding and the swearing of sacred oaths
• Georgian Culture - Tamada-led formal drinking ceremonies
• Vedic Culture - Soma-induced state of religious ecstasy and commune with the divine
• Pacific Islands - Kava ceremonies fostered conflict resolution and community building
• Ancient Sumer - Communal beer production linked to ceremonial gatherings
• Inca Empire - State control of chicha for ceremonial use and labor mobilization
• Native Americans - Used calumet and peyote in sacred rituals
• Modern Japan - Nomikai breaks down hierarchies and builds team bonds

The book received mostly positive reviews from critics. In a review for The New York Times, Zoë Lescaze wrote that "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."^[2] Peter Gray, writing in Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, praised the book as "just under 300 pages of fact-filled, thought-provoking, humorous and engaging prose, telling a rich story of alcohol in human social life."^[3]

Publishers Weekly,^[4] Vijaysree Venkatraman of New Scientist,^[5] Camper English of The Alcohol Professor ^[6] and Jeffrey Meyer of Library Journal described it as entertaining, informative and well researched.^[7]

Kirkus Reviews and Ralph Peterson of Seattle Book Review, gave the book more negative reviews, describing its arguments as repetitive and unconvincing.^[8][9]

• History of alcoholic drinks