Next Big Idea club: Why Alcohol Makes Us More Creative, Sociable, and Attractive

Next Big Idea Club ➞

Do we have alcohol to thank for civilization? According to Edward Slingerland’s new book, Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization, the answer is a resounding yes. Edward, who’s a professor at the University of British Columbia and self-proclaimed “philosophical hedonist,” says that far from being an evolutionary fluke, our taste for alcohol is an evolutionary advantage—one that we’ve relied on for millennia to help us lead more social, creative, and pleasurable lives.