"We've been looking at alcohol consumption through this very distorted lens," says Edward Slingerland, author of Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization. "We've only been looking at it as a kind of addictive pleasure substance. We haven't been seeing any of the positive social benefits."
While not minimizing the dangers of overuse, Slingerland lays out a case that alcohol is a cultural technology that motivated humans to create and maintain civilization.
