Author argues that alcohol plays a key role in our collective social interactions. Alcohol down regulates the function of the p f c, making it harder to lie. We find ourselves funnier and more attractive when we've been drinking. There's empirical evidence that past inhibitions help people get close with others.
Do we have alcohol to thank for civilization? The answer, according to Edward Slingerland’s new book, “Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization,” 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.