Embrace your Drunken Monkey

Embrace your Drunken Money

I found this article and just had to forward it on.
It is a long read, so save it for a bus/train ride or sitting on the couch.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/02/alcohol-discovery-addiction-booze-human-culture/?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email

Below is a brief summary for the time challenged out there!

Our 9,000-Year Love Affair With Booze

The title says it all.

It seems we have been hard wired to drink booze since before human history. I kid you not, there is a scientific study they call the “Drunken Monkey” hypothesis.

“Our ape ancestors started eating fermented fruits on the forest floor, and that made all the difference,” says Nathaniel Dominy, a biological anthropologist at Dartmouth College. “We’re preadapted for consuming alcohol.”
The primates that ventured down out of the trees got access to a brand-new food source, rich in  calories. “If you can smell the alcohol and get to the fruit faster, you have an advantage,” Dudley says. “You defeat the competition and get more calories.” The ones that stuffed themselves were the most likely to succeed at reproduction—and to experience (while eating) a gentle rush of pleasure in the brain. That buzz reinforced the appeal of the new lifestyle”

So next time you feel like a glass of wine, don’t fight it, embrace your “Drunken Monkey”

There is also another theory which just has to be true.  It is something I have known for a long time, but  due to my lack  of academic qualifications I have kept quiet. But no longer. There is now an academic argument  pointing to the strong link between alcohol and the advancement of human civilisation and culture. (The article was on the internet and the authors are from famous Universities, so it must be true )

“All over the world, in fact, evidence for alcohol production from all kinds of crops is showing up, dating to near the dawn of civilization. University of Pennsylvania biomolecular archaeologist Patrick McGovern believes that’s not an accident. From the rituals of the Stone Age on, he argues, the mind-altering properties of booze have fired our creativity and fostered the development of language, the arts, and religion. Look closely at great transitions in human history, from the origin of farming to the origin of writing, and you’ll find a possible link to alcohol. “There’s good evidence from all over the world that alcoholic beverages are important to human culture,” McGovern says. “Thirty years ago that fact wasn’t as recognized as it is now.” Drinking is such an integral part of our humanity, according to McGovern, that he only half jokingly suggests our species be called Homo imbibens.”

So next time you think about giving up booze, or heaven forbid going on Feb Fast or Dry July, give a thought to the potential advancement of Human civilisation and have a glass of wine.

Who knows it could inspire you to the next great leap forward in the arts or culture, or inspire you to form  a new religion.

So, who want’s to be my first Disciple?