Alcohol and its Role in the Evolution of Human Society

Alcohol and its Role in the Evolution of Human Society
Title Alcohol and its Role in the Evolution of Human Society PDF eBook
Author Ian S Hornsey
Publisher Royal Society of Chemistry
Total Pages 684
Release 2016-01-13
Genre Technology & Engineering
ISBN 1782626255

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Archaelogists and anthropologists (especially ethnologists) have for many years realised that man's ingestion of alcoholic beverages may well have played a significant part in his transition from hunter-gatherer to agriculturalist. This unique book provides a scientific text on the subject of 'ethanol' that also aims to include material designed to show 'non-scientists' what fermentation is all about. Conversely, scientists may well be surprised to find the extent to which ethanol has played a part in evolution and civilisation of our species.

Alcohol and Humans

Alcohol and Humans
Title Alcohol and Humans PDF eBook
Author Kimberley Hockings
Publisher Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages 225
Release 2020-01-05
Genre Psychology
ISBN 0198842465

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Alcohol use has a long and ubiquitous history. The prevailing tendency to view alcohol merely as a 'social problem' or the popular notion that alcohol only serves to provide us with a 'hedonic' high, masks its importance in the social fabric of many human societies both past and present. To understand alcohol use, as a complex social practice that has been exploited by humans for thousands of years, requires cross-disciplinary insight from social/cultural anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, psychologists, primatologists, and biologists. This multi-disciplinary volume examines the broad use of alcohol in the human lineage and its wider relationship to social contexts such as feasting, sacred rituals, and social bonding. Alcohol abuse is a small part of a much more complex and social pattern of widespread alcohol use by humans. This alone should prompt us to explore the evolutionary origins of this ancient practice and the socially functional reasons for its continued popularity. The objectives of this volume are: (1) to understand how and why nonhuman primates and other animals use alcohol in the wild, and its relevance to understanding the social consumption of alcohol in humans; (2) to understand the social function of alcohol in human prehistory; (3) to understand the sociocultural significance of alcohol across human societies; and (4) to explore the social functions of alcohol consumption in contemporary society. 'Alcohol in Humans' will be fascinating reading for those in the fields of biology, psychology, anthropology, archaeology, as well as those with a broader interest in addiction.

Drunk

Drunk
Title Drunk PDF eBook
Author Edward Slingerland
Publisher Little, Brown Spark
Total Pages 341
Release 2021-06-01
Genre Psychology
ISBN 0316453374

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An "entertaining and enlightening" deep dive into the alcohol-soaked origins of civilization—and the evolutionary roots of humanity's appetite for intoxication (Daniel E. Lieberman, author of Exercised). While plenty of entertaining books have been written about the history of alcohol and other intoxicants, none have offered a comprehensive, convincing answer to the basic question of why humans want to get high in the first place. Drunk elegantly cuts through the tangle of urban legends and anecdotal impressions that surround our notions of intoxication to provide the first rigorous, scientifically-grounded explanation for our love of alcohol. Drawing on evidence from archaeology, history, cognitive neuroscience, psychopharmacology, social psychology, literature, and genetics, Drunk shows that our taste for chemical intoxicants is not an evolutionary mistake, as we are so often told. In fact, intoxication helps solve a number of distinctively human challenges: enhancing creativity, alleviating stress, building trust, and pulling off the miracle of getting fiercely tribal primates to cooperate with strangers. Our desire to get drunk, along with the individual and social benefits provided by drunkenness, played a crucial role in sparking the rise of the first large-scale societies. We would not have civilization without intoxication. From marauding Vikings and bacchanalian orgies to sex-starved fruit flies, blind cave fish, and problem-solving crows, Drunk is packed with fascinating case studies and engaging science, as well as practical takeaways for individuals and communities. The result is a captivating and long overdue investigation into humanity's oldest indulgence—one that explains not only why we want to get drunk, but also how it might actually be good for us to tie one on now and then.

Alcohol in America

Alcohol in America
Title Alcohol in America PDF eBook
Author United States Department of Transportation
Publisher National Academies Press
Total Pages 136
Release 1985-02-01
Genre Medical
ISBN 0309034493

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Alcohol is a killerâ€"1 of every 13 deaths in the United States is alcohol-related. In addition, 5 percent of the population consumes 50 percent of the alcohol. The authors take a close look at the problem in a "classy little study," as The Washington Post called this book. The Library Journal states, "...[T]his is one book that addresses solutions....And it's enjoyably readable....This is an excellent review for anyone in the alcoholism prevention business, and good background reading for the interested layperson." The Washington Post agrees: the book "...likely will wind up on the bookshelves of counselors, politicians, judges, medical professionals, and law enforcement officials throughout the country."

Reducing Underage Drinking

Reducing Underage Drinking
Title Reducing Underage Drinking PDF eBook
Author Institute of Medicine
Publisher National Academies Press
Total Pages 761
Release 2004-03-26
Genre Medical
ISBN 0309089352

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Alcohol use by young people is extremely dangerous - both to themselves and society at large. Underage alcohol use is associated with traffic fatalities, violence, unsafe sex, suicide, educational failure, and other problem behaviors that diminish the prospects of future success, as well as health risks â€" and the earlier teens start drinking, the greater the danger. Despite these serious concerns, the media continues to make drinking look attractive to youth, and it remains possible and even easy for teenagers to get access to alcohol. Why is this dangerous behavior so pervasive? What can be done to prevent it? What will work and who is responsible for making sure it happens? Reducing Underage Drinking addresses these questions and proposes a new way to combat underage alcohol use. It explores the ways in which may different individuals and groups contribute to the problem and how they can be enlisted to prevent it. Reducing Underage Drinking will serve as both a game plan and a call to arms for anyone with an investment in youth health and safety.

Drinking

Drinking
Title Drinking PDF eBook
Author I. de Garine
Publisher Berghahn Books
Total Pages 260
Release 2001
Genre Psychology
ISBN 9781571813152

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Over the last decades quite a few studies have been devoted to drinking. Most of these were concerned with alcohol and written by social anthropologists. This book presents multidisciplinary aspects of the ingestion of liquids at large, addressing many of the overt and covert meanings of drinking: from satisfying biological needs to communicating with humans and the hereafter, attempting to reach a differential emotional state or seeking good health and longevity through the ingestion of appropriate beverages. It includes papers from both biological and social scientists and covers a fair range of societies from rural and urban environments, and in continents and countries ranging from Europe, Africa, and Latin America to Malaysia and the Pacific.

Alcohol and Public Policy

Alcohol and Public Policy
Title Alcohol and Public Policy PDF eBook
Author National Research Council
Publisher National Academies Press
Total Pages 478
Release 1981-02-01
Genre Social Science
ISBN 0309031494

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