Edward Slingerland

Yeah, I like a little bit of alcohol and a little bit of marijuana mixed together. It's good for writing. It's also good for performing. You know, it's like, don't give a fuck sauce.

Yeah, I like a little bit of alcohol and a little bit of marijuana mixed together. It's good for writing. It's also good for performing. You know, it's like, don't give a fuck sauce.

We're probably getting messed up, too. Oh, you think so? It goes way back in our primate line. Yeah, there's some new data.

We're probably getting messed up, too. Oh, you think so? It goes way back in our primate line. Yeah, there's some new data.

Chimpanzees are also using fermented fruit socially, so...

Chimpanzees are also using fermented fruit socially, so...

Well, that is one of the functions of alcohol. It reduces anxiety. It gives you, I call this function, the vacation from the self. So it gives you a kind of... little vacation from cognitive control where you're not monitoring yourself as carefully as you normally do. And that's a very important individual level effect.

Well, that is one of the functions of alcohol. It reduces anxiety. It gives you, I call this function, the vacation from the self. So it gives you a kind of... little vacation from cognitive control where you're not monitoring yourself as carefully as you normally do. And that's a very important individual level effect.

But I also talk in the book about the social level effects of enhancing individual creativity and group innovation, enhancing cooperation, acting as a social lubricant, helping people to overcome cooperation dilemmas and trust each other in situations. So we are, what I argue in the book is, you know, we're unique individuals.

But I also talk in the book about the social level effects of enhancing individual creativity and group innovation, enhancing cooperation, acting as a social lubricant, helping people to overcome cooperation dilemmas and trust each other in situations. So we are, what I argue in the book is, you know, we're unique individuals.

in the animal world in wanting to, devoting so much effort and time to altering our consciousness. We've been doing it, figuring out ways to get messed up as long as we've been doing anything in an organized fashion as a species. And that's because we're a weird species. And as you say, part of it is the consciousness, self-awareness. We know the future. We have anxieties about the future.

in the animal world in wanting to, devoting so much effort and time to altering our consciousness. We've been doing it, figuring out ways to get messed up as long as we've been doing anything in an organized fashion as a species. And that's because we're a weird species. And as you say, part of it is the consciousness, self-awareness. We know the future. We have anxieties about the future.

But we also are unusual in that we're primates, but we cooperate with an intensity and a level that looks more like social insects. And we're just not, we're more like chimpanzees than we are like termites. And yet we cooperate with strangers all the time in ways that are very puzzling. We're completely dependent on technology, which means that we're dependent on innovation.

But we also are unusual in that we're primates, but we cooperate with an intensity and a level that looks more like social insects. And we're just not, we're more like chimpanzees than we are like termites. And yet we cooperate with strangers all the time in ways that are very puzzling. We're completely dependent on technology, which means that we're dependent on innovation.

We're constantly having to innovate just to, you know, running just to stand still. So we're a strange species. We're creativity dependent. We're trust dependent in a way no other species is. And that's one of the reasons we've developed this cultural technology.

We're constantly having to innovate just to, you know, running just to stand still. So we're a strange species. We're creativity dependent. We're trust dependent in a way no other species is. And that's one of the reasons we've developed this cultural technology.

Yeah, well, I report one – there's only been one study directly exploring alcohol as a manipulation and creativity with a placebo control. And it found that if you get people to do about 0.08 BAC, so basically about when you shouldn't drive or operate a motor vehicle anymore, your creativity peaks.

Yeah, well, I report one – there's only been one study directly exploring alcohol as a manipulation and creativity with a placebo control. And it found that if you get people to do about 0.08 BAC, so basically about when you shouldn't drive or operate a motor vehicle anymore, your creativity peaks.

So your ability to solve these lateral thinking tasks where you have to kind of make connection between –

So your ability to solve these lateral thinking tasks where you have to kind of make connection between –

unconnected things improves and we know the mechanism actually pretty well so the prefrontal cortex is very important part of your brain it's the most recent part of the the human brain and you need it it's what allows you to you know resist to sweet when you're on a diet and plan for the future and get up and get to work on time but it also interferes with creativity we have very good evidence that when the prefrontal cortex is in control you're good at doing stuff like you

unconnected things improves and we know the mechanism actually pretty well so the prefrontal cortex is very important part of your brain it's the most recent part of the the human brain and you need it it's what allows you to you know resist to sweet when you're on a diet and plan for the future and get up and get to work on time but it also interferes with creativity we have very good evidence that when the prefrontal cortex is in control you're good at doing stuff like you

your taxes or adding numbers together, things where you go from A to B to C. The things that make you want to drink, basically. Yeah, the things that make you want to drink. What it interferes with is your ability to make connections, to kind of make creative leaps. And so there's a whole body of evidence on prefrontal cortex

your taxes or adding numbers together, things where you go from A to B to C. The things that make you want to drink, basically. Yeah, the things that make you want to drink. What it interferes with is your ability to make connections, to kind of make creative leaps. And so there's a whole body of evidence on prefrontal cortex

interfering with creativity, developmental evidence that children are better than adults because their PFC is not as well developed. If you have a stroke and your PFC gets damaged, you suddenly get better on doing these lateral thinking tasks. So yeah, there's a huge body of evidence. So, you know, I point out across the world throughout history,

interfering with creativity, developmental evidence that children are better than adults because their PFC is not as well developed. If you have a stroke and your PFC gets damaged, you suddenly get better on doing these lateral thinking tasks. So yeah, there's a huge body of evidence. So, you know, I point out across the world throughout history,

there's been this association of alcohol and artists people who create who think of new things and um there's good evidence that this is not just a myth there's actually some some empirical evidence

there's been this association of alcohol and artists people who create who think of new things and um there's good evidence that this is not just a myth there's actually some some empirical evidence

I also thought about... It's very hard to get human subject approval to do studies like that. That's why there's only one.

I also thought about... It's very hard to get human subject approval to do studies like that. That's why there's only one.

No, you have to get approval from the university. There's usually an ethics board at the university and they have to approve the study. And it's very hard to get human subject approval if you're doing an alcohol study.

No, you have to get approval from the university. There's usually an ethics board at the university and they have to approve the study. And it's very hard to get human subject approval if you're doing an alcohol study.

I wouldn't say tons.

I wouldn't say tons.

No, it's a ritual that helps mark the shift from the workday where you're on and going and doing things to relaxation in the evening. The pharmacological effects, it's down-regulating your self-monitoring so you're not paying attention to yourself in the normal way you do. And it's, it's the other big chemical effect of ethanol as it's boosting these feel good hormones.

No, it's a ritual that helps mark the shift from the workday where you're on and going and doing things to relaxation in the evening. The pharmacological effects, it's down-regulating your self-monitoring so you're not paying attention to yourself in the normal way you do. And it's, it's the other big chemical effect of ethanol as it's boosting these feel good hormones.

So it's boosting endorphins or tone and it's making you more relaxed and, and feeling kind of good about your life, feeling good about yourself and other people. That's why it's used as a social lubricant universally. So it's got, alcohol's got these very humans use it. You know, my book is about, Alcohol is dangerous. If you're prone to alcohol use disorder, it can be a very dangerous substance.

So it's boosting endorphins or tone and it's making you more relaxed and, and feeling kind of good about your life, feeling good about yourself and other people. That's why it's used as a social lubricant universally. So it's got, alcohol's got these very humans use it. You know, my book is about, Alcohol is dangerous. If you're prone to alcohol use disorder, it can be a very dangerous substance.

It probably has some negative health effects, but we've been using it as a species forever because it has these really crucial functions that are really difficult to replace with yoga or drinking a smoothie at the end of the day. It's just not going to have the same effect on your brain.

It probably has some negative health effects, but we've been using it as a species forever because it has these really crucial functions that are really difficult to replace with yoga or drinking a smoothie at the end of the day. It's just not going to have the same effect on your brain.

Thanks for having us.

Thanks for having us.

Yeah, I like a little bit of alcohol and a little bit of marijuana mixed together. It's good for writing. It's also good for performing. You know, it's like, don't give a fuck sauce.

We're probably getting messed up, too. Oh, you think so? It goes way back in our primate line. Yeah, there's some new data.

Chimpanzees are also using fermented fruit socially, so...

Well, that is one of the functions of alcohol. It reduces anxiety. It gives you, I call this function, the vacation from the self. So it gives you a kind of... little vacation from cognitive control where you're not monitoring yourself as carefully as you normally do. And that's a very important individual level effect.

But I also talk in the book about the social level effects of enhancing individual creativity and group innovation, enhancing cooperation, acting as a social lubricant, helping people to overcome cooperation dilemmas and trust each other in situations. So we are, what I argue in the book is, you know, we're unique individuals.

in the animal world in wanting to, devoting so much effort and time to altering our consciousness. We've been doing it, figuring out ways to get messed up as long as we've been doing anything in an organized fashion as a species. And that's because we're a weird species. And as you say, part of it is the consciousness, self-awareness. We know the future. We have anxieties about the future.

But we also are unusual in that we're primates, but we cooperate with an intensity and a level that looks more like social insects. And we're just not, we're more like chimpanzees than we are like termites. And yet we cooperate with strangers all the time in ways that are very puzzling. We're completely dependent on technology, which means that we're dependent on innovation.

We're constantly having to innovate just to, you know, running just to stand still. So we're a strange species. We're creativity dependent. We're trust dependent in a way no other species is. And that's one of the reasons we've developed this cultural technology.

Yeah, well, I report one – there's only been one study directly exploring alcohol as a manipulation and creativity with a placebo control. And it found that if you get people to do about 0.08 BAC, so basically about when you shouldn't drive or operate a motor vehicle anymore, your creativity peaks.

So your ability to solve these lateral thinking tasks where you have to kind of make connection between –

unconnected things improves and we know the mechanism actually pretty well so the prefrontal cortex is very important part of your brain it's the most recent part of the the human brain and you need it it's what allows you to you know resist to sweet when you're on a diet and plan for the future and get up and get to work on time but it also interferes with creativity we have very good evidence that when the prefrontal cortex is in control you're good at doing stuff like you

your taxes or adding numbers together, things where you go from A to B to C. The things that make you want to drink, basically. Yeah, the things that make you want to drink. What it interferes with is your ability to make connections, to kind of make creative leaps. And so there's a whole body of evidence on prefrontal cortex

interfering with creativity, developmental evidence that children are better than adults because their PFC is not as well developed. If you have a stroke and your PFC gets damaged, you suddenly get better on doing these lateral thinking tasks. So yeah, there's a huge body of evidence. So, you know, I point out across the world throughout history,

there's been this association of alcohol and artists people who create who think of new things and um there's good evidence that this is not just a myth there's actually some some empirical evidence

I also thought about... It's very hard to get human subject approval to do studies like that. That's why there's only one.

No, you have to get approval from the university. There's usually an ethics board at the university and they have to approve the study. And it's very hard to get human subject approval if you're doing an alcohol study.

I wouldn't say tons.

No, it's a ritual that helps mark the shift from the workday where you're on and going and doing things to relaxation in the evening. The pharmacological effects, it's down-regulating your self-monitoring so you're not paying attention to yourself in the normal way you do. And it's, it's the other big chemical effect of ethanol as it's boosting these feel good hormones.

So it's boosting endorphins or tone and it's making you more relaxed and, and feeling kind of good about your life, feeling good about yourself and other people. That's why it's used as a social lubricant universally. So it's got, alcohol's got these very humans use it. You know, my book is about, Alcohol is dangerous. If you're prone to alcohol use disorder, it can be a very dangerous substance.

It probably has some negative health effects, but we've been using it as a species forever because it has these really crucial functions that are really difficult to replace with yoga or drinking a smoothie at the end of the day. It's just not going to have the same effect on your brain.

Thanks for having us.