Feature: Why how we drink has shaped our civilisation

It's Dry July and thousands of New Zealanders are giving up alcohol to raise money. It's a chance to rethink our relationship with drinking, but maybe not in the way you might expect. Drinking is one of humanity's oldest habits. In fact, civilisation itself may never have taken off without alcohol, says Dr Edward Slingerland, a professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia. Wherever humans have settled, fermented drinks have followed. He argues that's no accident. Rather than seeing alcohol simply as a vice, Slingerland explores how it has acted as a social lubricant, strengthening trust and cooperation and helping to lay the foundations of culture itself. His book is called Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization. [picture id="4JLT6U9_edward_slingerland_photo_credit_paul_joseph_jpeg" crop="16x10" layout="full"]