Why do we use intoxicants?

Whether it’s booze, weed, opiates, or even caffeine, the drive to catch a buzz seems almost universal for members of our species. For big parts of the world, drinking alcohol plays a huge role in our social lives, in religious rituals, and in some eras it was even a prerequisite for civic engagement.

Find out how the phrase “take him down a peg or two” was derived from a drinking game, which animals consume alcohol, and hear from the professor inventing an alcohol substitute.

Why do we use intoxicants?
Whether it&rsquo;s booze, weed, opiates, or even caffeine, the drive to catch a buzz seems almost universal for members of our species. For big parts of the world, drinking alcohol plays a huge role in our social lives, in religious rituals, and in some eras it was even a prerequisite for civic engagement.
Find out how the phrase &ldquo;take him down a peg or two&rdquo; was derived from a drinking game, which animals consume alcohol, and hear from the professor inventing an alcohol substitute.

Why you do what you do! Exploring our loves, our fears, our habits and hopes, Dessa takes a deeply personal look at what lies behind our thoughts and behavior. Can a better understanding of human nature help us be more generous with other people’s weird behavior and even our own?Deeply Human is a BBC World Service and American Public Media coproduction with iHeartMedia.

Why do you do what you do? Dessa takes a deeply personal look at the reasons we humans behave in such varied ways.

Deeply Human

Faded

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/0972159a-3de5-43ff-af93-ae6200e02aac/transcript

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