One possible meaning of (human) life, or which came first, bread or beer.

Once in a while I read an outstanding piece in the “Atlantic,” usually by a woman, that really gets me thinking. The “Drinking Alone” essay by Kate Julian was just such a piece. [theatlantic.com] The basic premise was that alcohol fostered community involvement which led to where we are today. In humankinds early day they started eating fermented fruits off the ground and enjoyed the experience it brought.
Some takeaways ”Bonding is necessary to human society, and alcohol has been an essential means of our bonding.” An item was brought up called the Ballmer Peak ”Is booze for programmers like spinach for Popeye? The Ballmer Peak, a reference to Steve Ballmer of Microsoft, holds that imbibing alcohol improves cognitive ability, up to a point–a variation of the Yerkes-Dodson law, which shows a correlation between arousal and performance. Anecdotal evidence suggests that optimal programming occurs about two beers in.” [observer.com]
There’s an interesting bit about how women’s drinking is accelerating and there are products that help them hide their imbibing. One is a BOOZE TAMPON [amazon.com] also ”Although both men and women commonly use alcohol to cope with stressful situations and negative feelings, research finds that women are substantially more likely to do so. And they’re much more apt to be sad and stressed out to begin with: Women are about twice as likely as men to suffer from depression or anxiety disorders—and their overall happiness has fallen substantially in recent decades.”