Thinking, Not Drinking

Steven Johnson was on NPR's Science Friday a few days ago, talking about his latest book, The Invention of Air, an exploration of the work of Joseph Priestly. It was generally very interesting and worth a listen (I imagine I'll have to read the book pretty soon), but one of the things Johnson said echoed a point he made in The Ghost Map that caught my attention while I was reading it a few months ago.

Basically, because the water supplies of medieval and renaissance Europe were so vile, alcohol was the only beverage safe from contamination. So people would start their day with beer or wine and go on from there.

When tea was introduced from the Asia and coffee from South America, people had options for drinks that were also safe, because coffee and tea both have naturally antibacterial properties (in addition to requiring boiling water).

The coffee house was initiated, creating both a place to get coffee and a forum for talking with other people that wasn't premised on the idea of being drunk (such as the pub).

So basically, Johnson was saying that the Enlightenment and the rise of scientific thinking that followed it were partially made possible by the fact that fewer people were drunk all the time -- so their brains were working -- and some of the men got to talk to each other when they weren't drunk, creating an intellectual community beyond the limited array of church-dominated academic institutions.

I'm sure I've oversimplified it, but that was the gist of it.

Talk about unintended consequences!