Humans have evolved to drink alcohol, or at least to be able to metabolise it. And we share this ability with our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees and gorillas, who are also able to convert alcohol into sugar. 
 
It gave our ancestors an advantage because we could eat rotting fruit from the forest floor and convert the alcohol into sugars, providing a source of nutrients that not all species could digest. This is also known as the drunken monkey hypothesis. But paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi asks Professor Robin Dunbar if alcohol is why we go to the pub today.

Humans have evolved to drink alcohol, or at least to be able to metabolise it. And we share this ability with our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees and gorillas, who are also able to convert alcohol into sugar. It gave our ancestors an advantage because we could eat rotting fruit from the forest floor and convert the alcohol into sugars, providing a source of nutrients that not all species could digest. This is also known as the drunken monkey hypothesis. But paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi asks Professor Robin Dunbar if alcohol is why we go to the pub today.

9. Why do we go to the pub?

Why Do We Do That? An anthropologist's guide to the modern world.There are lots of everyday things which, when you think about them, are pretty weird. Like kissing, doomscrolling and sitting down to go to the loo. Social media may tell you to blame the latest influencer who went viral. Your therapist might tell you to blame your parents. But palaeoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi is here to tell you to blame your great, great, great, great, great, etc. grandparents. For some stuff at least. In this series, Ella is joined by some wonderful guests to dive into the cultural, historical and evolutionary story of everyday human habits and behaviour.Photo: Sarah Cresswell / The Times / News Licensing

Science

Why Do We Do That? An anthropologist's guide to the modern world. There are lots of everyday things which, when you think about them, are pretty weird. Like kissing, doomscrolling and sitting down to go to the loo. Social media may tell you to blame the latest influencer who went viral. Your therapist might tell you to blame your parents. But palaeoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi is here to tell you to blame your great, great, great, great, great, etc. grandparents. For some stuff at least. In this series, Ella is joined by some wonderful guests to dive into the cultural, historical and evolutionary story of everyday human habits and behaviour. Photo: Sarah Cresswell / The Times / News Licensing

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