31 December 2016

Until recently in our evolutionary history,  addictive agents have been ingested in foods.  Many are secondary plant metabolites that  evolved because they discourage ingestion by  animals1. The hungers that arise from bodily  needs are non-directive; they merely encourage  us to put things in our mouth. The more acute  the hunger, the greater the range of substances  we will ingest2. We learn to return to the yellow  banana, the purple fig, the pink peach. We also  learn to chew the tobacco leaf and drink the  nectar of fermented fruits and grains. Because  of the need for the nutrients in plants containing  addictive substances, many species  have learned to accept mildly intoxicating  amounts of these compounds. 0

Another heap of approaches to the unhealthy consumption of alcohol can be related to understanding it as pure impulsiveness. We can recall our previous remarks about the compulsiveness of the alcohol consumption. We just add that both impulsiveness and compulsiveness are most literal translations of alcoholics’ experience that can be an unexplainable process to them