The most creative people are drunk

Us drinkers often think that our ideas when we’re drunk are the best ever thought. Is it because we’re wasted that we think our ideas are better or are we actually more creative when we’re intoxicated? Well there has been some new scientific research to support that drinking does in fact help in creative problem solving and even the possibility of a “Churchhill gene” that makes some genetically more creative when their on a little of the sauce.

Many of the great thinkers in history have been known to tip back on grandpa’s old cough medicine. Beethoven, Van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, Faulkner, Twain and Winston Churchill all we’re known to use some of the juice to conjure up they’re best ideas. Churchill vouched for the idea that alcohol stirs the muse but also said “Always remember that I have taken more out of alcohol than it has taken out of me.” Which is not the case for all drunk’n masters but using alcohol for a creative companion is all about moderation.

A new study by scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago puts drunk vs. sober in a battle of insight/creative problem solving. The drunk students participating in the study we’re given enough booze to achieve a blood alcohol level of .075, which is just under the legal limit here in PA. As you can see they weren’t just taking sips. The insight puzzles look something like this:

Find the one additional word that goes with the following triad of word:

In this case the answer is “jack.” What the study showed was that drunk students were able to solve more of these problems in less time which added up to a 30 percent higher success rate in drunk students . What is also interesting is the drunk students were more likely to perceive their answers as a result of sudden inspiration (more of the light bulb going on type thing).

But why? In another study comparing the creative problem solving skills between normal people and people with prefrontal lobe damage, it revealed a jump of 39% in terms of creative problem solving for the people with brain damage. What is believed to be the key factor between drunk and brain damaged patients doing so well on creative problems is that when your focus is inhibited you are able to consider more ridiculous but possible solutions. The solutions when found are more of the light bulb sudden inspiration kind of idea but in the end those are usually the best.

Not all creative drunks are created equal though. In an article put out by Prospect magazine, there is evidence to suggest that 15 percent of caucasians have something called a G-variant gene.

This gene makes alcohol behave like an opiate that prompts the release of endorphins that instead of making the user drowsy, actually fosters the creative process. Called the “Churchill gene” for alcohol enthusiast and possibly G-varient Winston Churchill. One thing the Colorado study that Prospect Magazine references says very clearly though is that over consumption of alcohol always ends up destroying the creative process. Everything in moderation.