But being drunk also decreases situational awareness which would not be evolutionarily advantageous… well I guess social animals might not need to be as situationally aware as solitary species, so maybe inebriation is a more likely explanation
You can sorta see it when you think about it. Dogs, rabbit, meerkats etc are all social but they’d be pretty harmed by the situational awareness issue so you don’t see those social animals having attachments to alcohol. Monkeys though? You definitely do.
I think your guess is right, the social animals that aren’t harmed by the situational awareness downside gain benefits from it and it found its way into genetics in places, while the other social animals don’t gain benefits. There’s even some bird species that actively avoid fermented fruits, probably because it’s a death sentence to be a drunk bird so that found its way into their genetics.
But being drunk also decreases situational awareness which would not be evolutionarily advantageous… well I guess social animals might not need to be as situationally aware as solitary species, so maybe inebriation is a more likely explanation
You can sorta see it when you think about it. Dogs, rabbit, meerkats etc are all social but they’d be pretty harmed by the situational awareness issue so you don’t see those social animals having attachments to alcohol. Monkeys though? You definitely do.
I think your guess is right, the social animals that aren’t harmed by the situational awareness downside gain benefits from it and it found its way into genetics in places, while the other social animals don’t gain benefits. There’s even some bird species that actively avoid fermented fruits, probably because it’s a death sentence to be a drunk bird so that found its way into their genetics.