What if alcohol never existed?

Humans consume an astounding amount of alcohol. The global annual consumption is enough to provide each person with 6.2 liters of pure alcohol every year [source: WHO]. This isn't beer, wine, or even whiskey — it's the kind that might send you straight to the ER if consumed recklessly. When you factor in that 61.7% of the global population abstains, that leaves drinkers with a staggering 16.3 liters per person. Looks like we're going to need some mixers.

The alcohol we ingest undeniably impacts our behavior. In 2012, alcohol was responsible for 5.9% of global deaths — that's 3.3 million fatalities from alcohol-related health issues, violence, and drunken driving [source: WHO]. In the U.S., 10,076 people died in alcohol-related car crashes in 2013 [source: DOT]. If alcohol vanished overnight, we'd undoubtedly see a global reduction in deaths and violence.

However, a complete absence of alcohol wouldn't solve all our substance-abuse issues. The urge to alter consciousness is innate — every culture throughout history has relied on some form of mind-altering substance, alcohol or otherwise [source: SIRC]. For some, it's ayahuasca (a hallucinogenic drink derived from a woody vine), cannabis, or various types of mushrooms. The need for an escape from everyday life, along with social bonding, is ever-present. Saudi Arabia, for example, prohibits alcohol but is grappling with a drug epidemic — in 2014, 30% of all amphetamine seizures were in Saudi Arabia [source: Sloan]. Iran, which has banned alcohol since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, estimates that 2 million citizens, or 2.6% of the population, struggle with hard drug addiction [source: Economist].

What if we took a different approach and considered a world where alcohol had never existed, or at least not in a form that humans find appealing? To answer that, we need to travel far back in history — so far that it predates the existence of humans. We're talking about millions of years ago.

At some point, one of our distant ancestors, who resembled monkeys, developed a mutation that made consuming decayed fruit from the forest floor enjoyable. As yeast bacteria broke down the sugars in the fruit, alcohol was produced. While most animals can't effectively process alcohol, many primates can. Those that were able to extract extra calories from alcohol had a new, rich energy source, though the downside was having to consume spoiled fruit.

Most rotting fruit doesn't contain enough alcohol to intoxicate, even for a small primate, but at some point, our ancestors began to link the experience with pleasure. Perhaps one ancestor found a large heap of very rotten fruit and, instead of seeking out fresh food, decided to consume it all. The result was a great feeling of pleasure. They returned to their camp and excitedly shared their discovery: 'You guys! You’ve got to try this rotting fruit! I know it sounds crazy, but it gets you drunk! It’s a new feeling, and I made up a word for it. I need to lie down now.' This was the birth of alcohol consumption among humans.

What if our unconventional ancestors hadn't discovered that fermented fruit could get them tipsy? We might have found another way to ferment grain. The oldest concrete evidence of alcohol production comes from China around 7000 to 6600 B.C., but there is also evidence of flour and plant residue from the Wadi Kubbaniya archaeological site in Egypt, suggesting brewing may have started as early as 18,000 years ago [source: Tucker]. That’s about as long as we've been engaging in other activities we associate with humanity. For context, humans began settling down, building permanent homes, and farming about 12,000 years ago. We might have been brewing alcohol longer than we’ve been sleeping indoors.

It’s also interesting that the advent of grain cultivation occurred nearly simultaneously with the rise of beer brewing. In fact, some anthropologists suggest this wasn’t just coincidence — early societies may have intentionally settled to brew beer in order to make use of the calories in grains. Tough grains from cereal crops, like barley, weren’t suitable for making bread due to the labor-intensive process of husking and grinding them. Beer, however, was calorically dense, required less labor than making flour, and served as a safer alternative to potentially contaminated water.

It's unlikely that early humans spent their lives in a constant state of being intoxicated. Early beers had much lower alcohol levels compared to modern ones, typically around 3 percent. They acted more as mild intoxicants, and the partially fermented mash left over from brewing was also a nutritious food source [source: Aines]. The development of bread-making, which was more complex, likely came at a later stage.

Without alcohol, it's possible we'd still be gathered around campfires debating which mushrooms were safe to eat and how to avoid being hunted by wolves. Alcohol contributed significantly to human evolution, offering nutritional advantages and playing a key role in the rise of agriculture. Despite its sometimes wild effects, alcohol has been crucial in shaping civilization.