New York Times: A rowdy banquet of a book

“Slingerland takes up the cause with all the chivalry of a knight-errant, and his infectious passion makes this book a romp as well as a refreshingly erudite rejoinder to the prevailing wisdom.”

Zoë Lescaze, “A History of Getting Hammered, and Why Some of Us Should Keep Doing It,” New York Times, June 19, 2021.

Kirkus: A spirited look at drinking

“A professor of Asian studies at the University of British Columbia, Slingerland draws on archaeology, anthropology, history, neuroscience, psychopharmacology, social psychology, literature, poetry, and genetics to argue...for the social, cultural, and psychological benefits of getting drunk.”

— Kirkus Reviews

“A hyperbolic but entertaining defense of intoxication via alcohol,” Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2021.

Religious Studies News: big data approach to history

“While users can use the DRH similarly to an encyclopedia—that is, looking at individual entries—the database also reflects a Big Data approach to comparing and understanding large scale patterns or trends in the historical record.

Yes, although you can browse individual entries as in an encyclopedia, the DRH is actually a relational database with all of the powerful functionality that comes with the ability to manipulate data on a large scale. Answers to the various poll questions are ultimately grounded only in space and time, which allows users to analyze answers to specific questions within certain date ranges and geographical areas, to correlate answers with other types of geo-spacial data, or to visualize DRH data in a variety of ways.”

— Religious Studies News

“Making Religious History Digitally Native,”Religious Studies News, March 2nd 2017

The Wall Street Journal: spontaneity is scarce these days

“Spontaneity, always in short supply, is scarce these days. It is nearly impossible to get reservations for dinner at coveted restaurants. Movies sell out, and vacations are planned to the 15-minute increment. A month ahead, parents can be sure their child gets into an art activity at the local museum and reserve ice cream at the nearby cafe for lunch afterward.”

— Nina Sovich, The Wall Street Journal

Nina Sovich, “The Age of Organized Spontaneity,” The Wall Street Journal, February 2nd 2016.

China Daily USA: Not the best way to get ahead

“Just in time for the season of reform and New Year’s resolutions, comes a new book that uses ancient Chinese philosophy to argue that sometimes trying hard is not the best way to get ahead.”

— Chris Davis, China Daily USA

Chris David, “New Year’s Resolution Number One: Try Not to Try,” China Daily USA, January 1st 2015.

The New York Times: a paradox essential to civilization

“How you can force yourself to relax? How can you try not to try?

It makes no sense, but the paradox is essential to civilization, according to Edward Slingerland. He has developed, quite deliberately, a theory of spontaneity based on millenniums of Asian philosophy and decades of research by psychologists and neuroscientists.”

— John Tierney, The New York Times

John Tierney, “A Meditation on the Art of Not Trying,” The New York Times, December 15th, 2014.