Chaos and Intoxication

Why are people often so unpredictable? Why do they do things which can cause great personal harm even when they know this to be the case? Chaos and Intoxication examines the nature of drug and alcohol abuse, seeking to address these and many other enduring questions through a detailed discussion of the chaotic nature of human existence. Chaos and Intoxication discusses ideas and research in three general areas: neurobiology and genetics, cognition and collective action, and chaos and complexity theory. These are brought together to develop a general theory of chaos and human nature. This book will be essential reading for students and researchers in sociology and medical anthropology as well as professionals working in the drug and alcohol support services.

Alan Dean is Lecturer in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Hull.

Introduction: Towards a Chaos Theory of Human Nature, Chapter one: The Embodiment of Intoxication, Chapter two: Biology and Experience, Chapter three: The Evolution of the Mind, Chapter four: Consciousness and Language, Chapter five: Reason, Rationality and Individual Action, Chapter six: Adaptation and Uncertainty in Human Nature, Chapter seven: Principles of Complexity and Chaos, Chapter eight: Working With Chaos, Chapter nine: Chaos and Intoxication, Chapter ten: Is Existence Fractal?