Plenty of artsy types have mixed their creative pursuits with their very real drinking problems. But “genius” fueled by alcoholism has long been one of the great myths typically attributed to writer types, and I tend to agree with Truman Capote when he once famously criticized Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac by saying, “That’s not writing, that’s typing.”
Of course, Capote was no teetotaler himself. But, according to researchers at Mississippi State University, there might be a little something to mixing alcohol with work, as they found that slightly inebriated folks have a knack for creative problem-solving. By setting aside your inhibitions and moving beyond the “blank page,” Professor Andrew Jarosz discovered that if you were just a wee bit drunk, you might have some creative breakthroughs, finding that you were 13-20% more likely to solve a problem than when sober.
