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Problem Solver Beer Tells How Much To Drink To Boost Your Creativity

mrspoonsi writes When you've been stuck on a problem or that creative spark just won't come, the chances are you've turned to a cup of coffee to get things moving. A quick java infusion can certainly help, but studies also suggest that alcohol can also have a positive impact on your creative cognition. University of Illinois Professor Jennifer Wiley determined that a person's "creative peak" comes when their blood alcohol level reaches 0.075, lowering their ability to overthink during a task. Medical Daily reports that marketing agency CP+B Copenhagen and Danish brewery Rocket Brewing wanted to help drinkers reach their imaginative prime, so they decided to create their own beer to do just that. The result is The Problem Solver. It's a 7.1 percent craft IPA that its makers say offers a "refined bitterness with a refreshing finish." To ensure you reach the optimum creative level, the bottle includes a scale, which determines how much of the beer you need to drink based on your body weight. The agency does offer a word of warning though: "Enjoying the right amount will enhance your creative thinking. Drinking more will probably do exactly the opposite."

73 comments

  1. Obligatory xkcd by rwa2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    http://xkcd.com/323/

    It's only off by a factor of 2... good enough for experimental physics, I suppose.

    1. Re: Obligatory xkcd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess it's the difference between imperial and metric percents.

    2. Re:Obligatory xkcd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I propose a new measure.

      This measure, that I tentatively call the "Munroe count" measures the proximity of a (Slashdot) conversation to a relevant XKCD strip.

      I thought that this Slashdot post would have a small count - just not as small as it is.

    3. Re:Obligatory xkcd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      as a frankly intrigued n00b i have to ask, are there rumours about ballmer's alcoholism in the public domain?

  2. I'd like to propose a toast. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.

  3. Hey bosh ... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Funny

    I shtink I've sholved the problem ... we had a working lunch and did some sh-sh-sh-shpit balling to come up with a creative sholooshn.

    Moshtly we concluded you're a dick.

    Shisherely, your shtaff.

    How's that for "refined bitterness with a refreshing finish"?

    Seriously, there's a massive amount of bad idea lurking in there somewhere.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  4. New problem: You have to drink IPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The lingering taste of frothy piss will make you forget your problems entirely.

  5. There are better answers by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2

    >> java infusion can certainly help, but studies also suggest that alcohol can also have a positive impact

    A better idea then: mix the two. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I...

  6. As the car talk guys say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Unencumbered by the thought process.

  7. Backwards by Virtucon · · Score: 0

    Beer usually creates more problems than it solves.

    --
    Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
    1. Re:Backwards by Holi · · Score: 1

      "Alcohol, the cause, and solution to all life's problems" - Homer J. Simpson

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    2. Re:Backwards by Misagon · · Score: 1

      Finding Danish beer these days that is not IPA or does not taste like IPA is a problem.

      Of course, you could always go with cheap lager, but you wouldn't want to do that either.

      --
      "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
    3. Re:Backwards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You shut your whore mouth!

    4. Re:Backwards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Finding Danish beer these days that is not IPA or does not taste like IPA is a problem.

      There are lots of good stouts, porters, saisons, and other styles in Denmark. Even some (pricey) good lager, although that tends to be on the hoppy side, so perhaps "taste like IPA". But you are right, many of the small breweries here tend to like their hops. Should that be a problem?

    5. Re:Backwards by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

      Try living in the NW (USA). ALL OF THE CRAFT BREWS ARE IPA/HOPPY MONSTROSITIES. They're doing what the scoville obsessed chili makers are doing, only with IBU's.

      Seriously, the IPA craze has produced so many brews that taste like a homeless shelter smells. it's horrible =/

    6. Re:Backwards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is wrong with you? IPA's are delicious. I've never met a beer that was too hoppy. People develop a tolerance to heat just as they develop a tolerance for hops. They need to go stronger to get the same effect. Those guys need really hot chlli, because they just can't feel anything weaker. Anything without at least habanero might as well be black pepper to me. Same thing with these hoppy beers. If you drink them often, you don't notice the bitterness, you just notice the awesome hoppy goodness.

  8. As the saying goes: by Peter+H.S. · · Score: 1

    Beers for ideas, Coffee for working.
    So true.

    However, merely drinking doesn't spark any good creative ideas unless you have spend considerable time thinking about the subject before. Also, the magic doesn't happen unless you have somebody to discuss the ideas with.

    1. Re:As the saying goes: by Immerman · · Score: 1

      Speak for yourselves. Myself and I have have had many a productive alcohol-fueled brainstorming session.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    2. Re:As the saying goes: by Pope · · Score: 2

      I've heard it most along the lines of "Beer for writing, coffee for editing," but then I hang out with a lot of writers so they're biased to a certain task :D

      --
      It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
  9. Just don't drive creatively too by presidenteloco · · Score: 1

    0.075 is above our legal limit of 0.05 for driving.

    Excuses, even if very creative, like I was just driving around the block with the window open to clear my head, won't work.

    So best to just sit in the pub morosely pondering whatever problem you are trying to solve.

    My problem is, at point 0.075 I'm most creative, but at 0.076 I lapse into an existential crisis and think why bother. working on that problem anyway. Plenty of way more fun things to do around here.

    --

    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
    1. Re:Just don't drive creatively too by TapeCutter · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Plenty of way more fun things to do around here.

      I'm a pretty good pool player, a few beers makes me a pool champion because it stops me overthinking the shots.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    2. Re:Just don't drive creatively too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      0.075 is above our legal limit of 0.05 for driving.

      Excuses, even if very creative, like I was just driving around the block with the window open to clear my head, won't work.

      Creativity and driving does not mix. If you drive to express yourself, get off the road.

    3. Re:Just don't drive creatively too by Ogive17 · · Score: 2

      When I am bowling or golfing, there is an optimal amount of intoxication that allow me to relax but not get sloppy on my form.

      --
      "Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
    4. Re:Just don't drive creatively too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A few beers do indeed help creativity - but not work. Beers gets you to solve the "picking up women"-problem. Which, after a few beers, gets priority over any other problem.

    5. Re:Just don't drive creatively too by triclipse · · Score: 1

      Similarly, when I play (shorter) poker tournaments I drink a beer an hour. Keeps me from playing too tightly.

      --
      No Inflation Taxation without Representation
    6. Re:Just don't drive creatively too by James+Carnley · · Score: 1

      Here in the US our legal limit is 0.08. It works out pretty nicely too. The moment you start feeling a bit creative just put down the beer and you'll be good for the drive home.

  10. So according to the arcticle by EdwardFurlong · · Score: 2

    I must be one of the most creative people alive.

    1. Re:So according to the arcticle by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Come with me if you want to live.

  11. Introducing... by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

    Programmer's Pizza*

    Eating just the right amount will allow you to reach optimum blood sugar levels for creative programming. However, be warned that eating too much will probably put you to sleep.

    Please watch this space for the introduction of our follow-up product: Programmer's Spaghetti (with Object-Oriented Meatballs)*

    *Garlic levels tailored for maximum personal isolation. Do not use if in a relationship or if expecting a job interview. May cause immediate termination of relations, arms-length disease, and acne. Not suitable for homeopathic dilution. May enhance programming mania. Use with caution.

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  12. Cannabis works better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    And is safer, etc, etc, etc,....

    1. Re:Cannabis works better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No it doesn't. Cannabis destroys the short term memory. I could read the same paragraph 4 times and still not remember what it says. Cannabis also destroys the motivation to work. On cannabis, I probably wouldn't even bother to do a load of laundry, never mind try to do some serious work. If you can be productive on weed, good for you, but for most people, it kills productivity.

  13. Al Murray has covered this topic in some depth by jools33 · · Score: 1

    Al Murray has covered this topic in some depth here .

  14. I will say this much. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1
    University of Illinois Professor Jennifer Wiley is very creative. I am not sure how drunk she was when she made this bold connection. Other professors probably made the connection too but they had not been loosened up enough to actually present it as a scientific paper. Or may be her grad students came up with this "project" to drink beer and send the tab to the university.

    We thought someone got a Nobel prize for staring into a stein of beer. Turns out that was not true. So first Nobel prize for drinking beer and calling it research is till up. She can go for it.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  15. Dreaming works better! by MagickalMyst · · Score: 1

    As much as I enjoy a cold pint of lager, I do not turn to alcohol to solve problems.

    I've always found that pondering a problem just before sleep and dreaming about it will usually result in a revelation upon awakening.

    The best part about it is that there's no hangover.

    --
    Political correctness is really just herd psychology pushed by insecure people who desperately seek social conformity.
    1. Re:Dreaming works better! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We don't turn to alcohol to *solve* problems. We turn to alcohol to *forget* about them when we have actually decided they are not possible to solve.

  16. 0.075 by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    0.075 what?

    I'm assuming it's not just a dimensionless ratio, because then your blood would be like Chimay.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:0.075 by Cinnamon+Beige · · Score: 1

      Presumably it's talking about a BAC, but it's bad practice to not be explicit, even with a dimensionless ratio. After all, this possible dimensionless ratio might be not be based on the ratio of alcohol to blood but blood to alcohol...which poses an entirely different problem.

    2. Re:0.075 by RobbieCrash · · Score: 1

      BAC, it's the standard measure of how much alcohol is in your system.

      --
      Keep on knockin'
      https://robbiecrash.me
    3. Re:0.075 by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      If you'd bothered to read the document you failed to link to you'd see it's not standard at all. At least three different units are in use.

      And if you'd paid attention in maths class, you'd know that 0.075 and 0.075% are not the same thing.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    4. Re:0.075 by RobbieCrash · · Score: 1

      Had you read the summary, or the article, or the entire Wiki page you'd have caught that:

      1. That they're referring to when a person's "blood alcohol level reaches 0.075" [In the article summary].
      2. That the explanation given in the Wikipedia article explains what is meant by blood alcohol level, and notes that it is a term used along side Blood Alcohol Content.
      3. The units of measure are interchangeable given the way they're measured, this is why the wiki article gives that handy This much in method A is equivalent to this much in method B chart. One gives a mass per volume, the other gives a volume per mass.
      4. There is no mention of blood-alcohol percentage, only the beer's alcohol percentage.

      If you're referring to the BrAC in use in some countries as the third unit in use, the wiki article clearly states this is a different unit of measure, and not one that the article mentions at all.

      --
      Keep on knockin'
      https://robbiecrash.me
  17. close by X-Ray+Artist · · Score: 1

    .005% more is legally intoxicated in most states. That is a might fine line to walk...

    --
    I would have a sig but I am too busy updating programs and restarting my computer
    1. Re:close by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      .005% = 0.005/100 = 0.00005
      Maybe Verizon is still hiring...

    2. Re:close by RobbieCrash · · Score: 1

      Semantics about BAC vs % aside, you're off by an order of magnitude. Generally it's 0.05, not 0.005 in the US.

      --
      Keep on knockin'
      https://robbiecrash.me
    3. Re:close by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      0.075 + 0.005 = 0.08 (the legal limit in most states)

    4. Re:close by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not sure what you mean. Article and summary say .075, so OP would be correct in saying that it's .005 off (BAC legal limit is typically .08 in the US from your own link).

    5. Re:close by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought most states were still at .08% or have the neo-prohibitionists been busy again?

    6. Re:close by nmr_andrew · · Score: 1

      AFAIK, most (perhaps all?, I can't think of an exception) states are still 0.08%, although more and more have reduced limits for new/underage drivers. There are some groups pushing to lower this to 0.05% or even lower, though. Which IMO becomes a problem. I don't condone drunk driving, but lets not lower the limit to the point where a single beer or glass of wine with a meal will put you over.

    7. Re:close by RobbieCrash · · Score: 1

      I misread the original comment, I thought it was saying the limit was 0.05 incorrectly as .05 is also a limit sometimes used as a lesser charge of under the influence. My bad.

      --
      Keep on knockin'
      https://robbiecrash.me
  18. oh, really. by wept · · Score: 2

    "Medical Daily reports that marketing agency CP+B Copenhagen and Danish brewery Rocket Brewing wanted to help drinkers reach their imaginative prime, so they decided to create their own beer to do just that."

    Surely, they couldn't have another motive.

    1. Re:oh, really. by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      That and it' simply false. Someone is more creative when drunk because a sober person has filters in place. The intoxication inhibits the filters. So the drunk person wants to find out what happens when they do this. "Hey, Bubba, watch this" followed by riding a lawnmower into a pool, or something else similarly stupid.

      "Creative" generally implies an ability to solve some problem. Alcohol doesn't help there. It doesn't even help artists solve the problem of drawing Love or whatever they are stumped doing. But it lets them try out more wrong answers.

      If people worked harder at not building themselves into anti-creative boxes all their lives, then there wouldn't be any measurable improvement while drunk. But people capable of finding a valid answer, don't because the process to the answer is blocked by their personal barriers. Creativity is a choice, and someone that has chosen to not be defined by others will not need chemical interference to be "creative". And will certainly be more productive at realizing the creativity while sober.

  19. now SNPP will install beer taps to get help worker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    now SNPP will install beer taps to get help workers not over think and to not think about all of the OT pay they will not be getting over the holidays (beer is not free)

  20. This isn't new. by oneiros27 · · Score: 2

    The engineering fraternity where I did my undergrad had been doing research on this topic since at least the early 1990s, and I suspect since well before that.

    My understanding of their procedure was they had a couple of beers the night before ... not so much to have a hang over, and then another beer a couple of hours before the test. ... but I suspect that it's different for each person, as I've seen some amazing code come out of Swedish programmers who were completely wasted. (although, I wouldn't want to be the one to maintain it).

    --
    Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
  21. obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://xkcd.com/323/

  22. Oblig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://xkcd.com/323/

  23. Mitchell and Webb did this a few years ago. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zj50DmBFp0

  24. Hey bosh ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    On the other hand, maybe those businessmen in the 50s and 60s were on to something with their three-martini lunches.

  25. Thinking cap by gregor-e · · Score: 1

    They should call it "Thinking Cap". Instead of putting it on, you pop one off.

  26. What's with all the puritans? by sjames · · Score: 2

    At one time nobody thought anything of it if you kept a flask or a pint in a desk drawer. Nobody cared if you had a couple drinks at lunch (or just because). As long as you didn't get tipsy or do it constantly, nobody cared.

    Now, even the suggestion of it has people picturing people chugging, throwing up in the trash can and getting hung over. Nobody suggested that THAT much beer was a good idea.

  27. So it's come to this? by mynamestolen · · Score: 2

    Thanks Slashdot. Product placement and bullshit "science" for the alcohol industry.

    --
    work in progress
    1. Re:So it's come to this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why not? Beer is great! why does it matter that there is also "an industry" profiting from it? Too much work, brewing all my beer myself . . .

  28. That explains everything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From the stories about how the killer ideas started on the "back of a napkin in a bar", to all those rich college kids credited with being so creative. Truly, BEER is the panacea of creativity. I'll get right on the "research" for the next big thing.

    1. Re:That explains everything by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Sharing ideas without inhibition is the reason that the napkins are used. It's only those who choose to inhibit themselves who need any chemical removal of inhibitions. If we actually brainstormed well, alcohol would be purely a detriment.

  29. Credit Where Due by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Alcohol is a known depressant, and depression is linked with creativity: http://creativesomething.net/post/55508909341/the-link-between-depression-and-creativity-and

    Also - link to the study please (http://www.medicaldaily.com/how-drinking-alcohol-makes-you-more-creative-drink-more-aha-moments-271026), not the fluff piece on someone's beer.

  30. Woohoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This holiday season I plan on getting very creative !

  31. This works for anything by Sarusa · · Score: 1

    Bowling, video games, coding, homework, conversation, even speaking a foreign language - you'll do better on one beer (YMMV as to amount).

    The hard part is stopping or spacing it out enough. Because after that it's all downhill. Except maybe the conversation, and that's probably an illusion.

  32. Overthinking by Livius · · Score: 1

    It sounds more like it inhibits overthinking, and enables decision-making, meaning it wouldn't help unless the creativity was already there.

  33. There's an app for that... by meldroc · · Score: 1

    Use something like Alcodroid to estimate your BAC, using your weight, how much you just ate, etc. etc., and you can drink to your creativity level with ease.

    --

    Meldroc, Waster of Electrons
  34. Beer's law in chemistry by AbrasiveCat · · Score: 1

    I remember discussing Beer's Law in chemistry over a few. You have a fine line between more creativity and where the extinction coefficient takes over and you blotto. A couple does help the conversation and helps people that are reserved share their ideas and help stimulate more discussion. So I do think it helps group creativity. (Oh you mean drinking?)

  35. I was willing to suspend disbelief by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...right up until they made an IPA. Really? The world doesn't have enough beer already? Of what relevance is this beer to the scientific notion of prophylactic consumption of alcohol? They needed to study the notion and maybe, MAYBE, create an easy to use scale to distribute. Although that last part is entirely optional and mainly for fun.

    Once they brewed a batch of beer I called BS on the whole thing. I suspect that brewing (and consuming) the beer was the real point of this study. The rest is just window dressing.

  36. So is it percent or permille? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because blood alcohol level is usually measured in the latter, at least over here (Sweden),
    And they fail to specify how big volume the 7.1% beer you should drink, but I guess the bottle is designed for some sort of human male average. Which in itself is a quite fuzzy variable...

  37. "A quick java infusion can certainly help" by PJ6 · · Score: 1

    No it doesn't. Don't use Java.

  38. Beer for creativity? by Kingofearth · · Score: 1

    I think smoking weed would work much better.