[vintermann]

If it was simply on a brain chemistry level, why does it work so differently in other times and places?

It's an example of bad high-status science suppressing good low-status science. Neurochemists asking, "Why does alcohol make us do this?" without checking with cultural anthropologists if it actually does make us do this, or if it just makes "WEIRD" people do it.

I did not say it was all in your head, by the way. The lower reaction times and slower thinking is obviously real (and present everywhere).

[j_4]

I understand your point and would have to read more deeply about it, but these things exist on a spectrum. Anxiety reduction, talkativeness, etc. might very well be socially induced with alcohol making you significantly more susceptible to the social cues. That isn't any more placebo than any mood altering substance.