Caffeine is now very normalised in our current society.But it has played a vital role in human history and development. Reportedly, it was first discovered in the 800’s by a herder in Ethiopia who noticed that his goats had an unusual reaction after eating a particular berry and would stay up all night. After that caffeine was a part of the Arab world around the 1200’s and then made its way to England in the 1600’s.
Michael Pollan, an author and journalist, says it’s a big part of our history as it has affected our culture and historical revolutions.
“It affected our culture in two ways, one was, as safe as alcohol made water, boiling made it much safer and coffee and tea both require boiling water … This gave this incredible public health boost. And then you have the drug that basically fosters a more linear and rational focused way of thinking and so there is a lot evidence linking coffee and tea consumption with enlightenment in France and the age reason in England … I think that makes possible things like the industrial revolution … when you start moving into things like running machines and bookkeeping you need a clearer head and when you start moving towards night shifts and over night shifts, you couldn’t do that without caffeine,” said Pollan
He also says it helped with Capitalism because of things like coffee break as it boosted production. So coffee, which is a regular part of our modern day lives, played a big part in our past by helping with productivity, efficiency, concentration and it continues to do so.
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