Reminds me of this talk about creativity by John Cleese[1]. The tl;dw is creativity is about getting into an open, uninhibited state of mind where new or risky ideas flow freely. Then getting into a closed, more focused state that allows you to implement the idea without getting distracted. Being able to switch between the two modes is key to creative problem solving.

I guess for me, alcohol promotes the open mode, but pretty completely wrecks the closed mode.

[1] https://twitter.com/#!/Renessa47/status/190802692245950464