Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress

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The New York Times bestselling coauthor of Sex at Dawn explores the ways in which progress has perverted the way we livehow we eat, learn, feel, mate, parent, communicate, work, and diein this engaging, extensively documented, well-organized, and thought-provoking (Booklist) book.

Most of us have instinctive evidence the world is endingbalmy December days, face-to-face conversation replaced with heads-to-screens zomboidism, a world at constant war, a political system in disarray. We hear some myths and lies so frequently that they feel like truths: Civilization is humankinds greatest accomplishment. Progress is undeniable. Count your blessings. Youre lucky to be alive here and now. Well, maybe we are and maybe we arent. Civilized to Death counters the idea that progress is inherently good, arguing that the progress defining our age is analogous to an advancing disease.

Prehistoric life, of course, was not without serious dangers and disadvantages. Many babies died in infancy. A broken bone, infected wound, snakebite, or difficult pregnancy could be life-threatening. But ultimately, Christopher Ryan questions, were these pre-civilized dangers more murderous than modern scourges, such as car accidents, cancers, cardiovascular disease, and a technologically prolonged dying process Civilized to Death will make you see our so-called progress in a whole new light (Book Riot) and adds to the timely conversation that the way we have been living is no longer sustainable, at least as long as we want to the earth to outlive us (Psychology Today). Ryan makes the claim that we should start looking backwards to find our way into a better future.

Reviews

"Incredible . . .timely . . . clarifying."Jack Dorsey,cofounder and CEO of Twitter

Engaging, extensively documented, well-organized, and thought provoking.Booklist

Entertaining and provocative. Publishers Weekly

"Often zingy and colorful . . . Civilized to Deathis unquestionably well-timed . . .Ryan is right to highlight the aspects of modern life that have gone off the rails.Undark

[A] prescient book about the nature of progress . . .Civilized to Deathwill make you see our so-called progress in a whole new light.Book Riot

This book takes on 'progress' as a guiding ethosand does so with gusto. The Stranger

It is increasingly clear to many of us that the way we have been living is no longer sustainable, at least as long as we want the earth to outlive us. . . .Civilized to Deathis an important guide in this conversation.Psychology Today

"Afascinating read."Seattle Times
"Every great once in a while, a book comes along that makes you rethink everything you thought you knew.Civilized to Deathiswithout questionone of them."Jesse Bering, PhD, author ofThe Belief Instinct
Christopher Ryan is one of the most interesting and provocative thinkers of our time. Everyone should read himyou might well disagree but youll definitely think differently."Johann Hari, New York Timesbestselling author ofLost Connections

Author Bio

Christopher Ryan, PhD,and his work have been featured just about everywhere, including: MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, NPR,The New York Times, The Times of London, Playboy, The Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, The Atlantic, Outside,El Pais,La Vanguardia,Salon,Seed, andBig Think. A featured speaker from TED to The Festival of Dangerous Ideas at the Sydney Opera House to the Einstein Forum in Pottsdam, Germany, Ryan has consulted at various hospitals in Spain, provided expert testimony in a Canadian constitutional hearing, and appeared in well over a dozen documentary films. The author ofCivilized to Deathand the coauthor of theNew York TimesbestsellerSex at Dawn, Ryan puts out a weekly podcast, calledTangentially Speaking, featuring conversations with interesting people, ranging from famous comics to bank robbers to drug smugglers to porn stars to authors to plasma physicists.