Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress

(Hardback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The New York Times bestselling coauthor of Sex at Dawn explores the ways in which progress has perverted the way we live: how we eat, learn, feel, mate, parent, communicate, work, and die.

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, Ryan argues, were these pre-civilized dangers more murderous than modern scourges, such as car accidents, cancers, cardiovascular disease, and a technologically prolonged dying process At a time when our ecology, our society, and our own sense of selves feels increasingly imperiled, an accurate understanding of our species long prelude to civilization is vital to a clear sense of the ultimate value of civilizationand its costs. In Civilized to Death, 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 CEOof 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 is not just a book, it's a revolution. Every person needs to read this book and unlearn the negative tropes we've been taught to believe about human nature, wake up to the shackles of consumerism, and discover who we really are as a species." Neil Strauss, New York Times bestselling author ofThe Game

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
"Read this book and you will never look at the world in the same way again. . . . Humans evolved to survive and reproduce. They were all successful with the second adaptation, with overpopulation that has resulted in famine, overcrowding, and civic strife. Human survival was made possible by the brain's remarkable intelligence. But why hasn't that intelligence produced happier, healthier men and women, even in 'civilized'countries Christopher Ryanprovides the answer in this provocative book, which is destined for classic status. It demonstrates how people are being civilized to death, both literally and metaphorically. It presents a stark picture of how the human experiment may be winding down if not winding up. But it also provides some solutions, brilliant roadmaps that you will find nowhere else, neither in politician's utopian scenarios or futurists' speculations." Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., co-author Personal Mythology
Praise forSex at Dawn:

Sex at Dawnhas helped me understand myself and the world so much more clearly. Ilana Glazer, co-creator ofBroad City

Sex at Dawnis the single most important book about human sexuality since Alfred Kinsey unleashedSexual Behavior in the Human Maleon the American public in 1948. Dan Savage

Funny, witty, and light . . .Sex at Dawnis a scandal in the best sense, one that will have you reading the best parts aloud and reassessing your ideas about humanitys basic urges well after the book is done.Newsweek

Sex at Dawnchallenges conventional wisdom about sex in a big way. . . . This is a provocative, entertaining, and pioneering book. I learned a lot from it and recommend it highly. Andrew Weil, MD, author ofHealthy Aging

Sex at Dawnis a provocative and engaging synthesis . . . that has the added benefit of being a joy to read. Seedmagazine

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.