Civilized To Death (Unabridged)
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4.1 • 8 Ratings
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- $29.99
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- $29.99
Publisher 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—in this “engaging, extensively documented, well-organized, and thought-provoking” (Booklist) book.
Most of us have instinctive evidence the world is ending—balmy 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 humankind’s greatest accomplishment. Progress is undeniable. Count your blessings. You’re lucky to be alive here and now. Well, maybe we are and maybe we aren’t. 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.
Customer Reviews
Almost completely hopeless view of modernity
I’m very aware of what’s wrong with modernity. What I sorely missed in this book was a robust set of solutions to these problems. Yes, they’re there, but almost as an epilogue, just tacked onto the end with barely any evidence for they’re proven efficacy. I want to roll up my sleeves and fix the problems of progress and this book gave me zero new information with which to do so. I much preferred Humankind by Rutger Bregman which covers many similar modern fallacies but dedicates much more time to the solutions. Hope is a vital ingredient of positive change and this book almost stripped me of mine. If we’re doomed, why even try? See how pessimism is a self fulfilling prophecy? I’m tired of people diagnosing the problems - I’ve heard it done countless times - and stopping there, too shy to propose a solution, as imperfect as it may be. Postcapitalism by Paul Mason falls into this category too, which is for the vast majority a history lesson, not a vision of where to go post capitalism - a misleading title I found.
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