Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress

Christopher Ryan

Oct 2019 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

A New York Times–bestselling author explores the benefits of the lifestyle of our prehistoric ancestors in this “engaging . . . and thought-provoking” book (Booklist).

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 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.

“Incredible . . . timely . . . clarifying.” —Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter

“Entertaining and provocative.” —Publishers Weekly

“This is not just a book, it’s a revolution.” —Neil Strauss, New York Times–bestselling author of The Game

Ratings and reviews

Eye-opening read, that's for sure. In knowing more about the lives of pre-civilisation humans, I feel I am now better equipped to live my life here in the 21st century. What a pleasant irony.

Adept condensation of the arguments against the "Narrative of Perpetual Progress" which pervades Western cultures and a potent dispelling of the myths which are bandied about in support of that narrative. Ample anthropological evidence is cited within. Highly recommended for anyone willing to question the premises on which modernity is rationalized.

This book was an interesting perspective that I found to be fairly informative. It is also a book that I actually finished, so it stays interesting until the end.

About the author

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, and Big 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 of Civilized to Death and the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Sex at Dawn, Ryan puts out a weekly podcast, called Tangentially Speaking, featuring conversations with interesting people, ranging from famous comics to bank robbers to drug smugglers to porn stars to authors to plasma physicists.