Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress

Author:   Christopher Ryan
Publisher:   Simon & Schuster
ISBN:  

9781451659115


Pages:   304
Publication Date:   08 June 2023
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress


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Overview

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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Christopher Ryan
Publisher:   Simon & Schuster
Imprint:   Simon & Schuster
Dimensions:   Width: 14.00cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 21.30cm
Weight:   0.254kg
ISBN:  

9781451659115


ISBN 10:   1451659113
Pages:   304
Publication Date:   08 June 2023
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

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Reviews

Christopher Ryan is one of the most interesting and provocative thinkers of our time. Everyone should read him-you might well disagree but you'll definitely think differently. -Johann Hari, New York Times-bestselling author of Lost Connections Every great once in a while, a book comes along that makes you rethink everything you thought you knew. Civilized to Death is without question one of them. -Jesse Bering, PhD, author of The Belief Instinct Engaging, extensively documented, well-organized, and thought provoking. -Booklist Entertaining and provocative. -Publishers Weekly Often zingy and colorful . . . Civilized to Death is 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 Death will make you see our so-called progress in a whole new light. -Book Riot This book takes on 'progress' as a guiding ethos-and 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 Death is an important guide in this conversation. -Psychology Today A fascinating read. -Seattle Times


Engaging, extensively documented, well-organized, and thought provoking. --Booklist Entertaining and provocative. --Publishers Weekly Often zingy and colorful . . . Civilized to Death is 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 Death will make you see our so-called progress in a whole new light. --Book Riot This book takes on 'progress' as a guiding ethos--and 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 Death is an important guide in this conversation. --Psychology Today A fascinating read. --Seattle Times Every great once in a while, a book comes along that makes you rethink everything you thought you knew. Civilized to Death is without question one of them. --Jesse Bering, PhD, author of The Belief Instinct Christopher Ryan is one of the most interesting and provocative thinkers of our time. Everyone should read him--you might well disagree but you'll definitely think differently. --Johann Hari, New York Times-bestselling author of Lost Connections


Author Information

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.

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