Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress

Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress

The New York Times bestselling coauthor of Sex at Dawn explores the ways in which â€œprogressâ€ 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 endingâ€”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 humankindâ€™s greatest accomplishment. Progress is undeniable. Count your blessings. Youâ€™re lucky to be alive here and now. Well, maybe we are and maybe we arenâ€™t. Civilized to Death counters the idea that progress is inherently good, arguing that the â€œprogressâ€ 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 speciesâ€™ long prelude to civilization is vital to a clear sense of the ultimate value of civilizationâ€”and its costs. In Civilized to Death, Ryan makes the claim that we should start looking backwards to find our way into a better future.
Country USA
Manufacturer Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2019-10-01
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2019-10-01
Format	Kindle eBook

Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress

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