Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress Hardcover – October 1, 2019

Great book. I recommend reading it whether you are a listener of Christopher Ryan's podcast or not. If you're not, Civilized To Death assumes no prior knowledge and lays out its argument and evidence from the ground up. And, depending on how much of the ideas in the book you've encountered before, you might find it completely upends how you see the world. If you are a regular listener of the podcast, you'll find a lot of familiar ideas, but what's different here is that all the ideas are systematically organized, fully fleshed out, and all the names of researchers and historians and the names of books and research papers, etc, which fly by when you're listening to a podcast and are hard to catch, are spelled out, with pages of notes at the end of the book with all the references so you can check the sources for yourself or learn more about any of the concepts in the book.So what is the book about? Well, if you've ever wondered about this seeming paradox, that we live in an age of space age wonders -- we can go to the moon and all have supercomputers in our pockets -- and yet, it somehow still feels cold and meaningless, like there's a nutrient missing, that as our technology advances, life should be getting better and better, yet, rather than descending down towards zero, rates of depression and anxiety are actually going up (and lest you think that this is simply a change in measurement and reporting, actual suicides are going up as well), and that our efforts to find solutions, such as our society's political discourse, seems the flounder all over the place and always miss the mark, as if everyone trying to talk about our issues can only draw from a limited, boxed-in set of ideas, this book is for you. The central premise of the book, which explains these mysteries, is that we humans are the only species that has domesticated ourselves. We all live in what is essentially a zoo -- a world built for us by other humans -- instead of living in the natural world like animals. Everything from the food we eat to the houses we live in to the social institutions that shape our lives to the electronic communications systems that form so much of our waking life experience these days all follow designs and rules invented by other humans, much as how zoo animals live in a world that is totally built and controlled by the zookeepers. If it was a perfect zoo, with a built environment that suited our species perfectly, this wouldn't be a problem, but it is a very imperfect zoo, and the mismatch explains the ailments listed above. So as not to spoil any of the surprises in the book (and there will be a few, I can pretty much guarantee, even if you are already familiar with ideas from psychology, anthropology, and archaeology) and to keep this review short and to the point, I'll just say that Christopher Ryan pokes and prods the zoo cages to see what they're all about, and also delves very deeply into the question of, "What kind of animal is the human species?" Human nature probably isn't what you think it is, because the zoo itself, which we call "civilization", feeds us completely wrong information about who we are, sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes because the wrong story serves the interest of "civilization" better. If you want to know who we really are, and what the evidence is, read this book.The book is clear and fast-paced, and even though it references a lot of science, it never gets bogged down in details or scientific jargon. All the ideas are presented directly (with occasional humor) and in a way accessible to everyone. You'll probably find you zip through the book in a matter of days, but the ideas will stay with you and you'll think about them for years to come.

Worth the read

Chris has done a wonderful job of delicately explaining the precarious position we humans have found ourselves in after almost 2 million years of evolution, and particularly since the dawn of the modern era ~10,000 years ago. In a time when we are told that we have it better than ever, there is strong evidence, laid out in a very well organized manner in this book, that this isn't the case. From modern diseases that cropped up after agriculture, to things like stress, anxiety, isolation/loneliness- these things simply didn't exist in the premodern era. Sure, it wasn't like people lived immortal lives completely devoid of worry or care, but they worked way less, loved way more, and were generally more free than the freest "civilized" person alive in the modern era.Chris pulls no punches in letting us know why we should question the dogma of progress. Far from being the liturgical equivalent of a buzzkill, this book is as entertaining as it is enlightening.By cleverly injecting wit at appropriate times, Chris has a wonderful way of softening the blow of truth that he has laid at our feet. At the very least, you will come away with a deeper appreciation for nature, a more compassionate view of our fellow humans running around in the modern zoo of society, and less of an attachment to the frivolous trappings of a society telling us we are not enough. I cannot recommend this book enough!

I have to say this book is fun to read and keeps you interested. That being said I expected to read a book about how the current "progress" of our society is the many causes for our mental health issues and the importance of returning to some of our roots can make us happy.Well im on page 70 and its clear the author takes a definite political side. He bashes Columbus and talks about how him and his men were murderous/rapists while forgetting to include the entries in his journal of how he adored the Indians and how he was also told by the queen of Spain at the time not to harm anyone. He also seldom mentions how Columbus was envious of their way of life.Secondly bashes the Bible. On page 50 he states "when we read in exodus 20:17 thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife most of us take is as an admonition to respect thy neighbors marriage. but read in context, it takes a very different tone: thou shalt not covet thy neighbors house , thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbors. far from an admonition to respect thy neighbors marriage this is all about respecting thy neighbors property, wife included.^^ if you know anything about religion/the Bible and communism you know this is the very same opinion they have. They explicitly talk about how the Bible was created by man and the upper class/riches to keep the poor down and to stop them from overthrowing the rich. Rather than taking it for what it is as to have respect for one another. He tries to twist it.He then goes on to say on page 58 "None of this is meant to be an indictment of 16th century europeans and Aztecs, christians, Silicon Valley entrepeneurs or any other peddlers of progress". All the while hes doing exactly that. Blemishing the reputation of everyone whether its fact or not fact. Every race/culture in the world has done what the last has but in this book he seems to be focusing very hard on one set of people. Even again on page 69 the mention of the "white mans burden".He also references how women had more rights and were treated better in tribes due to egalitarianism and that once civilized society was forced upon them they essentially became property with no rights.As you can see there's definitely a political leaning and ideology in this book. Although the book has a lot of interesting points that I love.I do agree from page 64 to 65 "multi national corporations routinely expropriate land in poor countries (or buy it from corrupt politicians) force the local populations off the land (so they cannot grow or hunt their own food) and offer the luckiest song the jobs cutting down the forest, mining minerals, or harvesting fruit in exchange for slave wages often paid in company currency that can only be used to buy unhealthful, industrially produced food at inflated prices at a company owned store."Also again on page 38 he mentions something similar. "true we produce more food than ever but the nutritional quality is suspect at best and hunger and malnutrition are common in most of the world while the most fortunate stuff ourselves quite literally to death. Skeletal remains confirm that neither Famine nor obesity were common until the advent of civiliaztion."On page 30 "psychologists have established that one of the best ways to improve your sense of well being is by helping others."Again many great points in this book and some I may not personally agree with fully but it is a good read. definitely difficult now days to try and find something that doesn't take a political stand.