Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress
By Christopher Ryan

Theand New York Timesand bestselling coauthor ofand Sex at Dawnand 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:and Civilization is humankind's greatest accomplishment. Progress is undeniable. Count your blessings. You're lucky to be alive here and now.and Well, maybe we are and maybe we aren't.and Civilized to Deathand 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?and Civilized to Deathand “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.