{"product_id":"civilized-to-death-the-price-of-progress-9781451659115","title":"Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling coauthor of \u003ci\u003eSex at Dawn\u003c\/i\u003e 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\" (\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e) book.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMost 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: \u003ci\u003eCivilization is humankind's greatest accomplishment. Progress is undeniable. Count your blessings. You're lucky to be alive here and now. \u003c\/i\u003eWell, maybe we are and maybe we aren't. \u003ci\u003eCivilized to Death\u003c\/i\u003e counters the idea that progress is inherently good, arguing that the \"progress\" defining our age is analogous to an advancing disease. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePrehistoric 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? \u003ci\u003eCivilized to Death\u003c\/i\u003e \"will make you see our so-called progress in a whole new light\" (\u003ci\u003eBook Riot\u003c\/i\u003e) 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\" (\u003ci\u003ePsychology Today\u003c\/i\u003e). Ryan makes the claim that we should start looking backwards to find our way into a better future.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRyan, Christopher:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Christopher Ryan, PhD, and his work have been featured just about everywhere, including: MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, NPR, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Times of London\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePlayboy\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e The Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOutside\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eEl Pais\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLa Vanguardia\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSalon\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSeed\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eBig Think\u003c\/i\u003e. 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 \u003ci\u003eCivilized to Death\u003c\/i\u003e and the coauthor of the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestseller \u003ci\u003eSex at Dawn\u003c\/i\u003e, Ryan puts out a weekly podcast, called \u003ci\u003eTangentially Speaking\u003c\/i\u003e, featuring conversations with interesting people, ranging from famous comics to bank robbers to drug smugglers to porn stars to authors to plasma physicists.","brand":"Avid Reader Press \/ Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50614359490834,"sku":"9781451659115","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_6e31122e-b7ae-421b-b785-1161fd0a0c42.jpg?v=1732440982","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/civilized-to-death-the-price-of-progress-9781451659115","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}