Ryan, Christopher,  1962- <br/><br/>
Civilized to death :  the price of progress / 
by Christopher Ryan. 
 - First Avid Reader Press trade paperback edition. 
 - xiii, 288 pages ;  21 cm. 
<br/><br/>Includes bibliographical references (pages 255-272) and index. 
<br/><br/> Introduction : know thy species --  Origin stories.  What we talk about when we talk about prehistory ;  Of capacities and tendencies ;  A people's history of prehistory ;  Noble savages, savage noblemen, and straw cave men --  Civilization and its dissonance ;  The empirical strikes back ;  Through an unremembered gate ;  "The best people in the world" ;  The art of not being civilized ;  Malthusian miscalculations and Hobbesian horror shows ;  The functions of fear ;  On primitive power --  Apocalypse always (The NPP in the present).  The myth of the savage savage (declaring war on peace) ;  Primate evidence ;  Anthropological and archaeological evidence --  The irrational optimist ;  Mo better blues ;  On the health of nations ;  Food for thought ;  Longevity lies and the price of paradise --  Reflections in an ancient mirror (being human).  The naturalistic fallacy fallac  Born to be wild --  Raising hell --  Turbulent teens --  Anxious adults ;  Good work, if you can get it ;  The price of money ;  How to lose by winning ;  Rich asshole syndrome (RAS) ;  Drunk on dollars --  A prehistoric path into the future.  All's well that ends well --  In the absence of the sacred ;  The many voices of God ;  Turn on, tune in, get better ;  On holy ghosts ;  Past progressive --  Conclusion : a necessary utopia ;  The upside of armageddon ;  The end of all our exploring.  Part I :  Part II:  Part III :  Part IV : 
<br/><br/> The New York Times best selling co-author of Sex at Dawn explores the ways in which 'progress' has perverted the way we live: how people eat, learn, feel, mate, parent, communicate, work, and die.  Prehistoric life 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. Were these pre-civilized dangers more murderous than modern scourges such as car accidents, cancers, cardiovascular disease, and a technologically prolonged dying process? Ryan counters the idea that progress is inherently good, arguing that the "progress" defining our age is analogous to an advancing disease. He makes the claim that we should start looking backward to find our way into a better future. -- adapted from jacket. 
<br/><br/><label>ISBN: </label>9781451659115 1451659113 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Progress.<br/>Civilization, Modern.<br/>Popular culture--Effect of technological innovations on.