Scan barcode
A review by je7emiah
Civilized to Death: What Was Lost on the Way to Modernity by Christopher Ryan
4.0
Four stars because the author makes interesting arguments. And I always like to hear about how people are basically good.
Notes:
*I think this could have been shorter. I felt like a condensed version would make a stronger point. This almost felt like reading background research for an interesting documentary. The stuff in the end about psychedelics and Kickstarter was interesting but felt a little forced.
*This book takes other books, articles and studies to make an argument that people were happiest before we started farming and formed "civilization." I think "the research paper" approach covers a lot of information but at times is hard to read. I think some more quotes from the author interviewing experts would help. I also wanted more personal anecdotes illustrating these points. I'm a forager, I want my wisdom in the form of a story!
*After reading this, I'm still a little skeptical that we can make such definite statements about prehistoric people, but the method of examining modern hunter gatherer communities, looking for common trends, and extrapolating those trends to early humans, makes sense (but doesn't 100% sell me).
*Overall, this book got me interested in anthropology and wanting to learn more about other topics covered. A great conversation starter.
*The stuff about hearing voices--I wanted to hear more of that stuff! Is that the next book?
*The notes in the back give the reader a good idea how the author put together the book and a starting point to verify/learn more.
Notes:
*I think this could have been shorter. I felt like a condensed version would make a stronger point. This almost felt like reading background research for an interesting documentary. The stuff in the end about psychedelics and Kickstarter was interesting but felt a little forced.
*This book takes other books, articles and studies to make an argument that people were happiest before we started farming and formed "civilization." I think "the research paper" approach covers a lot of information but at times is hard to read. I think some more quotes from the author interviewing experts would help. I also wanted more personal anecdotes illustrating these points. I'm a forager, I want my wisdom in the form of a story!
*After reading this, I'm still a little skeptical that we can make such definite statements about prehistoric people, but the method of examining modern hunter gatherer communities, looking for common trends, and extrapolating those trends to early humans, makes sense (but doesn't 100% sell me).
*Overall, this book got me interested in anthropology and wanting to learn more about other topics covered. A great conversation starter.
*The stuff about hearing voices--I wanted to hear more of that stuff! Is that the next book?
*The notes in the back give the reader a good idea how the author put together the book and a starting point to verify/learn more.