“Social Influence of Civilized to Death”

by Brox Rosenfield

I first heard of Christopher Ryan when I listened to him guest star in a podcast that was playing in the car. I think it was Freakonamics, a favorite of my mom’s; they were discussing the pros and cons of the coronavirus pandemic unfolding at the time in 2021. The host was attempting to consider the question of whether or not living in an advanced modern society has helped us make life better during this time. They weighed the downfalls of allowing COVID-19 to mutate and spread around the world against the upsides like research into biology and medical breakthroughs, the lessons learned in public health policy and public relations, and the comfort that most of us enjoyed even while locked up in our houses. Christopher seemed to think that he had found the answer, which he was – and I became – strongly convinced of. As a social scientist, Dr. Ryan has lots of information to pull from, and he has connected social processes throughout history with a new lens. I was so intrigued by  his claims on the podcast that I wanted to get the full story. I bought his Civilized to Death later that year. I didn’t end up reading it until summer of 2022, but once I got past the first few chapters, I couldn’t put it down. I read the whole thing in about a week, and it was one of the most life-changing books I have ever read. After giving some time to process what this book has said and consider how it plays into my understanding of the world and how it applies to my personal life, I want to figure out whether it truly was an epiphany, or just a masterpiece of storytelling wrapped in non-fiction appeal.

Civilized to Death is a 400 page long persuasive essay published on January 1, 2018. Its author, Christopher Ryan, is an American writer and podcaster with a PhD. in psychology. His book is a reaction to what he calls the ‘Narrative of Perpetual Progress’, a universal doctrine in the modern age designed to blind us to the pain caused by civilization as we drift aboard it further into an unnatural future.

The essay combines evidence of the twisted nature of modern life and compares it with some cutting-edge research about how the social and physical lives of prehistoric humans surpassed the portrayal we give them and even our own conditions today. Specifically, he tackles the foundational sociological writings of Thomas Malthus and Thomas Hobbes, two English men with very little understanding of the subjects on which they are most highly regarded. Although their teachings have been accepted for centuries,they are little more than opinions supported by no evidence.

This massive web of misconception is why Ryan seeks to share new breakthroughs with the reader and dismantle the idea of the savage within and around us. He argues in so many words that humans are naturally good but have been convinced that we are not, then sedated and herded like livestock for increased productivity in service of our civilization under false pretense of justice. He explains how we adopt belief in higher powers because we are told that service to a greater cause is the only thing that separates us from common animals who only care for themselves and their close relatives.

At the same time, worsening conditions around the world – such as wars, climate change, and disease – caused by the “progress” of civilization are leading to desperate situations in which the worst of humanity emerges, lashing out and reaffirming the belief that we are evil. In reality, these tragedies are caused not by rebels acting out against the system, but by the system that squeezes us in the first place. Civilization squeezes us for money, and every other status indicator that we invented and rely upon to feel validated, but have no need for. We spend so much time trying to fit the mold that is assigned to us that we have no time for the little things that make life worth living. Individuals are squeezed into a shape that looks nothing like their true selves, and are only deemed as useful as their appeal to society or how well they fit a given archetype.

After in-depth analysis of every societal development that has led us to where we are and where we are inevitably going, Ryan leaves the reader with little other than apocalyptic dread and grief for the natural world that we are more cut off from every day. Despite this, Chris claims to be hopeful, stating that we will choose the path back to the beginning and reignite the old ways. At this point, he assumes that we will escape our problems rather than confront them if we are to survive, reiterating the same narrative that prevents us from real progress as he describes throughout the whole book. Civilized to Death has been met with criticism because of the way it glosses over issues of infant and mother mortality, providing no solution to the glaring problem with his idea of a peaceful hunter-gatherer community.

This is why I think that Civilized to Death is a good read and a place to find deep thoughts within yourself, but it is not a perfect book. Personally, I felt like it crashed and burned at the end after so many gripping and consistent chapters. To readers who are not so easily swayed by this book’s narrative, I suppose the imperfections may have been obvious from the beginning. That said, this book never claims to be a set of instructions, and it does a good job of giving novices a simple overview of some newer social science understandings. Mixed in with that is the author’s own jaded speculation about the way this information will be handled and what will happen to society as a whole. Combine that with dark humor, and Ryan is a little hard to take seriously for some, and dangerously convincing for others like myself. Despite the flaws, I recommend this book and think it makes some great points.