Civilization: is it worth it?

12/31/23 • 66 min

Dr. Ryan is an astute observer, commentator and fellow experiencer of the human condition. Unlike most of us, his insights into the existential human situation undermine conventional wisdom, and are often profoundly unsettling. This approach is reflected in his best selling book, “Sex at Dawn” (2010) which calls into question nearly everything we think we understand about human sexuality. His latest book, “Civilized to Death: the Price of Progress”, takes on the very notion of Civilization and what he terms the Narrative of Perpetual Progress. From the book’s description: Most of us can feel that something’s off—balmy December days, face-to-face conversation replaced with screen-to-screen zomboidism, a world at constant war, a political system in disarray. We hear some lies so frequently that they begin to feel like facts: Civilization is humankind’s greatest accomplishment. Progress is undeniable. We’re lucky to be alive here and now. Well, maybe we are and maybe we aren’t. Civilized to Death counters the idea that “progress” is inherently good, arguing that the progress defining our age may be analogous to an advancing disease. The ideas Chris Ryan unpacks in this book have reframed much of what I assumed to be true about civilization and the evolution of our species. It has been a most unsettling experience, as much as it has been edifying, stimulating, and enlightening.

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Herbaria: Their role in protecting biodiversity and indigenous knowledge

Dr. Barbara Thiers is the director emerita in the Division of Plant Research and Conservation at the New York Botanical Garden. Prior to her retirement, she was the Patricia K. Holmgren director of the William and Linda Steer herbarium, the world's third largest herbarium, housing over 7.9 million collections of algae, broophytes, fungi, and vascular plant. She applied her interest in herbarium science and information technology to develop the CV Star Virtual herbarium, which contains a searchable database of digitized herbarium specimens. She is also the editor of the Index Herberorium, the guide to the world's approximately 3300 herbaria. Dr. theers is widely recognized for her contributions to efforts to digitize the world's natural history collections. In 2020, to help educate the public as to the importance of herbaria and botanical history, she published a beautifully illustrated book entitled herbaria the quest to preserve and classify the World's plants, published by Timber press. She is past president of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists and past president of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. She's a member of the Board of the Natural Science Collections Alliance and member of the External Advisory Board of ID Bio the National Collections Digitization Hub.

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God on Psychedelics

Don Lattin is an American journalist who has been exploring the interface between psychedelics and religion in America since the end of the 90s. His books include "Shopping for Faith: American Religions in the new Millenium" (co-authored with Richard Cimino & Jose Basse, 1998); "Following our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixities Influence Our Lives Today" (2003); "Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge" (2007); and "The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timogthy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andy Weil Killed the 60s and Ushered in a New Age for America" (2010); "Changing our Minds: Psychedelic Sacraments and the New Psychotherapy" (2017). His most recent book is "God on Psychedelics: Tripping Across the Rubble of Old Time Religion" (2023) which explores the emerging integration of psychedelic mystical experiences into mainstream religious practices. He has been an adjunct faculty member in the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and for two decades was a staff writer covering religion, spirituality and psychology at the San Francisco Chronicle. In addition to his published books, his work has been widely published in many US magazines and newspapers. Don kindly took time from his busy schedule at the MAPS Psychedelic Science Conference in Denver last June 2023 to record this Interview for the Brainforest Café.