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Primate Change: How the World We Made is Remaking Us
IF YOU THINK YOU ARE YOU, THINK AGAIN.
PRIMATE CHANGE is a wide-ranging, polemical look at how and why the human body has changed since humankind first got up on two feet. Spanning the entirety of human history - from primate to transhuman - Vybarr Cregan-Reid's book investigates where we came from, who we are today and how modern technology will change us beyond recognition.
In the last two hundred years, humans have made such a tremendous impact on the world that our geological epoch is about to be declared the 'Anthropocene', or the Age of Man. But while we have been busy changing the shape of the world we inhabit, the ways of living that we have been building have, as if under the cover of darkness, been transforming our bodies and altering the expression of our DNA, too.
PRIMATE CHANGE beautifully unscrambles the complex architecture of our modern human bodies, built over millions of years and only starting to give up on us now.
'Our bodies are in a shock. Modern living is as bracing to the human body as jumping through a hole in the ice. Our bodies do not know what century they were born into and they are defending and deforming themselves in response'
PRIMATE CHANGE is a wide-ranging, polemical look at how and why the human body has changed since humankind first got up on two feet. Spanning the entirety of human history - from primate to transhuman - Vybarr Cregan-Reid's book investigates where we came from, who we are today and how modern technology will change us beyond recognition.
In the last two hundred years, humans have made such a tremendous impact on the world that our geological epoch is about to be declared the 'Anthropocene', or the Age of Man. But while we have been busy changing the shape of the world we inhabit, the ways of living that we have been building have, as if under the cover of darkness, been transforming our bodies and altering the expression of our DNA, too.
PRIMATE CHANGE beautifully unscrambles the complex architecture of our modern human bodies, built over millions of years and only starting to give up on us now.
'Our bodies are in a shock. Modern living is as bracing to the human body as jumping through a hole in the ice. Our bodies do not know what century they were born into and they are defending and deforming themselves in response'
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2018
100 people are currently reading
1132 people want to read
About the author
Vybarr Cregan-Reid
12 books31 followersVybarr Cregan-Reid, Ph.D., is an author and academic. He is Reader in English and Environmental Humanities in the School of English at the University of Kent.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
February 3, 2019
This challenging, thought provoking book traces the changes we have made to our environment and lifestyle ever since homo sapiens first emerged as a kind of grassland ape. The author convincingly shows how everything from growing levels of depression, obesity and diabetes to the increase in diagnoses of ADHD and allergies are linked to the way we have turned from free roving, hand using, outdoorsy creatures to sedentary, desk bound, indoor dwellers.
So much of this reflects the wisdom of my grandfather, who lived into his nineties. Take long walks. Get a lot of sunlight. Eat simple, unprocessed foods. But it goes beyond that to an indictment of capitalism and a call for deep changes in how we live and work. While the author refrains from a political agenda, this book winds up being another weapon in the arsenal of arguments against our neoliberal, bottomline driven system.
So much of this reflects the wisdom of my grandfather, who lived into his nineties. Take long walks. Get a lot of sunlight. Eat simple, unprocessed foods. But it goes beyond that to an indictment of capitalism and a call for deep changes in how we live and work. While the author refrains from a political agenda, this book winds up being another weapon in the arsenal of arguments against our neoliberal, bottomline driven system.
August 25, 2021
Our man Vybarr specializes in English and Environmental studies, which I consider one stroke for and one against. Add in that he's British and an academic and it's amazing I picked the book up at all. To say nothing of my leeriness about the title being a slant-rhyme pun on climate change made my skin crawl.
All considered, I was very pleasantly surprised. It was absorbing, well-researched, expertly written, and confirmed every unga-bunga-bullshit bias I have.
The overarching theme of the book is the same one that informs both my practice and my everyday life, as first conceptualized by evolutionary biologist cadre The Bloodhound Gang: You and me, baby, we ain't nothing but mammals. We wear pants and have iPads now, but we're still a bunch of huge, bald monkeys, and evolution didn't stop just because everybody has plasma TVs. We're still evolving to suit our environment, and the artificiality of our surroundings and unlifeness of the pursuits that occupy our time has the beast part of us thrashing around, gnashing its teeth, giving us anxiety and lower back pain.
Cities are the main culprit behind our collapse into an agonized tangle of weak, spasmodic limbs and subcutaneous fat. They keep us penned up, incapable of fulfilling our biological imperative to wander around for hours, squinting. Everything's too close, too big, too loud for us to do anything we're suppose to do. Humans are simply the wrong tool for the job of cities, and that was before the industrial revolution, when the Titans of Industry (with motivations not too distant from the drive behind the Titanomachy) started bilge-pumping carcinogenic filth directly into the reservoirs and sky. Ferngully was a documentary.
Now we're all fat and neurotic and we have asthma and diabetes, both of which can be protected against by childhood exposure to a dog. Wild, right? More literally than figuratively. Dogs let the immune system practice against low-grade but legitimate threats, so it doesn't turn on itself and target harmless things (as in the case of asthma or ridiculous allergies like grass) or itself in the form of autoimmune disease.
Shoes make your feet weak, and the compensatory angling that your body integrates contributes to ankle, knee, back pain, and arthritis. We sit too goddamn much and it's increasing our likelihood of death to a preposterous degree. Food is losing its nutrition due to the high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, and it'll get worse before it gets better, especially with the form-over-function approach we take to feed development. It's only right to refer to it as a feed; even as the vegetables are becoming increasingly void of minerals we lean more heavily on The Demon Wheat, and most of our calories are empty, fattening up the animal and keeping it complacent.
Speaking of animals! Living in such close proximity to animals, and piling them on top of each other (and on top of their own shit) is what causes most of our non-metabolic diseases and illnesses. Technically speaking, when you consider what sewers are, and what high-rises are, we're also piled on top of our own shit. A virus wants to transmit, and when the pigs are kept knee-deep in their own filth and 3 feet from all the other pigs, all it takes is a lucky roll of the dice to wipe out the whole herd. This is doubly true for humans, as we're also elbow to elbow and deeply fuckin compromised, especially in filthy and overpopulated cities like London, NYC, and Calcutta (though also in cleaner and overpopulated cities like LA, Seattle, or anywhere in Japan).
On a related note, kids born by C-section are 52% more likely to develop asthma since they don't get coated in protective vaginal bacteria on the way out.
Weird to consider that cities are too sterile and too dirty at the same time, right? Well, it's a matter of scale. We're so well protected from the icky germs, with our carry-on hand sanitizer and our existential terror at getting dog drool on our Goin' Out Sweatpants, that the immune system never gets any sparring time in. Viral evolution, and evolution in general, can be thought of as the near-infinite monkeys on the near-infinite typewriters, inevitably producing the works of Shakespeare; however, in this mixed analogy, the works of Shakespeare at the viral equivalent of Mike Tyson, and your pitiful, babied little immune system has never gone up against a ranked fighter before, let alone the Baddest Man on the Planet.
"There are major flu outbreaks approximately every three decades. We are currently overdue a visit from one." - Vybarr Cregan-Reid, 2018.
Don't it just make your whole spine do a li'l xylophone thing?
Primate Change isn't a self-help book. It's closer to doomsaying. Woe is us, for we are lost; here is what Eden was like, and here is what we're surviving now. But even through all this apocalyptic bell-ringing, there's a suggestion of steps we can take to be less discontented with society, and the steps are literal.
Move around more. No, more than that.
Eat food. Corn isn't food, eat actual food.
Be in the sun.
Get a dog. Listen to the dog's suggestions. If the dog wants to drink water, he's right. If the dog wants to go outside and wrestle, he's right. If the dog wants to run around in the grass for no reason and smile, guess what, he's still right.
And move the fuck out of London.
All considered, I was very pleasantly surprised. It was absorbing, well-researched, expertly written, and confirmed every unga-bunga-bullshit bias I have.
The overarching theme of the book is the same one that informs both my practice and my everyday life, as first conceptualized by evolutionary biologist cadre The Bloodhound Gang: You and me, baby, we ain't nothing but mammals. We wear pants and have iPads now, but we're still a bunch of huge, bald monkeys, and evolution didn't stop just because everybody has plasma TVs. We're still evolving to suit our environment, and the artificiality of our surroundings and unlifeness of the pursuits that occupy our time has the beast part of us thrashing around, gnashing its teeth, giving us anxiety and lower back pain.
Cities are the main culprit behind our collapse into an agonized tangle of weak, spasmodic limbs and subcutaneous fat. They keep us penned up, incapable of fulfilling our biological imperative to wander around for hours, squinting. Everything's too close, too big, too loud for us to do anything we're suppose to do. Humans are simply the wrong tool for the job of cities, and that was before the industrial revolution, when the Titans of Industry (with motivations not too distant from the drive behind the Titanomachy) started bilge-pumping carcinogenic filth directly into the reservoirs and sky. Ferngully was a documentary.
Now we're all fat and neurotic and we have asthma and diabetes, both of which can be protected against by childhood exposure to a dog. Wild, right? More literally than figuratively. Dogs let the immune system practice against low-grade but legitimate threats, so it doesn't turn on itself and target harmless things (as in the case of asthma or ridiculous allergies like grass) or itself in the form of autoimmune disease.
Shoes make your feet weak, and the compensatory angling that your body integrates contributes to ankle, knee, back pain, and arthritis. We sit too goddamn much and it's increasing our likelihood of death to a preposterous degree. Food is losing its nutrition due to the high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, and it'll get worse before it gets better, especially with the form-over-function approach we take to feed development. It's only right to refer to it as a feed; even as the vegetables are becoming increasingly void of minerals we lean more heavily on The Demon Wheat, and most of our calories are empty, fattening up the animal and keeping it complacent.
Speaking of animals! Living in such close proximity to animals, and piling them on top of each other (and on top of their own shit) is what causes most of our non-metabolic diseases and illnesses. Technically speaking, when you consider what sewers are, and what high-rises are, we're also piled on top of our own shit. A virus wants to transmit, and when the pigs are kept knee-deep in their own filth and 3 feet from all the other pigs, all it takes is a lucky roll of the dice to wipe out the whole herd. This is doubly true for humans, as we're also elbow to elbow and deeply fuckin compromised, especially in filthy and overpopulated cities like London, NYC, and Calcutta (though also in cleaner and overpopulated cities like LA, Seattle, or anywhere in Japan).
On a related note, kids born by C-section are 52% more likely to develop asthma since they don't get coated in protective vaginal bacteria on the way out.
Weird to consider that cities are too sterile and too dirty at the same time, right? Well, it's a matter of scale. We're so well protected from the icky germs, with our carry-on hand sanitizer and our existential terror at getting dog drool on our Goin' Out Sweatpants, that the immune system never gets any sparring time in. Viral evolution, and evolution in general, can be thought of as the near-infinite monkeys on the near-infinite typewriters, inevitably producing the works of Shakespeare; however, in this mixed analogy, the works of Shakespeare at the viral equivalent of Mike Tyson, and your pitiful, babied little immune system has never gone up against a ranked fighter before, let alone the Baddest Man on the Planet.
"There are major flu outbreaks approximately every three decades. We are currently overdue a visit from one." - Vybarr Cregan-Reid, 2018.
Don't it just make your whole spine do a li'l xylophone thing?
Primate Change isn't a self-help book. It's closer to doomsaying. Woe is us, for we are lost; here is what Eden was like, and here is what we're surviving now. But even through all this apocalyptic bell-ringing, there's a suggestion of steps we can take to be less discontented with society, and the steps are literal.
Move around more. No, more than that.
Eat food. Corn isn't food, eat actual food.
Be in the sun.
Get a dog. Listen to the dog's suggestions. If the dog wants to drink water, he's right. If the dog wants to go outside and wrestle, he's right. If the dog wants to run around in the grass for no reason and smile, guess what, he's still right.
And move the fuck out of London.
April 12, 2019
This was kind of my dream book - anthropology for the lay person! I even like anthropology for non-anthropologists, but this was just perfect. So well written, witty even. Also, I have always hated sitting for long periods of time (i.e., more than an hour), and it makes perfect sense. But there is nothing to be done as yet. We are all doing the wrong jobs.
November 9, 2020
As if we didn't have enough problems with social issues, such as overpopulation, pollution, poverty, clashes of cultures, deadly viruses, etc... it turns out that our private lives are also messed up. For instance, who would have thought that chairs are pernicious to our health and should be used with moderation?
Probably the thought occurred to you, if you are chained to your office chair because of your sedentary, boring and possibly useless job. Even if our employers respond by saying that you have to work harder (meaning: sit for even longer hours) to be a respectable member of society.
It certainly occurred to me when I started to experience back pain. My employer suggested a series of remedies, such as ergonomic chair, sitting on big ball and frequent intervals, none of which brought any improvement. Not surprisingly, because it's the whole concept of sitting in a room, without much natural light and manual work that it's deadly.
Cregan-Reid is preaching to a convert, because I am already convinced that societies evolved (so to speak) too fast for our anatomy to adapt. We still have the body of hunters/gatherers but none of their strength and bone-density. Indeed, one of the scariest chapters was about the loss of bone density; compared to even a relatively recent Neanderthal, our bones look fragile and hollow like birds.
Even our anatomy protests against the incarceration contemporary life is proving to be. Being locked in office rooms or in our cars, chained to our chairs, staring into our screens, makes us suffer not only psychologically, because of the increasing disconnection with the real, natural world, but also physically.
Among all the modern pathologies on the increase, are the obvious culprit, back pain, but also allergies, poor eyesight and the increasing misshaping of legs, ankles and feet. On a personal note, walking in the street I do observe that lots of young people seem unable to walk straight because of the strange twisting of their feet and legs.
What could be done on a practical level? There are no shortcuts, the answer lies in moving more and sitting less. Therefore, you should try hard to have more time for yourself, even if your supervisor is otherwise inclined. Not only moving, but doing it in a natural environment would be even better...
The solution is simple, but hard to implement without a huge modification of the very basis of our "advanced" societies. With no general improvements visibile on the horizon, the best we can do is trying to save at least ourselves.
Interesting reading, albeit a bit dismal and depressing.
Probably the thought occurred to you, if you are chained to your office chair because of your sedentary, boring and possibly useless job. Even if our employers respond by saying that you have to work harder (meaning: sit for even longer hours) to be a respectable member of society.
It certainly occurred to me when I started to experience back pain. My employer suggested a series of remedies, such as ergonomic chair, sitting on big ball and frequent intervals, none of which brought any improvement. Not surprisingly, because it's the whole concept of sitting in a room, without much natural light and manual work that it's deadly.
Cregan-Reid is preaching to a convert, because I am already convinced that societies evolved (so to speak) too fast for our anatomy to adapt. We still have the body of hunters/gatherers but none of their strength and bone-density. Indeed, one of the scariest chapters was about the loss of bone density; compared to even a relatively recent Neanderthal, our bones look fragile and hollow like birds.
Even our anatomy protests against the incarceration contemporary life is proving to be. Being locked in office rooms or in our cars, chained to our chairs, staring into our screens, makes us suffer not only psychologically, because of the increasing disconnection with the real, natural world, but also physically.
Among all the modern pathologies on the increase, are the obvious culprit, back pain, but also allergies, poor eyesight and the increasing misshaping of legs, ankles and feet. On a personal note, walking in the street I do observe that lots of young people seem unable to walk straight because of the strange twisting of their feet and legs.
What could be done on a practical level? There are no shortcuts, the answer lies in moving more and sitting less. Therefore, you should try hard to have more time for yourself, even if your supervisor is otherwise inclined. Not only moving, but doing it in a natural environment would be even better...
The solution is simple, but hard to implement without a huge modification of the very basis of our "advanced" societies. With no general improvements visibile on the horizon, the best we can do is trying to save at least ourselves.
Interesting reading, albeit a bit dismal and depressing.
April 5, 2020
Un libro su come il corpo si adatta e si è trasformato nell'Antropocene e prima.
Molto pratico, molto diretto, personale, importante. Uno statuto del corpo cambiato e che cambia.
Molto pratico, molto diretto, personale, importante. Uno statuto del corpo cambiato e che cambia.
November 18, 2024
This must be one of the best books I've read - not just because I enjoyed reading this - but because it motivated me to change my life and taught me a lot.
April 7, 2019
Climate Effects on Human Evolution
Life moves fast; but the biological evolution is slow. Small anatomical changes have occurred in the last 250,000 years of human history, but they are insignificant and marginal. But technological advancement has significant impact on the behavioral adaptation that has progressed rapidly on evolutionary scale towards transhumanism. By the time genetic evolution that would be reflected in thickening of tooth enamel and our back-bone structure because of our diets and sedentary life styles, other non-biological events will impact the future of human beings. The artificial intelligence (AI), brain-machine interface and quantum realities would have taken over body and mind. Species of Transhumanism would have adapted to life in alien worlds such as Mars, and moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
The genus Homo, to which our species belongs, had the capacity to adjust to a variety of environmental conditions, and Homo sapiens were able to cope with a broad range of climatic conditions, hot and cold environments, arid and moist ones, and with all kinds of varying vegetation like expanding dry grasslands or thick forests. The adaptations that typify Homo Sapiens were associated with the largest oscillations in global climate: (a) hominin origins, (b) habitual bipedality, (c) first stone toolmaking and eating meat/marrow from large animals, (d) onset of long-endurance mobility, (e) onset of rapid brain enlargement, (f) expansion of symbolic expression, communication, discovering, and the ability for learning and innovation.
Environmental biologists are too hung up on the Armageddon that would be created by climatic effects of excessive fossil-fuel usage, deforestation, and the lack of clean-air acts. Environments have changed dramatically too many time in the past 3.9 billion years of life forms on this planet. Complete destruction of life occurred a few times, but life came back with vengeance and evolved successfully. What lies ahead is that technology will take over biology. Climatic effects would be bad and so is nuclear proliferation and the willingness of United States and Russia to sell nuclear technology to Islamic countries in the Middle East which would make threat of nuclear war more of a reality. This would make climatic effects due to human involvement much more dangerous than mere fossil-fuel usage.
Life moves fast; but the biological evolution is slow. Small anatomical changes have occurred in the last 250,000 years of human history, but they are insignificant and marginal. But technological advancement has significant impact on the behavioral adaptation that has progressed rapidly on evolutionary scale towards transhumanism. By the time genetic evolution that would be reflected in thickening of tooth enamel and our back-bone structure because of our diets and sedentary life styles, other non-biological events will impact the future of human beings. The artificial intelligence (AI), brain-machine interface and quantum realities would have taken over body and mind. Species of Transhumanism would have adapted to life in alien worlds such as Mars, and moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
The genus Homo, to which our species belongs, had the capacity to adjust to a variety of environmental conditions, and Homo sapiens were able to cope with a broad range of climatic conditions, hot and cold environments, arid and moist ones, and with all kinds of varying vegetation like expanding dry grasslands or thick forests. The adaptations that typify Homo Sapiens were associated with the largest oscillations in global climate: (a) hominin origins, (b) habitual bipedality, (c) first stone toolmaking and eating meat/marrow from large animals, (d) onset of long-endurance mobility, (e) onset of rapid brain enlargement, (f) expansion of symbolic expression, communication, discovering, and the ability for learning and innovation.
Environmental biologists are too hung up on the Armageddon that would be created by climatic effects of excessive fossil-fuel usage, deforestation, and the lack of clean-air acts. Environments have changed dramatically too many time in the past 3.9 billion years of life forms on this planet. Complete destruction of life occurred a few times, but life came back with vengeance and evolved successfully. What lies ahead is that technology will take over biology. Climatic effects would be bad and so is nuclear proliferation and the willingness of United States and Russia to sell nuclear technology to Islamic countries in the Middle East which would make threat of nuclear war more of a reality. This would make climatic effects due to human involvement much more dangerous than mere fossil-fuel usage.
March 13, 2023
Great book about our physical hunter-gatherer's body unpreparedness for contemporary life.
Our bodies evolved over 2-3 million years for hunter gatherer lifestyle through natural selection. Today, we sit around 12 hours a day in a chair, an invention that got traction only around 18th century. Clearly this will cause epidemics of physiologically diseases.
I very much recommend this book to anyone interested in what the biological sciences critical of current world. I believe this is a under explored area with most left-wing theories citing social determinants, but the social is so strong that it gets reflected in the biological - a domain conventionally associated with right-wing concepts of survival of the fittest, biological essentialism or mating/working/competence markets.
The book also assured me that the amounts of time I am currently putting into sports (primarily due to psychologically reasons) are not wasteful at all and do in fact extend my actual as well as active life.
Yet at the same time many of the messages are well known: we should walk more, eat less and mainly eat less processed food, sit less, walk at least sometimes barefoot, strengthen as well as stretch. Because of that it is not so eye-opening. Hunter-gatherer's Guide for 21st Century by Weinstein is looking at things in a more complex way, yet its writing is worse and sometimes it gets tied in its own web of meanings and terms. This book is more accessible and should be more mandatory for ensuring healthier lives.
Our bodies evolved over 2-3 million years for hunter gatherer lifestyle through natural selection. Today, we sit around 12 hours a day in a chair, an invention that got traction only around 18th century. Clearly this will cause epidemics of physiologically diseases.
I very much recommend this book to anyone interested in what the biological sciences critical of current world. I believe this is a under explored area with most left-wing theories citing social determinants, but the social is so strong that it gets reflected in the biological - a domain conventionally associated with right-wing concepts of survival of the fittest, biological essentialism or mating/working/competence markets.
The book also assured me that the amounts of time I am currently putting into sports (primarily due to psychologically reasons) are not wasteful at all and do in fact extend my actual as well as active life.
Yet at the same time many of the messages are well known: we should walk more, eat less and mainly eat less processed food, sit less, walk at least sometimes barefoot, strengthen as well as stretch. Because of that it is not so eye-opening. Hunter-gatherer's Guide for 21st Century by Weinstein is looking at things in a more complex way, yet its writing is worse and sometimes it gets tied in its own web of meanings and terms. This book is more accessible and should be more mandatory for ensuring healthier lives.
December 7, 2019
Kirja imaisi mukaansa kuin jännityskertomukseen. Sujuvasti, kansantajuisesti kirjoitettu, ihmisen historiaa muuttamamme ympäristön keskellä. Isojen linjauksien välissä vilahtelee nippelitietoa, tästä selvisi sekin miksi suomalaiset ja pohjoismaat ovat oppineet sietämään maitoa, mistä keliakian yleistys johtuu ym.
April 15, 2019
The third section is what I wanted this whole book to be.
May 3, 2024
One of the best science books I've ever read
April 5, 2020
My wife and I read this book together and had discussions on it as we went. This book goes over how our technological evolution is outpacing our natural evolution and the repercussions of this mismatch. It's definitely not a positive or uplifting book, but definitely helped inspire my wife and myself to make changes in our lives. The biggest point that the author seems to drive home is that we need to be less sedentary, specifically... we need to do a lot more walking, the more the better, and it's even better if it's in barefoot or lightly cushioned shoes and to work less.
Throughout the history of mankind we have been able to alter our environment because of our intelligence much faster than our body is able to evolve to keep up with our changing environments. It's no longer necessary that we have bodies that are able and designed to run long distances as people generally have a surplus of food that is readily available. We have to go out of our way to exercise as our day to day lives are jobs are generally very sedentary. We're to the point where with voice recognition, we are using our hands less and less and the author feels that even our hands will soon become extraneous. The author believes that it's possible for animals to start devolving because of a mismatch between a species and its environment and that it could start occurring with us. My wife made an excellent comparison to pop culture's portrayal of aliens who have extremely frail bodies that are dominated by a massive brain. Is this actually the future of humanity? Are we bound to evolve into bodies that are less and less functional that require less energy and maintenance but diverting more energy use to our brains?
The book was very well written and was easy to read. There wasn't a lot of technical jargon making it hard to read, and as a whole it moved along at a good pace. There were some parts that did move a bit slower with the author repeating himself. There were also some problems or mismatches that were given that a solution wasn't really provided for, perhaps there isn't a solution? But throughout the book he does give a lot of helpful tips that can be used to help manage some of the mismatches between our technological and natural evolutions. A lot of the opinions presented in this book were very logical and make complete sense. There were also some beliefs that were very surprising and interesting to learn about including: the fact that plants that are growing in an increased carbon dioxide environment grow faster, but are less nutritious, and because of this all of our fruits and vegetables are becoming gradually less and less nutritious; schools were originally designed to train children for factories, throughout our lives we are being taught to sit still in chairs and how bad this is for our bodies and how engrained it is in us; air pollution was killing people as early on as the 1940s; and although it was previously believed that bad eye sight came about from reading too much, it seems to actually be because of not being outside enough especially when our eyes are developing.
My wife felt that the book lacked citations and documentation to back up the authors opinions. She feels that it was very opinionated and frequently based on single or no studies. I personally did not find this to be the case, but a lot of what he was saying seemed to logically make sense and, for the most part, didn't seem to be too outlandish, so I went along with a lot of it without checking the sources with a fine toothed comb. Perhaps a more observant reader would also have this issue.
My wife and I both really enjoyed this book. It sparked a lot of interesting conversation between us and we found ourselves talking about this book throughout the week as we were reading. We found a lot of things that we wanted to change in our day to day lives, especially for our young daughter. Although there is a lot of doom and gloom in this book, I think it's worth reading, especially for the advise that is given throughout!
Throughout the history of mankind we have been able to alter our environment because of our intelligence much faster than our body is able to evolve to keep up with our changing environments. It's no longer necessary that we have bodies that are able and designed to run long distances as people generally have a surplus of food that is readily available. We have to go out of our way to exercise as our day to day lives are jobs are generally very sedentary. We're to the point where with voice recognition, we are using our hands less and less and the author feels that even our hands will soon become extraneous. The author believes that it's possible for animals to start devolving because of a mismatch between a species and its environment and that it could start occurring with us. My wife made an excellent comparison to pop culture's portrayal of aliens who have extremely frail bodies that are dominated by a massive brain. Is this actually the future of humanity? Are we bound to evolve into bodies that are less and less functional that require less energy and maintenance but diverting more energy use to our brains?
The book was very well written and was easy to read. There wasn't a lot of technical jargon making it hard to read, and as a whole it moved along at a good pace. There were some parts that did move a bit slower with the author repeating himself. There were also some problems or mismatches that were given that a solution wasn't really provided for, perhaps there isn't a solution? But throughout the book he does give a lot of helpful tips that can be used to help manage some of the mismatches between our technological and natural evolutions. A lot of the opinions presented in this book were very logical and make complete sense. There were also some beliefs that were very surprising and interesting to learn about including: the fact that plants that are growing in an increased carbon dioxide environment grow faster, but are less nutritious, and because of this all of our fruits and vegetables are becoming gradually less and less nutritious; schools were originally designed to train children for factories, throughout our lives we are being taught to sit still in chairs and how bad this is for our bodies and how engrained it is in us; air pollution was killing people as early on as the 1940s; and although it was previously believed that bad eye sight came about from reading too much, it seems to actually be because of not being outside enough especially when our eyes are developing.
My wife felt that the book lacked citations and documentation to back up the authors opinions. She feels that it was very opinionated and frequently based on single or no studies. I personally did not find this to be the case, but a lot of what he was saying seemed to logically make sense and, for the most part, didn't seem to be too outlandish, so I went along with a lot of it without checking the sources with a fine toothed comb. Perhaps a more observant reader would also have this issue.
My wife and I both really enjoyed this book. It sparked a lot of interesting conversation between us and we found ourselves talking about this book throughout the week as we were reading. We found a lot of things that we wanted to change in our day to day lives, especially for our young daughter. Although there is a lot of doom and gloom in this book, I think it's worth reading, especially for the advise that is given throughout!
November 6, 2018
Vybarr's midlife crisis prompts him to think how we'd be better off if we lived our lives moving around more like hunter-gatherers, sort of.
Though not as aggressively anti-civilization as the likes of a Yuval Noah Harari, Vybarr pins his (as well as at first shockingly but later convincingly high percentage of the world's) back pain, allergies, foot problems, and premature death on sedentary life. He goes deep into biomechanics but I found most compelling his arguments from history where he walks through how different levels of society first came across the unique issues we're facing today most compelling.
Man I gotta stand up and get around more.
Notes:
"the human body is fractal in its brilliance"
there was a crazy super old fossil of a human trying to get out a painful tooth 150,000 years ago
Chairs used to be a super fancy thing only kings would use (people would squat to chat). Now everyone's got them.
Mothers drugged babies in the UK during the early industrial revolution so they could work in peace.
Myopia is caused by not alot of sun when you're a kid.
House plants help psychology and clean the air (water if you put your finger an inch under the soil and it's wet).
Standing desks are only part of the answer. It's more about variety.
I really wanted a chapter on the evolution of mattresses and pillows but never got that.
Though not as aggressively anti-civilization as the likes of a Yuval Noah Harari, Vybarr pins his (as well as at first shockingly but later convincingly high percentage of the world's) back pain, allergies, foot problems, and premature death on sedentary life. He goes deep into biomechanics but I found most compelling his arguments from history where he walks through how different levels of society first came across the unique issues we're facing today most compelling.
Man I gotta stand up and get around more.
Notes:
"the human body is fractal in its brilliance"
there was a crazy super old fossil of a human trying to get out a painful tooth 150,000 years ago
Chairs used to be a super fancy thing only kings would use (people would squat to chat). Now everyone's got them.
Mothers drugged babies in the UK during the early industrial revolution so they could work in peace.
Myopia is caused by not alot of sun when you're a kid.
House plants help psychology and clean the air (water if you put your finger an inch under the soil and it's wet).
Standing desks are only part of the answer. It's more about variety.
I really wanted a chapter on the evolution of mattresses and pillows but never got that.
July 28, 2021
O passado, o presente e o futuro transumano. Estamos no fio da navalha entre transcendência ou senescência.
As patologias e morbidades modernas são escrutinadas ao pormenor e questões prementes são levantadas acerca do ambiente que estamos a criar, a poluição, o sedentarismo e a jornada laboral que longe de libertar mantém nos escravos reféns de analgésicos, anti depressivos, ansiolíticos, betabloqueadores etc.
A biologia mais profunda detém ditames que devem ser realizados e são recompensados em força e saúde. A vida é movimento, ar limpo, pés no chão, espaço de esperiência mais que espaço utilitário de produção insana. Nunca a nomenclatura binomial ' sapiens sapiens' esteve tão em dissonância com o conceito homónimo.
Excelente divulgador científico, Vybarr agradará a todos os amantes de evolução humana, antropologia e sociologia.
As patologias e morbidades modernas são escrutinadas ao pormenor e questões prementes são levantadas acerca do ambiente que estamos a criar, a poluição, o sedentarismo e a jornada laboral que longe de libertar mantém nos escravos reféns de analgésicos, anti depressivos, ansiolíticos, betabloqueadores etc.
A biologia mais profunda detém ditames que devem ser realizados e são recompensados em força e saúde. A vida é movimento, ar limpo, pés no chão, espaço de esperiência mais que espaço utilitário de produção insana. Nunca a nomenclatura binomial ' sapiens sapiens' esteve tão em dissonância com o conceito homónimo.
Excelente divulgador científico, Vybarr agradará a todos os amantes de evolução humana, antropologia e sociologia.
February 11, 2020
Acabei de ler este interessante livro sobre os novos hábitos do ser humano, as alterações, ao longo da história, na forma como descansamos, dormimos, pensamos, comemos ou comunicamos e o impacto que isso pode ter no futuro.
Uma obra útil para estimular o 🧠 pensamento, com inúmeros estudos científicos recentes, nomeadamente "antropologia para leigos", trazendo uma análise abrangente, rigorosa e pertinente sobre como o mundo que criámos nos tem modificado.
Quem gostou dos livros do Yuval Noah Harari, vai certamente gostar deste. Entre outros temas, o autor aborda as alterações provocadas no homem pela revolução agrícola, industrial e digital.
🏅 Foi eleito o livro de ciências do ano (2018) pelo Financial Times.
Uma obra útil para estimular o 🧠 pensamento, com inúmeros estudos científicos recentes, nomeadamente "antropologia para leigos", trazendo uma análise abrangente, rigorosa e pertinente sobre como o mundo que criámos nos tem modificado.
Quem gostou dos livros do Yuval Noah Harari, vai certamente gostar deste. Entre outros temas, o autor aborda as alterações provocadas no homem pela revolução agrícola, industrial e digital.
🏅 Foi eleito o livro de ciências do ano (2018) pelo Financial Times.
December 5, 2018
Pop quiz: you remember Pleistocene, Jurassic, and other epochs in earth history. What do you call the post-Stone Age, post-Ice Age epoch we live in now?
Traditional answer: Holocene.
New answer: Anthropocene.
Vybarr Cregan-Reid predicts that in a year or so, this term will be widely adopted.
When hunter-gatherer nomads settled down on farms and villages, raising crops and livestock, life became a lot easier for people, but the new diet and change in exercise levels came about far faster than any organism can evolve to optimum adaptation to the new environment. You can read about this in any number of Paleo diet books. Nearsightedness and crooked teeth showed up in the fossil record only after Egyptians cultivated grain. It's only gotten worse since the days of the Pyramids, with the escalating cost of health care and an epidemic of obesity, aches and pains, allergies, cancers, and other modern pathologies.
Chapter One includes a section on "Foot Technology & Hunting" that will blow your mind. "Early humans were the most fearsome hunters on the planet," Cregan-Reid writes, and if you buy the book you'll see how he paints a vivid, comprehensive, detailed, and depressing picture of what our ancestors were like (awesome! like Olympic athletes and superheroes, compared to us!) and what we have become. The science is inarguable. It's horrifying. But that is not the end of the story!
You have to keep reading, past the bleak picture of "Average Joe" in the Epilogue, the billions of dollars going into genetic research and gene therapies, to the part where Cregan-Reid now walks 40 to 50 miles a week "and it feels like nothing."
The shining hope, the message to take from this book, is this: "The idea that pain might be created by something over which we have a modicum of control makes a huge difference to the anxiety that automatically adheres to the stress we feel when experiencing any kind of pain."
We have a more than a "modicum" of control!
If none of the many books on fitness, inactivity, and diet have inspired you, try this one. The science really brings it home. Fascinating, eye-opening read that should be mandatory in med schools and in every household.
Traditional answer: Holocene.
New answer: Anthropocene.
Vybarr Cregan-Reid predicts that in a year or so, this term will be widely adopted.
When hunter-gatherer nomads settled down on farms and villages, raising crops and livestock, life became a lot easier for people, but the new diet and change in exercise levels came about far faster than any organism can evolve to optimum adaptation to the new environment. You can read about this in any number of Paleo diet books. Nearsightedness and crooked teeth showed up in the fossil record only after Egyptians cultivated grain. It's only gotten worse since the days of the Pyramids, with the escalating cost of health care and an epidemic of obesity, aches and pains, allergies, cancers, and other modern pathologies.
Chapter One includes a section on "Foot Technology & Hunting" that will blow your mind. "Early humans were the most fearsome hunters on the planet," Cregan-Reid writes, and if you buy the book you'll see how he paints a vivid, comprehensive, detailed, and depressing picture of what our ancestors were like (awesome! like Olympic athletes and superheroes, compared to us!) and what we have become. The science is inarguable. It's horrifying. But that is not the end of the story!
You have to keep reading, past the bleak picture of "Average Joe" in the Epilogue, the billions of dollars going into genetic research and gene therapies, to the part where Cregan-Reid now walks 40 to 50 miles a week "and it feels like nothing."
The shining hope, the message to take from this book, is this: "The idea that pain might be created by something over which we have a modicum of control makes a huge difference to the anxiety that automatically adheres to the stress we feel when experiencing any kind of pain."
We have a more than a "modicum" of control!
If none of the many books on fitness, inactivity, and diet have inspired you, try this one. The science really brings it home. Fascinating, eye-opening read that should be mandatory in med schools and in every household.
June 28, 2024
We already live in dystopia,
we work the majority of our day, the majority of our lifes, stressed and tired, for exchange of barely afford to exist and with no time to really enjoy anything else. And our body is in a race to keep up with our new manic lifestyle that we didn't have before the industrial revolution, its complaining every step of the way, chronic back pain, depression, anxiety and so on, but we normalised this way of living and even call it progress. We are the top of the food chain but still have to pay-to-play (while bugs live for free).
The way labour has been driven by profit has destroyed our lives and our bodies, and this book makes sure it goes into every detail of how it does that in great scope, from our feet, to back, hands, vision, mind and food (and this man can go at length about feet) our radical change in lifestyle has done irreparable damage both psychological and physical simply to boost productivity and profit, and cost us a quality of life we could have if we focused more on well being, health and community, but capitalism don't usually add those into the equation, and the social-economical struggles we face right now is just capitalism working as prescribed.
Despite this book being quite lenghty and very technical at times,I found myself dragging it a bit sometimes has Im not a big reader but I feel like its scope and detail oriented its what makes it so great, its also very interesting to see the physical damages and transformations capitalism has done to us over the years, and how against our nature it goes to work and live like this despite being all we known and normalise to a great extent.
I can't say I fully understand all the technical aspects Im not a scientist in any way, would feel like it would been ever better for people in the are, but I enjoyed the joining of the social-economial issues with the more technical scientific data.
we work the majority of our day, the majority of our lifes, stressed and tired, for exchange of barely afford to exist and with no time to really enjoy anything else. And our body is in a race to keep up with our new manic lifestyle that we didn't have before the industrial revolution, its complaining every step of the way, chronic back pain, depression, anxiety and so on, but we normalised this way of living and even call it progress. We are the top of the food chain but still have to pay-to-play (while bugs live for free).
The way labour has been driven by profit has destroyed our lives and our bodies, and this book makes sure it goes into every detail of how it does that in great scope, from our feet, to back, hands, vision, mind and food (and this man can go at length about feet) our radical change in lifestyle has done irreparable damage both psychological and physical simply to boost productivity and profit, and cost us a quality of life we could have if we focused more on well being, health and community, but capitalism don't usually add those into the equation, and the social-economical struggles we face right now is just capitalism working as prescribed.
Despite this book being quite lenghty and very technical at times,I found myself dragging it a bit sometimes has Im not a big reader but I feel like its scope and detail oriented its what makes it so great, its also very interesting to see the physical damages and transformations capitalism has done to us over the years, and how against our nature it goes to work and live like this despite being all we known and normalise to a great extent.
I can't say I fully understand all the technical aspects Im not a scientist in any way, would feel like it would been ever better for people in the are, but I enjoyed the joining of the social-economial issues with the more technical scientific data.
September 11, 2019
This was really interesting - a sort of survey of the human body, the environment it developed in and the ways that our radically altered Anthropocene environment is affecting it.
I was a huge fan of Cregan-Reid's other book, f
Footnotes, so I wanted to read this, although I didn't expect to find it as good as that one. It was pretty fascinating though. It covers prehistory, our earliest ancestors, early humans hunting and gathering and running down prey in the grasslands, through the shift to agriculture and finally the industrial revolution and the shift to office work. Through all of this the focus is on our bodies, how they evolved to work, and increasingly on the pathologies introduced by industrialisation, pollution and sedentariness.
It's not all a massive bummer though! Each section has some advice on how we can mitigate the worst impacts of our modern environment (go for a walk, move, run being common ones, but also getting a dog for kids to prevent allergies, eating a wider variety of less processed foods, and other less obvious ones) that can really help.
The book wasn't exactly a gripping page-turner, so I didn't get through it super quickly, but it was very interesting and full of cool information that I didn't know. And maybe that information will help me live a longer and more active life!
I was a huge fan of Cregan-Reid's other book, f
Footnotes, so I wanted to read this, although I didn't expect to find it as good as that one. It was pretty fascinating though. It covers prehistory, our earliest ancestors, early humans hunting and gathering and running down prey in the grasslands, through the shift to agriculture and finally the industrial revolution and the shift to office work. Through all of this the focus is on our bodies, how they evolved to work, and increasingly on the pathologies introduced by industrialisation, pollution and sedentariness.
It's not all a massive bummer though! Each section has some advice on how we can mitigate the worst impacts of our modern environment (go for a walk, move, run being common ones, but also getting a dog for kids to prevent allergies, eating a wider variety of less processed foods, and other less obvious ones) that can really help.
The book wasn't exactly a gripping page-turner, so I didn't get through it super quickly, but it was very interesting and full of cool information that I didn't know. And maybe that information will help me live a longer and more active life!
November 8, 2021
I’d like to say that this is probably one of the most important books of the millennia. Having not read the majority of them, I can’t really convincingly support that statement. However, I’ve had an eclectic professional life in a broad variety of fields with lots of healthcare and movement experience.
It’s full of articulate and thorough substantiation for the ideas and style of living I have been intuitively drawn to and promoted since my teens. These ideas are the reason I’ve pursued a series of careers that have been a mix of business, martial art, Eastern philosophy, sport, holistic healthcare provision and, latterly, coaching.
So, don’t read this book at your peril. It’s extremely important for our society and the individuals within it for all sorts of reasons. If you’d like to suffer less and live more, please read this book.
It’s full of articulate and thorough substantiation for the ideas and style of living I have been intuitively drawn to and promoted since my teens. These ideas are the reason I’ve pursued a series of careers that have been a mix of business, martial art, Eastern philosophy, sport, holistic healthcare provision and, latterly, coaching.
So, don’t read this book at your peril. It’s extremely important for our society and the individuals within it for all sorts of reasons. If you’d like to suffer less and live more, please read this book.
June 26, 2022
Interesting and thought provoking, this book covered a lot of ground, from how life as hunter gatherers, through settled agriculture, the industrial revolution and modern life has affected our health.
- varied movements, not repetition
- squat don’t sit
- obese and active better than slim and sedentary
- don’t wear shoes
- don’t snack/ drink water after meals/try fasting
- chew chewy food
- 10000bc av male height was 5’4. 1800 was 5’5. Now 5’10.
Consume more sunlight & nature
Don’t sit still - don’t teach kids to sit still
Look at horizon
High co2 in the atmosphere makes plants create more carbs with less mineral uptake/nutrients. We have to eat more calories for same satiety.
Expose to germs early to avoid asthma
Shower before bed.
- varied movements, not repetition
- squat don’t sit
- obese and active better than slim and sedentary
- don’t wear shoes
- don’t snack/ drink water after meals/try fasting
- chew chewy food
- 10000bc av male height was 5’4. 1800 was 5’5. Now 5’10.
Consume more sunlight & nature
Don’t sit still - don’t teach kids to sit still
Look at horizon
High co2 in the atmosphere makes plants create more carbs with less mineral uptake/nutrients. We have to eat more calories for same satiety.
Expose to germs early to avoid asthma
Shower before bed.
April 21, 2025
excellent book!
I just have a very minor complaint which is that there are these little breaks in the book that make suggestions on how we can improve our lives- and these sections make cursory references to some science that may be outdated or warrant much more nuance. Some examples are the references to the blue zones of extreme longevity which we now know are based on very flawed demographic data, or that a certain amount of alcohol is good for health -- another claim that is founded on poor methodology. these pointe are incredibly minor in the book but perhaps could use a bit of updating.
Otherwise, this is overall a well-resesearched book taking us through human history- and in particular the history of the nature of work and our relationship with work.
I just have a very minor complaint which is that there are these little breaks in the book that make suggestions on how we can improve our lives- and these sections make cursory references to some science that may be outdated or warrant much more nuance. Some examples are the references to the blue zones of extreme longevity which we now know are based on very flawed demographic data, or that a certain amount of alcohol is good for health -- another claim that is founded on poor methodology. these pointe are incredibly minor in the book but perhaps could use a bit of updating.
Otherwise, this is overall a well-resesearched book taking us through human history- and in particular the history of the nature of work and our relationship with work.
June 14, 2021
I love books like this that range widely over several distinct fields. We live in a complex world and reading a book like this helps absorb useful findings while making them pertinent on a daily basis.
One unusual aspect of the book is the way Vybarr references Literature and art over the centuries to show how things have changed over centuries. One forgets at time that the arts often give us a snapshot of what was in peoples minds at particularly times in history.
It will be entering my gift library as a book to give to people who are thinking about topics such as health, environment, the anthropocene and human evolution.
One unusual aspect of the book is the way Vybarr references Literature and art over the centuries to show how things have changed over centuries. One forgets at time that the arts often give us a snapshot of what was in peoples minds at particularly times in history.
It will be entering my gift library as a book to give to people who are thinking about topics such as health, environment, the anthropocene and human evolution.
May 11, 2023
This is one of the best books I have read… ever. The book explores the many different ways in which homosapiens have unknowingly changed our bodies and health by changing the environment around us.
The topics explored were fascinating and it really highlighted how many of the diseases and morbidities that plague and burden us, are man made. Our ancestors were less likely to experience back pain. It was highly unlikely they had diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases. They were unlikely to need glasses.
Overall from this book, it is clear that we all need to ‘walk’ more (within abilities) in our everyday life and be a lot less sedentary.
The topics explored were fascinating and it really highlighted how many of the diseases and morbidities that plague and burden us, are man made. Our ancestors were less likely to experience back pain. It was highly unlikely they had diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases. They were unlikely to need glasses.
Overall from this book, it is clear that we all need to ‘walk’ more (within abilities) in our everyday life and be a lot less sedentary.
July 4, 2025
Da molti anni tengo d'occhio questo testo che non ha deluso le mie aspettative. Sono tante le conferme ma anche le novità che sono emerse dalla sua lettura. Mi ha aiutato a risolvere problemi posturali e sconvolto a proposito di temi delicati come una nuova visione più generale del concetto di sedentarietà che è completare all'attività fisica (in pratica si può essere sedentari nonostante si vada in palestra). Insieme alla storia del corpo umano di Lieberman è una pietra miliare per chi come me vuole capire qualcosa a quello che sta succedendo al nostro corpo in questa era di grandi cambiamenti tecnologici.
December 29, 2019
Marvellous read! I learnt so much about humans through history and how our bodies have changed/reacted since the Industrial Revolution. Because of this book, I brought several pot plants into the house today, and purchased two new ones. I am also motivated to be less sedentary whenever possible. My previous thoughts on the dangers of air pollution have been validated, and I have become aware of other issues stemming from rising CO2 levels which I hadn't even considered. Highly recommend this book if you want to see human life from a new angle.
August 4, 2023
Very educational look at the evolution of the human body and how we are all being shaped by our environment and our way of life. The author is basically saying that the human body evolved for life as hunter-gatherers and is quite ill-suited for modern life. Sitting, something most of us do most of the time, is bad for our bodies. As is wearing shoes and a hundred other components of modern living. Sitting for long periods causes chronic back pain, shoes cause feet to become misshapen. The answer, apparently, is activity. Not necessarily strenuous exercise as such, just movement.
November 6, 2018
I was a fan of the mixture of human health and the importance of activity in relation to our anthropological past. The difference between the environment we live in now and the one we have lived in for hundreds of thousands of years is strikingly large, and frighteningly increasing. I have no doubt our modern lifestyle and work regimens are at the very foundation of our early and grotesquely common physiologic deterioration. Get up, go outside, and smell the freaking roses - literally!!!
December 6, 2020
Five stars from me. This is a book that researchers and scholars will be talking about and referencing for years to come. The mention of mankind being on the brink of our next wave of a major influenza-style outbreak and here we are in 2020 within that exact type of pandemic killing millions. (Book was published in 2018). So much we can do on a personal level to make changes. Very eye opening. Highly recommended reading.
January 17, 2022
It’s a truly amazing book. This book is a punch to the gut. It keeps on telling you why your body hates the way you treat it and how life under capitalism won’t let you do any better. I have just come to realize that the efforts that I make to stay active in practice mean nothing to my body and my health. My work life doesn’t allow me to do any better. This book left me speechless in so many regards but I got more and more depressed chapter after chapter.
April 30, 2022
The author mostly discusses widespread health problems in modern people caused by lifestyle changes mostly since the industrial revolution, all through an evolutionary lens. Its a powerful perspective and this author is a reasonably proficient science writer. It includes interesting treatments of sitting/sedentariness, exercise, when to brush your teeth, and more. Definitely worth reading although I wouldn't consider it authoritative and the writing could be better in places.
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