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This book argues that despite the many real advantages that industrial modernity has yielded—including large gains in wealth, longevity, and (possibly) happiness—it has occurred together with the appearance of a variety of serious problems. Chief among these are probable losses in subjective existential purpose and increases in psychopathology. A highly original theory of the ultimate basis of these trends is advanced, which unites prior work in psychometrics and evolutionary science. This theory builds on the social epistasis amplification model to argue that genetic and epigenetic changes in modernizing and modernized populations, stemming from shifts in selective pressures related to industrialization, have lowered human fitness and wellness.
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Modernity and Cultural Decline A Biobehavioral Perspective Matthew Alexandar Sarraf Michael Anthony Woodley of Menie Colin Feltham
Modernity and Cultural Decline “Modernity and Cultural Decline is a breathtaking scientific analysis of the rise— and now the decline—of Western civilization. The authors’ use of bio-genetics is unique and profound. Spengler and Toynbee would have been interested. We also should be interested—and forewarned.” —Seymour Itzkoff, Professor Emeritus of Education, Smith College, USA “The authors advance a bold thesis to explain the decline of the West … in terms of evolutionary processes. They discuss cutting-edge evolutionary theories of human sociality … The authors explain the ‘social epistasis amplification model’ and the role of spiteful mutations. … The book puts human nature, genes and evolution back into historiography and sociology, from where those concepts have been largely expelled since the mid-twentieth century. The final chapter advances … cosmological reasoning by providing a far-futures vision of the possible course of human space-colonization … This is the real thing, sharp minds … offering testable hypotheses based on quantitative models. As I read Modernity and Cultural Decline it occurred to me that … many university departments deserve to be … restocked with genuine scientists.” —Frank Salter, Former Researcher of the Max Planck Society, Germany “A profoundly important book. The authors have that rarest of combinations: vision and courage. This, combined with a vast technical knowledge, makes for a potent force. To tackle the evolutionary-genetic basis for the problems of Western civilization, in light of industrial technology, seems obvious, and yet they are the first to do so. And even if their highly pessimistic conclusion pans out, there is still much value in understanding our road to collapse. One can only hope that society finds the will to engage with these vital and consequential ideas.” —David Skrbina, Senior Lecturer, University of Michigan, Dearborn, USA “Modernity and Cultural Decline is a supremely bold, thoroughgoing biological account of often unacknowledged double-edged or negative impacts of modernity … [such as] rising psychopathology, nihilistic outlook and social incohesion. The actual plusses and minuses of life in the modern era are teased out in a profound chapter clearing away the political and philosophical lenses through which commonly modernity is viewed. Socio-cultural phenomena—the puzzle of the demographic transition as well as industrialization—no less than psychology and morphology are here shown to be highly amenable to study in terms of genetics and evolution…
In unusual depth of argumentation with voluminous evidence, there is no flinching at the great complexity of the data, which is treated forensically. Criticism in particular is dealt with comprehensively. The gauntlet is thrown down with … near exhaustive detail, providing food for thought, irrespective of how near the mark the authors—or in agreement the reader—may be. This is the sort of science book of which we need mo