“‘Wild.’ This is the word we need now. Before civilization, everything was wild, including humans. The polite term of anthropology is ‘hunter-gatherer,’ but calling our ancestors ‘wild’ explains so much more. Before there was farming and cities, we were wild humans. Ever since, more and more of us have been tamed, and this is what is making us ill. All that unfolds in the following chapters will be the case for honoring the design of our bodies that evolution gave us, but the easier way to say it is this: Go wild.
Worldwide, there is a growing and necessary trend toward restoring wild systems via ecological restoration. The Europeans call this process ‘re-wilding.’ We are arguing that the human body is every bit as complex and biodiverse, it turns out, as any wild ecosystem, it works best when restored to wild conditions. So think of this book as instructions for re-wilding your life, and maybe even an introduction to ideas that may change the way you think about life.”
~ John Ratey, MD & Richard Manning from Go Wild
Ready to go wild?
John Ratey, MD, and Richard Manning are here to give us the guidebook on how to make that happen!
Ratey, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, is one of the world’s leading authorities on the science of exercise. (Check out our Note on his *great* book Spark!)
Richard Manning is an award-winning journalist and author of nine books including Against the Grain—which provides a look at how agriculture has hijacked civilization.
Together, they give us a powerful look at how to “eat fat, run free, be social, and follow evolution’s other rules for total health and well-being.”
It’s a quick, fun read packed with Big Ideas. (Get a copy here.)
I’m excited to share a handful of my favorite Ideas so let’s jump straight in!
Unlock this PhilosophersNote (and over 600 more) for free!
The Optimize membership used to be $100/year. It’s now free. No credit card required. No strings attached. Just more wisdom in less time.
