Go Wild

Free Your Body and Mind from the Afflictions of Civilization
by John J. Ratey and Richard Manning | Little, Brown © 2014 · 277 pages

Ready to go wild?! John Ratey, MD, and Richard Manning are here to give us the guidebook on how to make that happen! In the Note, we explore Big Ideas ranging from wild nutrition to getting out of bad moods, getting adequate sleep and pulling levers that will change our lives!


We are designed to be wild, and by living tamely we make ourselves sick and unhappy.
John Ratey, MD & Richard Manning

“‘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!

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About the authors

Authors

John J. Ratey

Shrink on the move getting people moving
Authors

Richard Manning

Manning: An environmental author and journalist, with particular interest in the history and future of the American prairie, agriculture and poverty