Domestication Quote by Christopher Ryan
““Human nature has been landscaped, replanted, weeded, fertilized, fenced off, seeded, and irrigated as intensively as any garden or seaside golf course. Human beings have been under cultivation longer than we’ve been cultivating anything else. Our cultures domesticate us for obscure purposes, nurturing and encouraging certain aspects of our behavior and tendencies while seeking to eliminate those that might be disruptive. Agriculture, one might say, has involved the domestication of the human being as much as of any plant or other animal.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Sex at Dawn, 2010, by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá
Human behavior is shaped by centuries of cultural “gardening,” where societies prune and nurture traits for hidden agendas.
In simple terms: Culture shapes us like a garden.
Key Takeaway
Question the motives behind cultural norms.
Themes
culture
control
domestication
psychology
societal structures
Mood
critical
analytical
Type
academic
thought‑provoking
When to use this quote
- Political discourse
- education
- media influence
Key Concepts
Social engineering
behavioral conditioning
historical analysis
Questions to Reflect On
- Who benefits from the “gardening” of humanity?
- Can we cultivate our own growth?
A Different Perspective
It may overgeneralize complex individual agency.
![“[Man] has imagined a heaven, and has left entirely out of it the supremest of all his delights, the one ecstasy that stands first and foremost in the heart of every individual of his race…sexual intercourse! It is as if a lost and perishing person in a roasting desert should be told by a rescuer…” quote by Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/939/christopher-ryan-4309_joy_man-has-imagined-a-heaven-and-has-left-e_187069.jpg)
