[extropy-chat] Collapse (Jared Diamond)

[Dan Clemmensen]

Olga Bourlin wrote:

> And now ... a word from our sponsor.
>
> Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
>
> "In his million-copy bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond 
> examined how and why Western civilizations developed the technologies 
> and immunities that allowed them to dominate much of the world. Now in 
> this brilliant companion volume, Diamond probes the other side of the 
> equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to 
> collapse into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates?":
>
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0670033375/qid=1104761086/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-4080716-5351264?v=glance&s=books 
>
>
> ... and now back to our regular programming.
>
I am almost finished reading "Collapse." It is fascinating and every bit 
as thought-provoking as "Guns, Germs, and Steel."

I'm currently reading the "Australia" chapter. Damien: you guys are in 
trouble, but I guess you knew that. The way Diamond tells it, your only 
hope is for an early Singularity.

So far all of the chapters have been quite revealing. The best bit was 
the Norse colony on Greenland. This colony was marginal to begin with, 
and was finally pushed out by the Inuit, who arrived later and had 
superior technology for the environment. The Greenland Norse numbered 
about 5000 at the max, and they only managed to hold out for about 450 
years. (i.e., a bit longer than the English colonists in North America 
so far.) This marginal colony, not Norway, was the origin of the failed 
attempt to colonize Vinland.

Diamond comes across as an eco-realist rather than a tree-hugger, but in 
the end, civilizations fail due to deforestation driven by 
overpopulation. Diamond would strenuously object to this 
characterization, citing his five factors and all sorts of good stuff, 
but I came away from my reading with this strong impression. Read the book.