Jared Diamond spends the prologue of his novel, “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed”, explores the demise of communities throughout history and how such a thing could occur. He believes, as can be inferred from the title of the book, that societies primarily fail as a result of the decisions they make in response to other issues. In the prologue, “A Tale of Two Farms”, Diamond presents his definition of a collapse, his framework for analyzing a collapse, and how he compares the stories of societies against each other. Despite Diamond’s vagueness when he discusses his methods, he does have a solid foundation that can be used to interpret collapses and attempt to use them to prevent such events in the future.
Diamond literally defines collapse as the “drastic decrease in human population size and/or political/economic/social complexity, over a considerable area, for an extended time” (3). So, the Norse Greenlanders clearly collapsed, but the turmoil seen in Detroit -- despite its many issues, including shrinking population -- can’t …show more content…
The spread, intensity, and reversibility of these actions are important things to consider when looking at a collapse. The Rapa Nui were living in a fairly stable and flourishing culture despite the drastic shifts in their island environment; they had adapted their farming and living practices instead of succumbing to the losses in their environment. As Diamond says, environmental factors alone are not enough to make a culture collapse. Additionally, climate change and its effects must be considered. Shifts can be either positive or negative for a society (12). Diamond says that climate change was an even larger issue for “past societies with short human lifespans and without writing” to communicate how to survive in a specific climate to their descendents
Diamond literally defines collapse as the “drastic decrease in human population size and/or political/economic/social complexity, over a considerable area, for an extended time” (3). So, the Norse Greenlanders clearly collapsed, but the turmoil seen in Detroit -- despite its many issues, including shrinking population -- can’t …show more content…
The spread, intensity, and reversibility of these actions are important things to consider when looking at a collapse. The Rapa Nui were living in a fairly stable and flourishing culture despite the drastic shifts in their island environment; they had adapted their farming and living practices instead of succumbing to the losses in their environment. As Diamond says, environmental factors alone are not enough to make a culture collapse. Additionally, climate change and its effects must be considered. Shifts can be either positive or negative for a society (12). Diamond says that climate change was an even larger issue for “past societies with short human lifespans and without writing” to communicate how to survive in a specific climate to their descendents