Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed?
Tuesdays, Feb, 1-22, 2011; 10am-12noon
Blue Hill Public Library, Howard Room
Facilitators: Ruth Davis & David Porter
Jared Dimond, in his Pulitzer Price-winning book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, discussed how and why Western civilizations came to dominate the modern world by means of certain technologies and biological immunities. In 2005, Diamond wrote Collapse, his examination of how past societies have failed and what lessons we can learn from studying the roo causes of their collapse. Environmental damage, climate change, population growth, unstable trade partners, pressure from enemies are all factors for various societies. Why do some fall into self-destruction and other succeed?
This colloquy will focus on discussions of topics presented in Collapse. We will examine the case histories that Diamond presents including past examples of collapse: Easter Island, the Anasazi, the Maya and Norse Greenland. We will look at selected modern societies and their present situations: Rwanda, Hispaniola, China and Australia. And finally, we will consider the future of our own society and what decisions and actions are necessary to avoid collapse.
Participants will be expected to have read Collapse prior to the start of the discussions. In addition, Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel is recommended.
This colloquy will focus on discussions of topics presented in Collapse. We will examine the case histories that Diamond presents including past examples of collapse: Easter Island, the Anasazi, the Maya and Norse Greenland. We will look at selected modern societies and their present situations: Rwanda, Hispaniola, China and Australia. And finally, we will consider the future of our own society and what decisions and actions are necessary to avoid collapse.
Participants will be expected to have read Collapse prior to the start of the discussions. In addition, Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel is recommended.
Ruth Davis is a retired archivist from the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole.
David Porter is a recently retired Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia where he was on the faculty for 37 years. His particular interest is the biology of fungi.
David Porter is a recently retired Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia where he was on the faculty for 37 years. His particular interest is the biology of fungi.
Suggested Readings:
Jarred Diamond: Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Jarred Diamond: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed