Collapse
How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
by Jared Diamond · first published 2004
47% recommend49% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Detailed, well-documented case studies of past societies that failed, often by exhausting resources like wood or water, and how several problems combine. Suits readers wanting historical grounding for sustainability.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"In his Pulitzer Prize-winning 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, 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?" "As in Guns, Germs, and Steel, Diamond weaves an all-encompassing global thesis through a series of historical-cultural narratives. Moving from the prehistoric Polynesian culture on Easter Island to the formerly fl
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…pretty cool: - Douglas Hofstadter's GEB: An Eternal Golden Braid - Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber - Ursula K. LeGuin's The Word for World is Forest - Propaganda by Edward Bernays - Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond - Empires: The Logic of World Domination from Ancient Rome to the United States by Herfried Münkler - Smedley D. Butler's War is a Racket (more…
on “Ask HN: What books fundamentally changed the way you think about the world?” ↗> resources are indeed infinite, because the human ingenuity is infinite Human ingenuity is impressive, but not infinite. I recommend Collapse by Jared Diamond. It's a long read, but every single society he examines thought they were doing great but ended up eating each other (literally) within a couple of generations once some vital resource…
on “My take on the study from MIT that predicts “societal collapse”” ↗…about it. You can try and "build more housing", you can "make it more expensive", you can "implement a lottery system" but you can't get rid of people, so it's not a constructive discussion. The book "Collapse" by Jared Diamond covers this pretty well.
on “Norway's Bold Plan to Tackle Overtourism” ↗On the topic of the long term survival of societies I can thoroughly recommend Collapse by Jared Diamond: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse:_How_Societies_Choose_... While I am generally rather positive about the long term fate of our current society I do worry that blind belief that…
on “Bjorn Lomborg: Our lifestyle is unsustainable and why that's irrelevant” ↗An even better answer specific to the "Why Nations Fail" question is in Jared Diamond's Collapse. Which specifically explores the manifold reasons nations and cultures fail. Highly recommended.
on “Why nations fail” ↗…every documentary I have seen the last 5 years claims humans are increasingly ruining the planet at a non-sustainable rate. I expected this to be common knowledge by now. If you prefer reading about it, Collapse by Jared Diamond[1] is an exceptional book on the subject, with facts and references for every claim and anecdote. [1] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143117009/ref=as_li_tl?ie=...
on “Germany passes Japan to have world's lowest birth rate” ↗"Letters from a Stoic" by Seneca "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins "Deep Work" by Cal Newport "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" by Jared Diamond
on “Ask HN: Which books do you wish you'd read earlier in life?” ↗…resilience is a worthy goal, if for no other reason than future generations can experience the existential “enoughness” of eating olives in the Mediterranean sun (and such). By the way, I recommend the book Collapse by Jared Diamond for more like this article. Spoiler alert: do not totally deforest whatever island you live on. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse:_How_Societies_Choo...
on “A Thriving Civilization in Malta Collapsed 4k Years Ago” ↗Populations do not tend to grow to equilibrium and then stop. They tend to overgrow their environment, outstrip resources, and then collapse. The result may not be extinction. But losing 90% of the human population won't feel that different if you're living through it. A relevant book recommend, https://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Societies-Choose-Succeed-Rev....…
on “India's surprise baby bust is a warning to the world” ↗Try books by Jared Diamond about world history: "Guns, Germs and Steel" "Collapse" They are not just informative: they change the way one looks at the world. And their prose is excellent.
on “Ask HN: Books That Gratify One's Intellectual Curiosity?” ↗He's not alone, but the media and public somehow only listen to the other guy. I read Collapse, by Jared Diamond - the same kind of level-headedness (or more). Despite the title and the subject of the book there is no panic, only clear analysis. And guess which threat he considers by far the worst?…
on “Global Warming Delusions” ↗…Tipping Point the best out of those 3) Free by...Chris Anderson (?) I forget. Very interesting. Team Up by Pete Mockaitis - Great read about accountability groups, subset of a mastermind group IMO. Collapse by Jared Diamond - Very interesting looks at patterns in civilizations. Some people I spoke to get bored after a few examples, it is a little repetitive but I enjoy the parallels My old faves are of…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗Recommendations: - Collapse by Jared Diamond, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_%28book%29 about how we over-exploit our planet. - The Lucifer Principle by Howard Bloom, psychological and cultural explanations of how humans…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗…thing just keeps collapsing all the time", even a casual glance at history demonstrates that civilizations crash and disappear quite frequently, for a fascinating book on this I would strongly recommend "Collapse" by Jared Diamond http://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Societies-Choose-Fail-Succeed... - There are still hunter gatherers e.g. the Bushmen of the Kalahari - although whether their lifestyle can survive is…
on “Superstimuli and the Collapse of Western Civilization (2007)” ↗Read "Collapse" by Jared Diamond - 100 years is not really proven sustainability yet...
on “5 Million Farmers Sue Monsanto for $7.7 Billion” ↗