Collapse How Societies Choose To Fail Or Succeed

Though I find Diamond's writing style to be stiff and redundant at times, the content overwhelmed me. He shows how societies throughout history have suffered the consequences of overpopulation, and overmining resources, and environmental degradation. How these societies responded to their crisis, either through change or refusal to adapt, resulted in the survival or collapse. ...more

Though I find Diamond's writing style to be stiff and redundant at times, the content overwhelmed me. He shows how societies throughout history have suffered the consequences of overpopulation, and overmining resources, and environmental degradation. How these societies responded to their crisis, either through change or refusal to adapt, resulted in the survival or collapse. Interestingly, many societal collapses have occurred very shortly after the zenith of culture, prosperity, and population. Diamond makes a strong argument that humans are overpopulating and overextending the resources of the Earth to a degree far greater than ever before and that unless something is done to reverse the effects, there will be real consequences within our lifetime.   hide

An important book, pointing to importance of the layers and sequence of social awareness and group decision making that can mean either adaptive response or death. I especially liked his graphic description in the first chapter of the rest of the book as 'a boa constrictor that has swallowed two sheep '. There was something chilling about his meta-level perspective on the fate of societies in...more

An important book, pointing to importance of the layers and sequence of social awareness and group decision making that can mean either adaptive response or death. I especially liked his graphic description in the first chapter of the rest of the book as 'a boa constrictor that has swallowed two sheep '. There was something chilling about his meta-level perspective on the fate of societies in Greenland and Easter Island failing to be aware of the fatal consequences of their own unexamined assumptions and false imagined imperatives, but also something hopeful and uplifting in the stories of Japanese Meiji -era regulation, and Tikopian problem-solving and adaptation. Very much worth reading, educative across many levels .   hide

Exellently written book on the roots of current world stress points. The list of collapsed and collapsing societies reads like a national security threat report. Military intervention is too little too late once the societies turn. I was the student in Dr. Diamonds class who asked the question about what the Easter Islanders said as they cut down the last tree. Several other Air Force...more

Exellently written book on the roots of current world stress points. The list of collapsed and collapsing societies reads like a national security threat report. Military intervention is too little too late once the societies turn. I was the student in Dr. Diamonds class who asked the question about what the Easter Islanders said as they cut down the last tree. Several other Air Force students challenged Dr. Diamonds think so much in the class that at its conclusion he admitted that he had to re-write several chapters and refocus the book to include some of our observations about society collapse and national security issues. A must read for anyone in the military.   hide

This is a great book with big picture view and concrete courses of actions for our world today to avoid the many potential catastrophes it is heading towards, based on studies of societies in the past which have succeeded and fail. There is no one ultimate solution, but there are easy and painful solutions among the solutions, if we end up being smart enough to choose one rather than end up...more

This is a great book with big picture view and concrete courses of actions for our world today to avoid the many potential catastrophes it is heading towards, based on studies of societies in the past which have succeeded and fail. There is no one ultimate solution, but there are easy and painful solutions among the solutions, if we end up being smart enough to choose one rather than end up collapsing like many societies in the past. As the follow-up to Guns, Germs and Steel, I would highly recommend this book as a good read, but also as the second of two books to teach in any general history course rather than this mainstream crap taught about all these dead people in the past who have done nothing but started wars and hoarded excesses. The first would be Guns, Germs and Steel, of course.   hide

"Collapse" is an enjoyable read, and at times quite interesting, but you have to take everything Diamond writes with a grain of salt. For instance, the chapter comparing Haiti and the Dominican Republic is abysmal. It totally fails to take into account the role of imperialism, and specifically the use of extortionist debt by Europe and the United States, to keep Haiti (the world's first...more

"Collapse" is an enjoyable read, and at times quite interesting, but you have to take everything Diamond writes with a grain of salt. For instance, the chapter comparing Haiti and the Dominican Republic is abysmal. It totally fails to take into account the role of imperialism, and specifically the use of extortionist debt by Europe and the United States, to keep Haiti (the world's first predominantly black country to liberate itself, and one that did so from a position of slavery no less, when slavery was an ongoing practice throughout the hemisphere) subordinated and poor. For instance, Haiti only gained diplomatic recognition from the outside world in 1824 (having become independant in 1804) when it agreed to"repay" France (who had gunboats nearby) the equivalent of $21 billion for the loss of the slave colony. The impact of this debt, paid in order to stave off further invasion and reintegrate into the world economy, cannot be overstated in its role in making Haiti poorer than her neighbor, yet isn't mentioned once. There're many more flaws of this sort.   hide

A good book. Very well researched and very well written. Though, I do take what Diamond writes with grain of salt, he makes very good points about reasons for economic and social failures of societies resulting from poor stewardship of the enviroment with which they are entrusted. However, he is very apocalyptic in his writing, hinting at the collapse of the United States (or micro...more

A good book. Very well researched and very well written. Though, I do take what Diamond writes with grain of salt, he makes very good points about reasons for economic and social failures of societies resulting from poor stewardship of the enviroment with which they are entrusted. However, he is very apocalyptic in his writing, hinting at the collapse of the United States (or micro collapses within the US, such as Montana counties) while unconvincingly insisting that is not his intent over and over. He repetative insistence against that point convinced me that it was the whole point.   hide

While infinitely more coherent a work than Diamond's previous effort, "Guns, Germs, and Steel", this book too suffers from shortcomings in Diamond's writing--having cut his teeth in articles for Discover and academic journals. Nonetheless, this book manages to be both more entertaining and far more relevant than Diamond's previous books. In addition to stunningly complete studies of the collapse...more

While infinitely more coherent a work than Diamond's previous effort, "Guns, Germs, and Steel", this book too suffers from shortcomings in Diamond's writing--having cut his teeth in articles for Discover and academic journals. Nonetheless, this book manages to be both more entertaining and far more relevant than Diamond's previous books. In addition to stunningly complete studies of the collapse of Easter Island, the Greenland colonies, and dozens of other historical mysteries, Diamond applies the same reasoning to current collapses, such as the genocide in Rwanda and Australia's current ecological woes. A fascinatingly well-rounded study of how human cultures utilize and often overtax their environment with a smart emphasis on the economics that challenge easy categorization of the relationship between corporate America and the environment, this book is a must-read for any student of the environmental movement.   hide

You almost can feel the frustration the author pours into this book. As you would expect from Jared Diamond, the book is a well-researched, well-supported,scientific study with a peculiar sense of humor which I must admit I came to like. Providing a framework of five major factors that led the greatest civilization to collapse, the author warns that all five factors are not only present...more

You almost can feel the frustration the author pours into this book. As you would expect from Jared Diamond, the book is a well-researched, well-supported,scientific study with a peculiar sense of humor which I must admit I came to like. Providing a framework of five major factors that led the greatest civilization to collapse, the author warns that all five factors are not only present in the modern world but eerily and recklessly ignored by the societies who based on the accumulated knowledge about the history of past should probably know better. Highly recommended.   hide

Fantastic review of what we are doing to the planet, with parallels drawn from civilisations that have vanished due to their poor management of their environment.