Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond

Diamond describes the early parts of human history in a broad scope towards the beginning of the book. He focuses on both the evolution and spread of human beings, arguing that some civilizations had a head start over other ones because of when the period of human evolution took place. He explains how different environments shaped human history through an a example of how populations which inhabited the Polynesian islands developed differently due to the different environments and then by telling the stories about what happened as populations with better geographical advantages encountered more disadvantaged populations in the Americas. Diamond explains the many factors that influenced the historical progression of different societies. Diamond argues how food production was very much a primary factor in the advancement of each society. Societies

The rise and fall of different civilizations and empires is caused by various social, political, and cultural factors that affect its societies. One of the most important concepts seen in empires are the creation of its culture and its relation to the beliefs of its society. Religion plays an enormous role in understanding the purpose behind the actions of the people in a civilization. Religion and culture are dependent of each other as it reflects the ideas and values that society has agreed upon. As a new urban civilization during 2500 B.C, The Indus Valley Civilization created a sociopolitical system that

Albert Einstein once said “It has become appalling obvious that technology has exceeded our humanity. The short story By the Waters of Babylon written by Stephen Vincent Benet is written around the effects of technology. In this story, the son of a priest discovers that they had destroyed their entire world with the overuse of technology. As the son himself said, “perhaps in the old days they ate knowledge too fast”. This caused them to create negative effects which destroyed their world, and caused them to live a different life. Technology can have detrimental effects on the Earth, which can lead to destruction but there is still hope for new beginnings.

The transition from the traditional hunter gatherer societies, in to an agriculture based living system, has allowed humans to increase their population size, putting strains on the Earth’s environment. Agriculture has also brought along with it a decrease in women’s roles in the community, while also bringing about a class system where the wealthy rule, and were the weak and poor obey. As humans began to domesticate more plants and animals, they settled in permanent areas. The Change from hunter gatherer benefited few, but had dire consequences for the earth and groups with in it. One such consequence was the population increase, which has lead to major issues throughout history, and one that has ties to current global issues.

Since the inception of human civilization there have been countless cultures and societies which have helped shape the current world today as we know it. The modern human race dates back more than 200,000 years and in that time frame many cultures have risen to great virtue and success only to deteriorate or cease to exist altogether. First before examining one of these cultures we must know what culture truly means. The Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Culture Center defines culture as a “dynamic social system,” containing the beliefs, behaviors, values and norms of a “specific organization, group, society or other collectivity” learned, shared, internalized, and changeable by all members of the society (Watson, 2010). In

Assessing how environmental and geographical factors, such as location and availability of resources have affected and continue to affect the development, distribution, and diffusion of the human race over time is intriguing. There are several examples of how society’s start and why. One example is the site of ancient Mesopotamia, the birthplace of the world’s first civilizations. Diffusion is the movement of things and ideas from one culture to another. When diffusion occurs, the form of a trait such as tea drinking may move from one society to another but not its original cultural meaning. Two significant

It is evident that every culture is affected by the environment in which said culture evolves. Whether these effects can be observed in the gods differing societies worship, or by the way in which resources are accumulated, the reasons are all the same. How each society and culture interacts with its environment dictates its development and growth. There is no more evident an example of this than the Chesapeake Bay area, pre, mid, and post colonization, using the colony of Jamestown as an model for contact interactions between two distinct cultures, and how these relations can be dictated by the environment.

The governing legal, moral and religious codes of ancient civilizations were written and enforced by a minority that exercised power and authority over the majority. This minority consisted of priests, rulers and elites with established power and influence in society. In these codes of early civilizations, there was an overarching emphasis on maintenance of structure and order in society. Simply put, while these codes reflect the conditions, needs and values of the times in which they were formulated, they also unveil the authors’ agendas to preserve their power by maintaining the status quo. Therefore, these codes acknowledge and uphold the prevailing social, gender and racial inequalities as natural conditions of human existence and reveal the manifold biases present in early civilizations.

John Mandel’s “Station Eleven” is a story about the undoing of modern civilization, but it also explores the genuine definition of civilization. By telling the story of the degradation of society and including depictions of life both before and after it, Mandel is able to explore society and culture through different perspectives. Mandel, however, gives us a glimmer of hope in her dystopian universe. “WHAT WAS LOST IN THE COLLAPSE: almost everything, almost everyone, but there is still such beauty” (Mandel 57). The novel deduces that while civilization has been created by humans, civilization itself is not what makes us human. In addition, during the collapse, many people can not accept that civilization has truly fallen. This can be shown in the novel’s quote:“‘Are we supposed to believe that civilization has just come to an end?’... ‘it was always a little fragile, wouldn’t you say?’” (Mandel 248). Finally, while we must not take technology and civilization itself for granted, we must also realize that real relationships and human interaction are more important than what is on our

Geography and the environment play a monumental role in the establishment and success of a nearly every civilization. For example, rivers bring water and allow for agricultural development, while mountains or deserts provide for protection and create a barrier. Many things, such as the aforementioned deserts and mountains, can offer both positive and negative influences on the society in question. The climate and amount of rainfall is directly related to the success or failure of crop growing, and thus related to the amount of time spent on simply surviving. Civilizations that are able to spend less time on subsistence farming are able to redirect that energy towards the establishment of arts, culture, religion, and science. Where a

Human society became multilayered as some groups began to specialize in exploiting other people (page 45-46). As communities grew larger, people had to find new ways of defining their relationships with neighbors, and determine who had access to resources, and who could administer justice, organize warfare, trade, and religious worship. Communities had to find ways of regulating exchanges between persons whose interests and needs were diverse. The simple rules of kinship had to be supplemented with more elaborate rules regulating behavior between people whose contacts were more fleeting and less personal. Large building projects and organizing warfare required new types of leadership.

The world is filled with many different types of societies and cultures. This is due to the fact that many people share dissimilar beliefs and ideas, as well as diverse ways of life. People lived under different circumstances and stipulations, therefore forming cultures and societies with ideas they formulated, themselves. These two factors, society and culture, are what motivate people to execute the things that they do. Many times, however, society and culture can cause downgrading effects to an assemblage if ever it is corrupt or prejudiced. Society and culture not only influences the emotions individuals have toward things like age differences, religion, power, and equality but also the actions they perform as a result.

Ancient Egyptian’s global citizenship is documented as one of the oldest, smartest, and strongest societies to ever live. This inspired me to not just look at the strengths in global citizenship, but also examine what happened to this strong society? Upon my research, I found that ancient Egypt’s hardship and success with a societal identity mirrored their hardship and success as a society. I also found that many of their hardships and successes aligned foreshadow where my own society is heading if we continue on the path of inequity, generalized reciprocity, and finity. Ancient Egypt maintained a balance reciprocity beyond their society and a strong identity within their society; in the same breath, the oppression of the poor within their society weakened them as a whole.

Although Greenland and Australia are thousands of miles apart and very different in geography, they also have many similarities. In his book “Collapse”, Jared Diamond shows that both countries have the five factors that can contribute to a society’s collapse. Greenland’s Norse society already collapsed a long time ago, while Australia is still a First World country going strong. If some things there don’t change, the country’s living standard will go down and there could be major problems.

There is a myriad of varying definitions for the word ‘culture.’ Instead of defining culture in general terms, it is often defined by how it is related to the environment; and consequently, how it is affected. Culture provides direction, and reason. Throughout history, people have remained stalwart and true to their roots and traditions. However, it has become evident that, with the changing environment, many traditional practices have had to adapt. Climate change is a key component causing this adaptation. Through reflecting upon environmental relativism, and cultural aspects, such as subsistence patterns, economic systems, and religion and world view, it can be concluded that the natural environment influences culture by causing