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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed,
by Jared Diamond.
In his previous book, the widely
popular Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond convincingly
argued a history of human settlement that placed the highest
importance on those factors outside of human control: geography,
climate, geology, environment, etc. In what can be loosely
considered a follow-up, he continues that path of reasoning
by looking at past societies with the intention of affecting
our futures. Diamond looks at a varied group of societies,
from the Greenland Norse and Iceland in the North Atlantic
to Easter Island and Tikopia in the South Pacific, from
the Anasazi and Maya Indians in the Americas to the Chinese
and Japanese in Asia.
Similar to the previous book, the
author argues that environmental factors are of the utmost
importance, though he's careful to explain that human decisions
greatly affect the outcome of societies, as evidenced by
the wording of the book's subtitle. Why else could the Icelanders
have survived while the Greenland Norse didn't? Or why have
islanders on Tikopia outlasted those on Easter Island? Of
course, this ultimately raises the question, are we making
the right decisions for success, or are we headed for failure?
Diamond jumps back and forth from pessimism and optimism
across the books pages, ultimately ending on a positive
note. I'm less inclined to share his optimism, though to
admit failure now is to assure that outcome. Even though
Diamond focuses on past failures, he does so to educate
people about what not to do, so we don't repeat the failures
of past societies as we head towards into the always uncertain
future.
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