Collapse summary

Have you ever seen one of the film adaptations of Mutiny on the Bounty? They tell the true story of how the crew of an eighteenth-century British ship mutinied against their cruel commander. After capturing the ship they decided to settle on a tiny group of Pacific islands known as the Pitcairns.

Although the islands were deserted when they reached them, they also discovered many stone tools and bones. It seemed that someone had once lived there, but where had they gone?

One of the most popular tourist traps in Central America is the ancient, abandoned Mayan city of Tikal. Its huge structures – some of which are over 70 meters high – show that the Mayans must have been supremely powerful and wealthy.

But despite this wealth and dominance, Mayan civilization collapsed and its cities were left to crumble. Its downfall was self-inflicted.

What comes to mind when you think of the Vikings? The modern image of them is of strong and burly men thriving in cold, inhospitable climates.

However, in one environment, Greenland, they failed to thrive. Just why did a people who successfully colonized most of Northern Europe fail there?

In the last few blinks we have learned that societies collapse for various different reasons such as climate change, overpopulation and environmental damage. In this blink we will discover how societies have avoided these dangers and succeeded in the long term.

The tiny, isolated island of Tikopia in the Pacific is a great example. Despite being miles away from their neighbors, Tikopian society has thrived for over 3,000 years. This is because everyone in the population – not just the leaders – takes great care to keep the food supply stable.

If you mention Rwanda to anyone they will most likely think of the dreadful genocide that happened in 1994, when 800,000 ethnic Tutsi were killed by the country’s other main ethnic group, the Hutus.

Most people agree that the main driver behind the killing was politically motivated ethnic violence. But other factors played a part. You might recognize one of these factors – overpopulation – from the historical collapses we have already discussed.

One of the dominant stories of our time is the phenomenal rise of China. Over the last few decades its economy has grown at an unbelievable rate, and it will soon catch up with and even overtake the US economy.

But when a society as large as China – at 1.3 billion people – pursues such a high rate of growth, there are huge knock-on effects.

In the last couple of blinks we have seen that two developing countries, China and Rwanda, have experienced the factors that can cause societal collapse. But it's not only societies in the non-developed world that can be affected in this way; Western communities are also at risk.

Take Montana, for instance. Montana lies toward the north-western corner of the United States and is famed for its beautiful landscape. Visitors flock to the state every year to see the crystal clear, trout-filled streams, the wild mountains and the neverending unspoilt forests. However, although the area may look like paradise to these tourists, below the surface its environment is under constant threat.

Most of us enjoy a standard of living unparalleled in human history. We are healthier and live longer than anyone before us, and we have access to knowledge and technology that would astonish someone living only a century ago.

Yet despite all this progress and sophistication, we are all – no matter where we live – in danger of repeating the mistakes of past societies.

If modern society does indeed slide towards collapse, who is to blame? Most of us would quickly respond, “big business.” When we see environmental damage like polluted rivers or leaking oil, most of us lay the responsibility at the feet of large corporations. We think, if only they would behave more ethically, our problems would be solved.

In fact, when companies act in a cavalier manner towards the environment, the fault is not theirs but ours for letting them behave in this way.

Apart from a few cranks in the pay of the oil industry, the vast majority of the world’s scientists believe that human activity is causing dangerous changes to the world’s climate. Most governments and supranational bodies agree with them. Yet global carbon emissions continue to rise. Why can’t we act and stop environmental damage?

The trouble with global threats is that no one feels directly responsible for them. We are all responsible for climate change whenever we drive our cars, leave our TV on standby or buy items we don’t need. And because we are all responsible, no one takes ownership of the problem.