Sublime

Jared Diamond poses the question: Why did Old World diseases devastate the New World and not the other way around? Why did disease move in only one direction?* The answer lies in how the lives of Old World and New World people diverged after that cross-continental migration more than fifteen thousand years ago.

even the richest, technologically most advanced societies today face growing environmental and economic problems that should not be underestimated.

signs of their incipient depletion become masked by normal fluctuations

The average American thus uses sixty times more energy than the average Stone Age hunter-gatherer.

Thus, Greenland history conveys the message that, even in a harsh environment, collapse isn’t inevitable but depends on a society’s choices.

Nevertheless, during the second phase centrifugal forces remained predominant. In the absence of writing and money, humans could not establish cities, kingdoms or empires.

I would still maintain, however, that it was not simply a linear progression from drought to famine to upheaval that ended the Bronze Age. Moreover, in my opinion, none of the individual factors that we have discussed above—drought, famine, earthquakes, or invaders—would have been sufficiently cataclysmic on their own to bring down even one of the