This month, Jared Diamond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, And Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, has published his new book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.
This month, Jared Diamond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, And Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, has published his new book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.
Collapse has generated much anticipatory discussion prior to its publication. Earlier this week I was alerted by Sam Kenyon, of the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, to a Seed magazine exclusive by Diamond, addressing the threat of ecocide: a chain reaction of environmental destruction potentially threatening "life as we know it." Kenyon, who works in robotics research, pointed out a surprising application of Diamond's analysis: "I, too, have been working on problems of sustainable living -- but not for humans."
Diamond, who is a professor of Geography at UCLA, earned tremendous acclaim due to his encyclopedic grasp of complex environmental, physical, historic and cultural factors at play in his discussion of the sweeping changes that shape the course of civilizations. No less remarkable is his capacity to address his subject in clear and accessible language, free of jargon. This makes Diamond an indispensable author, both stimulating, and authoritative. Peter Steinberg reflects on Diamond in his online journal in a way that I found interesting: check out his Quantum Diaries.
Elsewhere, on the pages of Edge magazine, Diamond summarizes his analytic approach, at once pointing toward the possibility of a solution:
"What I'm going to suggest is a road map of factors in failures of group decision making. I'll divide the answers into a sequence of four somewhat fuzzily delineated categories. First of all, a group may fail to anticipate a problem before the problem actually arrives. Secondly, when the problem arrives, the group may fail to perceive the problem. Then, after they perceive the problem, they may fail even to try to solve the problem. Finally, they may try to solve it but may fail in their attempts to do so. While all this talking about reasons for failure and collapses of society may seem pessimistic, the flip side is optimistic: namely, successful decision-making. Perhaps if we understand the reasons why groups make bad decisions, we can use that knowledge as a check list to help groups make good decisions."
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Chapter 1 of the book is available online from the Washington Post.
Keep me posted about your own finds, in books, film, or any other media, that touch on nature, ecology, and sustainable living! I am always delighted to hear from you, and to share your input in the "Notes." Until then,
Yours,
Anna
Source: ENN
