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The assertion that humans are unable to stop themselves from completely depleting the resources that they depend on rings true to me. I think Jared Diamond wrot
by rickspencer3 6y ago
The assertion that humans are unable to stop themselves from completely depleting the resources that they depend on rings true to me. I think Jared Diamond wrote a whole book about this.
- jjk166 6y agoCan you name a single culture that knowingly overexploited a resource they could not live without until they died out? There have certainly been cases of overexploitation leading to the extinction of species that people didn't need to survive, as well as potential cases where human activity may have led to ecological collapse by mechanisms the people did not understand, but I honestly can't think of a single instance where a substantial population depleted a resource it knew it needed to survive. On the other hand, I can think of many cultures that lasted for many thousands of years in geographies with limited resources like islands.