> “By collapse, I mean a drastic decrease in human population size and/or political/economic/social complexity over a considerable area, for an extended time.”

> “By collapse, I mean a drastic decrease in human population size and/or political/economic/social complexity over a considerable area, for an extended time.” What I like about this description is that it mentions "over a considerable area". Collapse has happened historically over a limited part of the world at a time. It is this "collapses" that allow neighboring civilizations to thrive. The Ottoman Empire would have not existed without the "collapse" of Rome. When we think about culture we get into the Theseus ship problem. When the Roman civilization ended and the next one started. What happens if we stop classifying civilizations as something named and concrete and instead we see it as a fluid movement of power between regions and ideologies? Collapse is possible, ask the dinosaurs. But, when I read articles like this one where the stages from 1 to 4 are about money and power I get suspicious that it can be more about a change of rulers, a collapse of a ruling class, more than what we usually refer as collapse. > Collapse can occur at different times for different people. You may never quite know that collapse has happened, but you will know that it has happened to you personally, or to your family, or to your town. The big picture may not come together until much later, thanks to the efforts of historians. I think that this part goes a little on that direction. The "collapse" is more an label for a period that a personal experience for most people in the period. > Collapse is certainly inevitable if we continue down our default path. I cannot agree on this as stated. "our default path" means the current leadership priorities and mindset. But part of humanity "default path" is adaptation. In any society you have followers, you have nonconformists, cheaters and heroes. If "everything continues likes it is today" that will be the biggest change in human history, as it never does. > How do I talk to others about collapse? You don't. Collapse wants to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. What you do is you talk with others about the challenges of the future and how to solve them, we are good at that. Let's leave "Collapse" for science fiction movies were it belongs.