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Both conflict and technological advancement are destabilizing influences, though. How do these societies remain stable? My worry here is that any confrontation
by breuleux 4y ago
Both conflict and technological advancement are destabilizing influences, though. How do these societies remain stable? My worry here is that any confrontation with an inventive upstart will require swift change and adaptation in order to fend off the threat, but such fast change is likely to cause internal instability. I don't think there is such a thing as a "stable society" that cannot implode and turn into a bunch of expansionist upstarts, unless they are so careful about progress they are practically defenceless.
- pencilguin 4y agoStability and not-expanding are not necessarily the same thing. ("Stable" is easier to write.) They could be extremely dynamic, but if their population isn't exceeding their resources, why do they need more room? Expansion is what brings cultures into contact and conflict. Puny humans are confined to one solar system, and even just the one planet, but are pretty dynamic. Population in wealthy countries is in decline. Remember we are not just talking about humans with bumpy heads, here. Social universals on Earth do not apply. Expansion might be limited just by a physical inability to reproduce beyond their home planet, without giving up any dynamism.