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> One day the collapse is apparent to us all, and complete. This only happens in historical retrospect. The sacking of Rome in 476 theoretically marked the col
by scandox 2y ago
> One day the collapse is apparent to us all, and complete.
This only happens in historical retrospect. The sacking of Rome in 476 theoretically marked the collapse of The Roman Empire in Western Europe but nonetheless people all over Europe continued to live in a Roman style and think of themselves as citizens of the Roman Empire for a very long time.
We won't know when our society has collapsed. Our grand children may.
- w10-1 2y agoThe analogy to Rome is inapt. We're highly dependent on external capital, technologies, materials, and resources -- not to mention goodwill enabling trade and avoiding social chaos. All of these can and do change in a matter of months, and the speed of the collapse can be amplified by smart individuals making self-interested decisions, and even more by bad actors working in concert for strategic reasons.
- bilvar 2y agoThis. Dependence on technology and outsourcing of basic survival needs (like food, medicine etc), has fragilized our civilization to the point that collapse would have an exponential rate.
- timschmidt 2y agoI generally agree, however a counterpoint is that modern technology has made the world smaller and consequences arrive faster. No longer does news travel at the speed of a mule drawn cart, now it happens at a significant fraction of the speed of light.