13th book for 2018.

This is a big, detailed book that covers a lot of ground. To get a couple of things out of the way: it's not a repeat of Diamond's earlier book Guns, Germs, Steel; and it's not Diamond arguing for some sort of environmental determinism. Diamond believes that societal outcomes are related to three main factors:

Environment + Social Structures + Technology = Societal Outcome

This equation is misleading, as the factors interact (e..g, environment may limit trade, which then limits the sorts of technologies available; social structures directly affect what sorts technologies employed etc etc). As someone trained in geography, Diamond focuses more on the environmental side of things, but he's certainly not dismissive of the other two factors (and in fact goes to some length to discuss the political and technological factors where he thinks they are relevant).

The book covers (in great detail) a number of societies that have collapsed, in particular Easter Island's and the Norse Greenland colony.

In the case of Easter Island, he finds that several environmental factors made the ecology of the island particularly vulnerable to the Polynesian culture there (e.g., poor soils due to lack of volcanic fallout leading to slow regrowth of trees), unlike some other Pacific Islands were similar practices did not lead to societal collapse; in the case of Greenland Norse, a harsh environment could not in itself be blame, as he is at pains to point out, the Inuit with a very different societial/technological basis thrived.

He also covers societies that have done more or less better (Hispaniola vs Haiti, Japan vs China) and others where environmental factors are causing increasing stress (the chapter on Australia was particularly depressing).

The book ends with a summary of the various environmental trends that will become critical in the not too distant future (global warming; depletion of soils; over population; death of the oceans etc etc). Diamond offers excellent and heartfelt suggestions about how we could avoid going over the environmental cliff in all these cases.

Although the book was published some years ago, it's a must read for anyone wanting an overview of the state of global environment.

5-stars.

شما بگو 10 بار خوندن لازمه ، من میگم کمه
ملتی که محیط زیست نداره نَه "محیط" داره نَه زیست
یعنی کلا زندگی تعطیل و این یعنی فروپاشی

در خوانشِ بار دوم، ریویویِ تکمیل تری مد نظر خواهم داشت، به شرط حیات و حوصله

Voy a ir al grano y sin anestesia: A menos que usted esté haciendo una investigación técnica o asistiendo al curso del autor en la UCLA, no debería leer este libro.

No les voy a hacer lo que Jared Diamond me hizo a mi: Me obligó a leer casi 700 páginas de datos, tecnicismos, términos complejos, relatos bastante densos antes de entregarme "el curibito" del libro. El quid del asunto. Yo lo voy a relatar en unos cortos párrafos.

Todos los que han leído al bien respetado Diamond saben que es un gran narrador de historias y Colapso no fue la excepción. La narración es impecable, entretenida y con todo el rigor científico (creo yo, que no soy científico) que merece una empresa como escribir este libro. Entonces el tema no es la narrativa, sino la extensión técnica de los detalles que a mi modo de ver, para un libro divulgativo debió ser más económica.

Llegando al final, tan anhelado después de una maratón de lectura de casi un mes Diamond deja entrever sus apuntes finales, conclusiones y recomendaciones para las sociedades modernas. Aunque leí el libro 15 años después de su publicación, este autor es muy pertinente en sus apreciaciones, casi todas ellas muy contemporáneas y apegadas con fuerza al discurso mundial actual sobre el cambio climático, el consumo de los recursos tan acelerado, la crisis energética, entre otros asuntos de gran interés por nuestros días.

Es un libro que te tocará tu fibra de conservación del medio ambiente, del consumo responsable y de las decisiones diarias. Te pondrá en el centro del problema y te relatará las opciones que como "consumidor" deberías tomar para proteger nuestro debilitado planeta.

Dado el timing con que leí el libro, también me parece valioso resaltar la transformación de China que le resultará evidente al comparar lo que se conoce hoy del gigante asiático vs. lo que hace 15 años eran apenas perspectivas de un gran cambio. Entre otros ejemplos de sociedades antiguas y modernas, exitosas y colapsadas termina Colapso siendo uno de esos libros que no quise haber empezado pero que me enorgullece haber terminado.

Este libro desmonta sistemáticamente los argumentos de aquellos que aún tengan una posición negacionista sobre la crisis medioambiental en la que nos encontramos y nos pone cara a cara con los graves problemas que nos esperan a la vuelta de la esquina, pues son problemas que ya han sufrido con terribles consecuencias sociedades del pasado.

Como libro revelador sobre estos problemas y como despertador de conciencias dormidas tiene un valor innegable.

Sin embargo, tengo un sentimiento ambivalente con los libros de Diamond: por un lado, es una delicia leer sus ensayos excelentemente documentados y que, al menos en mi caso, me descubren datos e ideas muy enriquecedores. Por otro lado, me molesta sobremanera su sesgo de confirmación. Así como en "Armas, gérmenes y acero" el elefante en la habitación era la importancia de figuras individuales que han engrandecido civilizaciones (militar, política, científica y técnicamente) haciéndolas avanzar frente a otras y que contradicen claramente su argumento del determinismo geográfico para el avance de las sociedades, en el caso de Colapso parece increíble que soslaye el influjo en la superpobración de las grandes religiones (creced y multiplicaos) y el desmesurado consumo de proteínas animales frente a dietas vegetarianas en el caso del agotamiento de los suelos y recursos naturales. Además, cuando habla de sociedades devastadas por pueblos invasores también corre un tupido velo sobre las masacres anglosajonas en Sudáfrica, Australia o Estados Unidos.
Creo que a un científico y pensador de cierta talla se le debe exigir un distanciamiento mínimo sobre sus convicciones religiosas y culturales sobre todo, hablando de sociedades comparadas.

3,5*

Jared is one of my favorite professors in his fields, he keeps his shit together with much integrity and when in doubt, he announce

The book title speak for itself, I believe that it's a pleasant read never the less, recommend for anybody who wanna know the fate of some of the old civilizations..and the impending doom of the current ones..

Drink Tea..

Von Montana, polynesischen & Maya Kulturen bis hin zu Anasazi oder Vikinger nimmt der Autor den Leser mit in eine zerstörerische Zeitreise.
Warum haben diese sehr weit entwickelten Populationen einen Zusammenbruch erlitten? Schaut man sich die Zusammenhänge an, stellt man erschreckend fest, dass das Mismanagement der Vorbote eines Verfalls ist. Warum hat man Wälder bis auf den letzten Baum gerodet?
Jared Diamond stellt richtig fest, dass nicht die Prosperität ein Indikator für die Zukunft ist, sondern die Prognose der Zukunft. Wenn wir heute genügend Geld zum Ausgeben haben und wissen, dass wir nächstes Jahr keinen Cash-Flow mehr haben, dann sehen wir uns mit höchster Wahrscheinlichkeit eben nicht mehr als Gewinner.
Was steht Australien, China und uns Europäern bevor? Wie sieht die Situation in Rwanda aus? Was können wir von Haiti und der dominikanischen Republik lernen?
Gerade jetzt stehen wir am Scheidepunkt, wo wir uns unserer Prosperität bewusst sind aber sich die Ressourcen, die wir dafür benötigen sich langsam den Ende neigen.
Es ist handeln angesagt. SOFORT. Sonst klopft uns der Verfall wie es eins die Maya heimsuchte, schon in wenigen Jahrzehnten vor der Tür. Mit nur einem Unterschied. Es wird keine Fläche mehr zum Ausweichen geben.

An amazingly informative book on the failure of some past societies, an insight into some highly volatile current socities and the lessons to be learned. Diamond identifies a five-point framework of contributing factors: environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors, friendly trade partners and society's response to its environmental problems. These factors apply today as well and the biggest lesson to be learned is that the perishing of Maya, Easter Island and Greenland Norse societies could happen to us in our globalized existence as well. We have no reason for arrogance and should get off our high "First World" horses. A highly recommendable read!

I don't know what it is about Jared Diamond - I just can't seem to get as impressed by this man as I'm apparently supposed to be, Genius Award and all. The man needs an editor, for one thing: at least 200 pages of this 500-plus monstrosity were parenthetical tangents that belonged in footnotes. His work is often referred to as "staggering," which, I'm now convinced, refers not to his intellect so much as to the overwhelming quantity of minutae he presents the reader as if it were a substitute for analysis. It is staggering - and incredibly boring at points. I had to force myself to finish this book, and it took weeks - I usually devour good books in a matter of days.

There are fascinating details in here - all is not lost. I loved the sections dealing with the Maya, the Anasazi, Easter Island, and the successful anarchism of the New Guinea highlanders. However, I fear that anyone reading this book with the intention of understanding better how to avoid the global collapse we seem to be heading for will be sorely disappointed. His summaries and, ultimately, his thesis are weak and hidden within a snow flurry of excess detail.

Tüfek, Mikrop ve Çelik kadar olmasa da çok beğendiğim bir Jared Diamond kitabı daha oldu. Bu kitapta Diamond, toplulukların çöküşe nasıl gittiklerini, bunu önceden kestirebilecekleri ipuçlarının olup olmadığını ve günümüz medeniyeti olarak bundan çıkarabileceğimiz dersleri tartışıyor.

Kitap diğer Diamond kitapları kadar akıcı değil. Girişteki Montana bölümü fazla uzun tutulmuş. Amerika Birleşik Devletleri'nde yaşamayan insanlar için belki de sıkıcı bir bölüm olabilir. İlerleyen bölümlerden en çok dikkat çekenler Paskalya halkı ve Grönland İskandinavlarına neler olduğunu anlattığı bölümler.

Kitapta editörlük, Türkçe çok kötü. Örn. 414. sayfada "çukulata" diye çevrilmiş çikolata. Sayısız yerde dahi anlamına gelen "de/da" ekleri ayrı yazılmamış. Bir çok harf hatası var.

Kitabın Chevron firması gibi bazı petrol şirketlerine övgüler yağdıran bölümleri insanı biraz şüpheye sevk ediyor. Diamond çeşitli firmaların talebi doğrultusunda çevre raporları yazmış. Burada edindiği tecrübeleri de paylaşıyor. Burada firmaların iyi uygulamalarını başka firmalara örnek göstermek kaygısı taşıdığı kesin. Ancak ister istemez ulusaşırı şirketlerin az gelişmiş ülkelerin yer altı kaynaklarına yönelik duydukları ilginin arka planını göz ardı etmiş veya veri olarak almış. Zaten Diamond'un hiçbir zaman kapitalizm eleştirisi yaptığını görmedim. O nedenle bu noktada beklenmedik bir şey yok. Kendisi de kitabın girişinde zaten bu konuda eleştiriler aldığını itiraf etmiş.

Neticede güzel dersler çıkarılabilecek, önemli bir okumaydı. Çevre tahribatının sürmesi bu hızla devam ederse bizlerin de sonunun Paskalya halkı gibi olacağını yeterince sarih anlatmış.

M. Baran
27.03.2022
Ankara

Guns, Germs and Steel occasionally felt like monday morning quarterbacking, but Collapse is superb. In GG&S, Diamond tried to explain how technologies that evolved in some places did not in others, how some communities thrived due to excess food and more advanced agriculture, while others, perpetually on the verge of starvation, had to devote all of their time to dealing with that and thus didn't have time for building the Parthenon. The argument was not airtight - his notion of what constitutes a reasonable amount of time to spend on gathering food could use a little sharpening, and he didn't approach work as part and parcel of culture, which it most certainly is. GG&S also overlooked a lot of crops available to people he strenuously argued had nothing to eat - for example, Acai in the Amazon Basin (a superfood which constitutes 45% of the diet of some locals) and others elsewhere.

In Collapse, Diamond examines how several ancient societies (Easter Island, Mangareva/Pitcairn Lapita, Maya, the Norse colonies in Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland) fell apart due to resource management issues, the environmental challenges faced by a few modern countries (Australia, Japan, China), and the best ways to avoid a tragedy of the commons-type situation that results in a drastically reduced standard of living for everyone. The author is breathtakingly impartial, sometimes to a fault; he laconically remarks, for example, that "George W. Bush remains unconvinced of the reality of global warming."

Overall, Diamond seems most worried about erosion, which he sees as a bigger problem than global warming because of the difficulty of replacing arable land, and the multitude of ways it can be destroyed. You can buy all the long-line-caught Chilean sea bass you want, and eat organic lettuce all day, and still have an awful impact on the environment because the soil in which the lettuce grows is a limited resource, as are the fisheries that produce the fish you buy, which also suffer from land degradation.

Diamond thinks that a lot of the resources we rely on have been made artificially cheap through subsidies and foolish government management of limited resources. He's right, but there is a conflict between egalitarianism and environmentalism lurking between the pages of this book: I don't think you can charge the right amount for energy or food or other essentials without further immiserating the poor. That's the unmet challenge of the environmental movement, the one this and most books on the subject dodge. Despite that, I'd wholeheartedly recommend Collapse for its details on everyday life in Norse Greenland and Easter Island alone, not just for the nuanced analysis.

A book about environment, and how humans are exhausting the planets resources.

The author describes the following topics which were the main reason or contributed to the fall of societies in the past:

Deforestation and habitat destructions
Soil problems (erosion, salinization, and soil fertility losses)
Water management problems
Overhunting
Overfishing
Effects of introduced species on native species
Overpopulation
Increased per-capita impact of people

In addition to this, the following topics did not exist in the past but may contribute to the decline of humans in the near future.

Anthropogenic climate change
Buildup of toxins in the environment
Energy shortages
Full human use of the Earth’s photosynthetic capacity

The author presents various examples from past societies that declined because they over consumed a crucial element of their environment and did not adapt to it's shortage:

The Greenland Norse (climate change, environmental damage, loss of trading partners)
Easter Island (a society that collapsed entirely due to environmental damage)
The Polynesians of Pitcairn Island (environmental damage and loss of trading partners)
The Anasazi of southwestern North America (environmental damage and climate change)
The Maya of Central America (environmental damage, climate change, and hostile neighbors)

Jared Diamond gives some examples from the past where societies did manage to adapt to the changes:

The tiny Pacific island of Tikopia
The agricultural success of central New Guinea
The forest management in Japan of the Tokugawa-era, and in Germany.

In the second part of the book various modern societies are discussed and the author shows that they are on the sure path to exploiting or destroying crucial resources of the environment and apparently not much is done about it:

The collapse into genocide of Rwanda, caused in part by overpopulation
The failure of Haiti compared with the relative success of its neighbor on Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic
The problems facing a developing nation, China
The problems facing a First World nation, Australia

The book concludes with various ways the modern world can solve the environmental issues and what has already been done (not much)

Considering the action's (and non actions) by the current American president, Donald Trump, I found great importance in this book. The success stories of environment preserving in this book, started with recognition of the problem and willingness to make short term sacrifices in order to solve it. The recent actions of the American government (Pulling out of the Paris climate pact and increasing coal minning and other environment unfriendly activities) give this book increased importance.

Letto nel 2023 risulta un po' datato