Diamond in the rough
prevent the collapse of tomorrow’s future.
That was the overriding theme of renowned author and celebrity scientist Jared Diamond emphasized Thursday night during a lecture in the Kent Concert Hall on Utah State University’s campus.
Based on his 1997 Pulitzer Prize-winning book Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, Diamond discussed the collapse of societies throughout history and what people can learn from that today.
“It’s not enough to write about the failure and success of part societies when today we face new problems,” he said. “What are the lessons that we can extract from past societies?”
Diamond highlighted five points from his book that he says can cause the collapse of any society which are:
• People who may inadvertently over-expose natural resources
• Climate changes
• Enemies that may cause civil wars
• Friends who provide essential imports
• Societies that depend on its political, social and religious institutions to solve problems.
He gave an example of the Polynesians who inhabited Easter Island during 800 A.D. and failed to survive despite their rich resources. During that time, the island contained lush subtropical forests. However, the Polynesians began chopping down tree to clear land and use the lumber for building and other needs.
This continued, Diamond said, until 1680 when these people chopped down their last tree and a civil war broke out among the 12 different clans living on the island. Eventually without food or resources, the people resorted to using themselves for survival.
“Easter Island collapsed in not just an epidemic of civil war but cannibalism,” Diamond said. “Of all the collapses of the past, I find the one that grabs people the most is that of Easter Island.”
Inhabitants on this island had no where else they could go, which Diamond related to today saying the that when society destroys the Earth itself, humankind will have no where else to go.
But on the other side of the spectrum, the people of New Guinea have survived for more than 46,000 years, the longest in history, Diamond said. In 800 A.D., this society experienced a forestry crisis much like that on Easter Island. But instead of stripping their resources, society members transplanted seedlings to grow more trees and saved wood for construction needs.
“There are lots of societies that have survived thousands of years,” he said.
The key for society today is to take advantage technology that allows communities around the world to communicate and prevent tragedies before they even happen. The world is at a disadvantage currently because of the large number of people and the rate of consumption that is constantly increasing.
“We’re a society with opportunities to learn from any society remote from space,” he said.
Diamond held a question and answer session after his lecture.
David Joy, a junior majoring in physical science, said he was really impressed with the lecture. He came because he heard it would be very good.
“He brought up a lot of interesting points,” he said. “I like how he compared Easter Island to Earth.”
Diamond’s lecture was sponsored by ASUSU’s Arts and Lectures series. He is the recipient of a numbers of science awards, including the MacArthur Foundation Genius grant. In 2000, he received the National Medal of Science for his research in evolutionary biology.
-mmackay@cc.usu.edu