The paradox of technological advancement
How societies sow the seeds of their own demise through technology
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“Modern civilization believes that it commands the historical process with technological power. Allied to capitalist markets that foster continual innovation, this power will allow it to overcome the challenges I identify and thereby escape the common fate of all previous civilizations. No longer bound by the past, or so we think, our future is infinitely bright.”
— William Ophuls, Immoderate Greatness: Why Civilizations Fail
Why do civilizations rise and fall? With an average life span of 250 years, history has witnessed numerous societies reach the peak of their technological, cultural and political development only to be swept aside and replaced. Civilizations are complex systems with a number of intertwined parameters operating on decades-long time frames, making it exceedingly difficult to identify causes of decay.
In Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive, Jared Diamond outlines several contributors to societal collapse including deforestation, habitat destruction, water problems and population growth. However, as the author explains, none of these are enough on their own and a combination of factors is usually the culprit. Factors that are often identified only when the wheels of collapse are turning at full speed.
Nevertheless, a civilization’s rise and collapse can be viewed through the lens of technology. No society worthy of being branded as civilization has existed that was not technologically advanced. After all, what defines a civilization? Centralization, growth, taxation, writing, agriculture, domestication, information flow, architecture, population growth; all things rooted in technology. Yet, as a civilization increasingly relies on technology, environmental exploitation surges.
