by Mark Schaaf
Daily Lobo
Author Jared Diamond discussed the collapse of past societies and how today's society could avoid the same fate at the SUB on Friday. More than 1,000 people attended the event.
Diamond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fate of Human Society, spoke about his latest book: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.
Diamond pointed to several reasons why past societies failed, such as a host of environmental factors and attacks by enemies. He compared that with problems America has or is facing, including global warming and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
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Diamond also cautioned against dismissing the possibility of a fall, in part because affluent leaders shield themselves against problems and have no motivation to fix them. By the time problems get addressed, it may be too late, he said.
"We can get away with that in the short run, but not in the long run," he said.
Diamond, a professor of geography at UCLA, said his book is pessimistic and optimistic about the future.
Unlike past societies, Americans have the tools to learn from the others' collapse to prevent their own, he said. He said there have also been complex societies that have not collapsed, such as Iceland and Japan.
Tim Sillerud, a former UNM student, said his mother read some of Diamond's four books, and brought him to the speech.
"I thought it was excellent," Sillerud said. "It was really well put together and had a lot of good points."
But another audience member, Brian Ibsen, said Diamond is not the first to come up with the ideas he presented.
"I think his views are very comprehensive and interesting, but not very original," Ibsen said. "The question of what causes societies and cultures to fall apart is kind of an old question."
Ibsen said he would like to have answers to old questions.
"It's not a bad thing to be asking old questions," he said. "If you ask old questions, you would like to find new answers."
One case story Diamond brought up were the Polynesians on the isolated Easter Island in the southeast Pacific Ocean, who after cutting down all their trees, resorted to cannibalism because they had no where else to go and nothing else to do.
The metaphor, he said, was obvious: If we on Earth wreck ourselves, we would have nowhere else to go.
There was also a short question-and-answer session after the speech. Diamond's responses to questions were impressive, said Nancy Rutland, owner of Bookworks, a co-sponsor of the event.
"His answers were very thoughtful and thought-provoking," said Rutland, who added that she received numerous e-mails and phone calls complimenting the event.
The speech kicked off the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science's 20th Anniversary weekend. The museum was a co-sponsor of the event.
Diamond also authored The Third Chimpanzee, winner of the Los Angeles Times book award for the best science book of 1992, as well as Why Is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality.
