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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (6907)	12/15/2005 11:06:20 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542169

As it is it tells us more about the writer, than it does about any real problems with the text. Regardless of the bias, what it tells me is detail about the author's premise, enough detail so that I may not have to buy the book and read it. A lot of books pitch one idea. The original material I posted did not give the idea away nor could I find it in the book reviews I googled. Once you know the idea, you don't need to read the book unless you are interested in a more expansive understanding or have time on your hands. This is the money quote: >>Based on his case studies, Diamond concocts a five-point framework to explain why societies collapse: “environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors, and friendly trade partners,” along with “the society’s responses to its environmental problems.” << That's probably enough for my purposes. At least enough to drop the book's ranking on my list.

To: epicure who wrote (6907)	12/15/2005 2:44:06 PM
From: cosmicforce	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542169

Populations actually follow rate limited equations called logistic curves which are sigmoid (S-shaped). With Peak Oil happening (reference Hubbert), it is unlikely that all 6.5 billion people on the planet will all be fed at first world levels due to increased deployment of tractors. The environment wouldn't handle this scale of impact anyway. Agricultural gains, therefore, also tend to be sigmoid. The trick, I guess, is to stay ahead of the curve.