As I was reading through the passage and came across this line, the truth behind it is astounding. The idea that we as a society believe that we are in a much greater state than we were in the past due to technological advances is not completely true. Although we may have more knowledge and more technologically sound farms, these farms continue to struggle both environmentally and economically at times. Reading this really shows that not only are we having the same issues as previous generations, but we are destroying the environment much more along the way.
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What were the fates of its individual citizens? Did they move away, and (if so) why, or did they die there in some unpleasant way? Lurking behind this romantic mystery is the nagging thought: might such a fate eventually befall our own wealthy society? (Diamond, p.20)
This statement that was made really makes you look at things from a different perspective. While we all spend our time looking at historical ruins and societies. Who is to say that one day our societies may come to an end, and that one day other people that are apart of newer societies will look at the ruins of our monumental things such as Washington, DC. Many of these societies were wealthy just like many of us our in today's world. This statement is portraying that wealth is not the solution for long term existence.
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Does it stand to reason that today's human population of almost seven billion, with our potent modern technology, is causing our environment to crumble globally at a much more rapid pace than a mere few million people with stone and wooden tools already made it crumble locally in the past. (Diamond, p.22)
The idea that today's human population has a effected the environment more than any other era of humans is something that we should frown upon. Although people in the times before these technological advances may have had a "lower quality of life", they were able to sustain the environment rather than destroy it with these technological "advances". Societies that were established prior to ours may not have lasted long term, but they certainly did not have as bad as an effect on the earth as much as we had. Maybe these "Technological advance" are not advances after all.
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