By Luke Kemp
Published: BBC, 20 February 2019,
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190218-are-we-on-the-road-to-civilisation-collapse
Level of difficulty: ***
·
The life spans of ancient civilizations http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190218-the-lifespans-of-ancient-civilisations-compared?ocid=global_future_rss&ocid=global_bbccom_email_19022019_future
NOW WATCH AND LISTEN
·
Why do societies collapse? https://www.ted.com/talks/jared_diamond_on_why_societies_collapse/transcript?language=en
QUESTIONS
1.
The case of The
Roman Empire is presented as an example of…
2.
All the
civilizations listed in the graphic are examples of civilizations which crumbled
due to…
3.
How would you
replace “they are” in the sentence “I would argue that they are.” ?
4.
Watch the
following to be able to understand the text: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVJmHDUgUIs What conclusion can be reached concerning
civilizations based on this video?
5.
Why is “Our
tightly-coupled, globalised economic system more likely to make crisis spread”?
Refer to the video you watched for question 4.
6.
How can we
prevent our civilizations from collapsing? By…
7.
The cases of the
Anazai, the Tiwanaku civilisation, the Akkadians, the Mayan, the Roman Empire
all prove that……
9.
How would you
replace the phrase “This inequality” in the following sentence: “This
inequality undermines collective solidarity and political turbulence follows.”?Write
the sentence out in full.
10.
How can the section
titled “Complexity” best be summarized? What is it precisely that causes
society to collapse?
11.
The collapse of
the Byzantine Empire is an example of an empire which collapsed due to …
12.
Study the chart
titled “Danger Signs”. Which of the following could be added to the discussion
of this chart: In short, the overall picture doesn’t look too gloomy/
presents a grim outlook / is not as bad as we may expect/ is worse than we may
have expected.
13.
Watch: https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d516a4e336b7a4d/share_p.html
Why did Saudi Arabia launch its “Vision 2030” initiative? Why can’t Saudi
Arabia continue as it is? Because if it did, it would collapse due to lack of…
14.
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-fgsUE42IE
The innovations described in the video could protect against collapse because
they can…
15.
Look at the
answer you gave to question 12. Would you revise your answer now? If so how?
16.
It is stated in
the text that “Any collapse – any fall from the ladder – risks being permanent”
in the case of modern civilization. Why is this the case? Because…
17.
How is the
situation modern civilization finds its self in described in the text? It is
described as…
18.
What is the take
home point made in the text?
WRITING TASK
Use
all the information you have acquired to write an essay describing the reasons
why modern society could collapse.
ARE
WE ON THE ROAD TO CIVILIZATION COLLAPSE; KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES
This
highly topical text draws on history to outline the dangers faced my modern
civilization and the reasons why its fall might be much more catastrophic than
that of previous civilizations. All the points that are made are supported with
examples. I have added videos to some of the questions both to make that
section of the text easier to follow and to add variety.
1.
A civilization
that took its own life
2.
A rapid and enduring loss of population,
identity and socio-economic complexity
3.
I would argue
that the lessons of agrarian empires are applicable to our post-18th Century
period of industrial capitalism
4.
Collapse may be a
normal phenomenon for civilisations, regardless of their size and stage
5.
As any technical
system grows in complexity and connectedness, the probability of cascading
failure increases
6.
By examining the
trends that preceded historic collapses and see how they are unfolding today.
7.
When climatic
stability changes, the results can be disastrous.
8.
Collapse can
occur when societies overshoot the carrying capacity of their environment.
9.
Cheap workers and
a top heavy society undermines collective solidarity and political turbulence
follows.
10.
Societies
eventually collapse under the weight of their own accumulated complexity
and bureaucracy/ the weight of their own accumulated complexity and bureaucracy
11.
An external shock
OR war
12.
Presents a grim
outlook
13.
To restructure
its economy to turn the biggest oil producer in the world into a global
industrial conglomerate/ economic diversity
14.
mitigate against
pressures such as climate change
15.
Yes, there are
some reasons to be optimistic, thanks to our ability to innovate and diversify
away from disaster.
16.
The higher you
climb, the larger the fall
17.
A progress trap
18.
We will only
march into collapse if we advance blindly. We are only doomed if we are
unwilling to listen to the past
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