slow clap, +1, well done.

So, the same thing that did in the Maya then. Well, as long as we don't have any problems with a disease wiping out our monoculture food crops or run out of water because of climate change or depleted aquifers we should be fine. Good.

*Groan*

/+1

Land overuse. Common tale. The prevailing attitude that all resources will last forever. Also back when the prime natural resource for humans was wood. Wood for fire, for dwellings, cooking, scaffolding for massive edifices, smithing, and many other things that we use petroleum products for today.

Angkor

/Yes I'm a lot of fun at parties.

ooft!

JasonOfOrillia: So, the same thing that did in the Maya then. Well, as long as we don't have any problems with a disease wiping out our monoculture food crops or run out of water because of climate change or depleted aquifers we should be fine. Good.

While I smell sarcasm, I'd like to recommend An Edible History of Humanity^.
While Standage probably would agree with your politics, he's more optimistic than you appear to be (to get to the relevant parts, skip to the last chapter(s) and epilogue).

Arkanaut: Angkor

What?

The Stealth Hippopotamus: Ankgor baby? Oh well done sir!

Wat?

Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: Arkanaut: Angkor

What?

Goddamn it, beat me by a whisker.

And now that scientists are learning what to look for, they're finding evidence that a lot of turmoil throughout history coincides with climate changes.

/+1 for the Angkor babies

"Angkor can be an example of how technology isn't always sufficient to prevent major collapse during times of severe instability," Day told LiveScience. "Angkor had a highly sophisticated water management infrastructure, but this technologic advantage was not enough to prevent its collapse in the face of extreme environmental conditions."

And don't forget that the urban complex attempted to support far more people than natural conditions would allow for on a sustainable basis, no matter how innovative and cleverly-designed the systems became. But today, legions of hand-wringers think climatic variability and the stress of overpopulation can be compensated for by the employment of windmills and plug-in hybrid automobiles. It just goes to show that little has changed over the centuries. It's the same old bipedal ape with an exaggerated sense of itself.

It's a holiday in Cambodia!

It's tough, kid, but it's life

Give a white elephant to whoever wrote this biased hit piece.

canyoneer: "Angkor can be an example of how technology isn't always sufficient to prevent major collapse during times of severe instability," Day told LiveScience. "Angkor had a highly sophisticated water management infrastructure, but this technologic advantage was not enough to prevent its collapse in the face of extreme environmental conditions."

And don't forget that the urban complex attempted to support far more people than natural conditions would allow for on a sustainable basis, no matter how innovative and cleverly-designed the systems became. But today, legions of hand-wringers think climatic variability and the stress of overpopulation can be compensated for by the employment of windmills and plug-in hybrid automobiles. It just goes to show that little has changed over the centuries. It's the same old bipedal ape with an exaggerated sense of itself.

See what we need is some massive disease pandemic or natural disaster that kills about 2/3s of the humans on earth. That would solve overpopulation and resource depletion and bring us a 2nd Renaissance, eventually.

canyoneer: "Angkor can be an example of how technology isn't always sufficient to prevent major collapse during times of severe instability," Day told LiveScience. "Angkor had a highly sophisticated water management infrastructure, but this technologic advantage was not enough to prevent its collapse in the face of extreme environmental conditions."

And don't forget that the urban complex attempted to support far more people than natural conditions would allow for on a sustainable basis, no matter how innovative and cleverly-designed the systems became. But today, legions of hand-wringers think climatic variability and the stress of overpopulation can be compensated for by the employment of windmills and plug-in hybrid automobiles. It just goes to show that little has changed over the centuries. It's the same old bipedal ape with an exaggerated sense of itself.

This. Why I am not having children, or if I do, I will adopt.

The Crepes of Wrath: And now that scientists are learning what to look for, they're finding evidence that a lot of turmoil throughout history coincides with climate changes.

/+1 for the Angkor babies

I'm sticking with my "gay marriage makes gods angry" theory

Jake Havechek: See what we need is some massive disease pandemic or natural disaster that kills about 2/3s of the humans on earth. That would solve overpopulation and resource depletion and bring us a 2nd Renaissance, eventually

If we lost 80% of the world population, it would set the population clock back about 60 years, to about the population of the Earth around WWII.

The Crepes of Wrath: And now that scientists are learning what to look for, they're finding evidence that a lot of turmoil throughout history coincides with climate changes.

/+1 for the Angkor babies

It's not a hard concept, although probably less significant than it appears.

People live where the food is. If the food moves, so do the people.

But not all climate changes are the same. Climates get colder and warmer, drier and wetter. The Ice Age was pretty tumultuous, too.

This text is now purple: The Crepes of Wrath: And now that scientists are learning what to look for, they're finding evidence that a lot of turmoil throughout history coincides with climate changes.

/+1 for the Angkor babies

It's not a hard concept, although probably less significant than it appears.

People live where the food is. If the food moves, so do the people.

But not all climate changes are the same. Climates get colder and warmer, drier and wetter. The Ice Age was pretty tumultuous, too.

The "Little Ice Age" of the 800s brought forth the Vikings on Europe and northwestern Asia* (among other global impacts).

_{*I'm counting Russia and Ukraine as geographically NW Asia}

Spindle: Jake Havechek: See what we need is some massive disease pandemic or natural disaster that kills about 2/3s of the humans on earth. That would solve overpopulation and resource depletion and bring us a 2nd Renaissance, eventually

If we lost 80% of the world population, it would set the population clock back about 60 years, to about the population of the Earth around WWII.

20% of current levels would be 1.4 billion, which is approximately the world population at the close of the Civil War. That would represent a 145-year reversal, to essentially pre-Industrial Revolution population levels.

Jake Havechek: See what we need is some massive disease pandemic or natural disaster that kills about 2/3s of the humans on earth. That would solve overpopulation and resource depletion and bring us a 2nd Renaissance, eventually.

That wouldn't make any difference. The remaining people would simply begin to overpopulate again. The only way population reduction and stabilization can be meaningful in the long term is if it is deliberate and internalized into human cultures as a virtue. Historically and still today, humans focus on external technological solutions, whereas the focus should be internal - on their own biology. Humans by-and-large don't understand their own natural history and how that is a fatal flaw for the settled lifeway. Until human cultures understand and master this, all the technology in the world won't change a thing.

canyoneer: Jake Havechek: See what we need is some massive disease pandemic or natural disaster that kills about 2/3s of the humans on earth. That would solve overpopulation and resource depletion and bring us a 2nd Renaissance, eventually.

That wouldn't make any difference. The remaining people would simply begin to overpopulate again. The only way population reduction and stabilization can be meaningful in the long term is if it is deliberate and internalized into human cultures as a virtue. Historically and still today, humans focus on external technological solutions, whereas the focus should be internal - on their own biology. Humans by-and-large don't understand their own natural history and how that is a fatal flaw for the settled lifeway. Until human cultures understand and master this, all the technology in the world won't change a thing.

That is true. Some if not most of that remaining population would take it as their duty to have as many children as possible. That has happened after wars and plagues before. We do need to change the culture.

13 posts before anyone says "wat?"? You're slipping, Farkers.

Cthulhu_is_my_homeboy: 13 posts before anyone says "wat?"? You're slipping, Farkers.

Hey now, be polite! That statement was a bit Rouge!

canyoneer: Jake Havechek: See what we need is some massive disease pandemic or natural disaster that kills about 2/3s of the humans on earth. That would solve overpopulation and resource depletion and bring us a 2nd Renaissance, eventually.

That wouldn't make any difference. The remaining people would simply begin to overpopulate again. The only way population reduction and stabilization can be meaningful in the long term is if it is deliberate and internalized into human cultures as a virtue. Historically and still today, humans focus on external technological solutions, whereas the focus should be internal - on their own biology. Humans by-and-large don't understand their own natural history and how that is a fatal flaw for the settled lifeway. Until human cultures understand and master this, all the technology in the world won't change a thing.

Of course, a big part of our current problem is that many cultures, created in eras with a >50% child mortality rate, encourage couples to have as many kids as possible. And of course, this is not such a great thing in the modern era, where they almost all survive into adulthood.

Fireproof: Of course, a big part of our current problem is that many cultures, created in eras with a >50% child mortality rate, encourage couples to have as many kids as possible. And of course, this is not such a great thing in the modern era, where they almost all survive into adulthood.

Humans evolved as nomadic hunter-gatherers, and are still that animal. The animal evolved to wander seasonally over the landscape, stripping each area of food and other useful resources, which for the most part were replenished via natural processes by the time they returned later in the migration (like most other motile life forms). Without food surpluses and at the mercy of accidents and disease, high-frequency breeding was a successful survival strategy. That's our programming, but it is a liability now.

Humans today are a self-domesticated animal, and, like chickens or cows or food crops, generally cannot survive in their real natural environment. Cities of modern humans are very like this (and have been for the last 6,000 years):

Fireproof: Cthulhu_is_my_homeboy: 13 posts before anyone says "wat?"? You're slipping, Farkers.

Hey now, be polite! That statement was a bit Rouge!

It's a phnomenon I'm going to igngor.

dodecahedron: Clearly needed better Angkor management.

They are fit to be Thai'd.

The Crepes of Wrath:
/+1 for the Angkor babies

+1 hammers for priests too

/obscure?

Persnickety: The Crepes of Wrath:
/+1 for the Angkor babies

+1 hammers for priests too

/obscure?

No.

Clash City Farker: Persnickety: The Crepes of Wrath:
/+1 for the Angkor babies

+1 hammers for priests too

/obscure?

No.

*sigh* I so wanted to get "Civ 5". CIV IV - Beyond the Sword -- for me-- was the almost perfect CIV game, incorporating some of the best elements of the past 20 years of the franchise (especially the Espionage element).

Then my friend got CIV 5. So I went to his place and saw it, did a bit of game play.... and then went home to play CIV IV - BTS again.

Here's hoping Firaxis learned a few things about successful sequel writing (cf. Bethesda and "Skyrim") and have something better planned for Civ VI.

ObscureNameHere: Clash City Farker: Persnickety: The Crepes of Wrath:
/+1 for the Angkor babies

+1 hammers for priests too

/obscure?

No.

*sigh* I so wanted to get "Civ 5". CIV IV - Beyond the Sword -- for me-- was the almost perfect CIV game, incorporating some of the best elements of the past 20 years of the franchise (especially the Espionage element).

Then my friend got CIV 5. So I went to his place and saw it, did a bit of game play.... and then went home to play CIV IV - BTS again.

Here's hoping Firaxis learned a few things about successful sequel writing (cf. Bethesda and "Skyrim") and have something better planned for Civ VI.

Civ V is fine, Siam is in this time to represent that region. Their leader is a little weasel, but he always does well in game.

Clash City Farker: Siam is in this time to represent that region. Their leader is a little weasel, but he always does well in game.

Is his name Owahtahgoo?

ObscureNameHere: Clash City Farker: Persnickety: The Crepes of Wrath:
/+1 for the Angkor babies

+1 hammers for priests too

/obscure?

No.

*sigh* I so wanted to get "Civ 5". CIV IV - Beyond the Sword -- for me-- was the almost perfect CIV game, incorporating some of the best elements of the past 20 years of the franchise (especially the Espionage element).

Then my friend got CIV 5. So I went to his place and saw it, did a bit of game play.... and then went home to play CIV IV - BTS again.

Here's hoping Firaxis learned a few things about successful sequel writing (cf. Bethesda and "Skyrim") and have something better planned for Civ VI.

Got Civ V for Xmas. Tried it a bit and then grew bored and when back to Civ 4 BTS. I probably should give it another chance.

Persnickety: ObscureNameHere: Clash City Farker: Persnickety: The Crepes of Wrath:
/+1 for the Angkor babies

+1 hammers for priests too

/obscure?

No.

*sigh* I so wanted to get "Civ 5". CIV IV - Beyond the Sword -- for me-- was the almost perfect CIV game, incorporating some of the best elements of the past 20 years of the franchise (especially the Espionage element).

Then my friend got CIV 5. So I went to his place and saw it, did a bit of game play.... and then went home to play CIV IV - BTS again.

Here's hoping Firaxis learned a few things about successful sequel writing (cf. Bethesda and "Skyrim") and have something better planned for Civ VI.

Got Civ V for Xmas. Tried it a bit and then grew bored and when back to Civ 4 BTS. I probably should give it another chance.

Civ 5 is atrocious. If i was you I'd try some of the mods for BTS on civfanatics.net. I have logged more hours into that game than I care to think about.

Sock Ruh Tease: Give a white elephant to whoever wrote this biased hit piece.

Khmer and say that to my four faces.