tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28344720.post7969957673057645588..comments2024-02-21T06:47:29.430-07:00Comments on Chip Overclock<sup><small>®</small></sup>: The End of Civilization as You Know ItChip Overclockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195242013008369733noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28344720.post-26678395178050593822007-11-30T17:44:00.000-07:002007-11-30T17:44:00.000-07:00After thinking about this for several days, I've d...After thinking about this for several days, I've decided that your questions merit a longer response than is practical as a comment.<BR/><BR/>But in short, I believe that it depends on your timescale. Over centuries or millenia, yes, civilization has generally progressed upwards. Over the span of years or decades, what I would consider a timescale more in line with the horizon of human perceptionChip Overclockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11195242013008369733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28344720.post-11682924246436865482007-11-28T10:44:00.000-07:002007-11-28T10:44:00.000-07:00it seems like the downfall of western civilization...it seems like the downfall of western civilization is not as important as what displaces it. Although I'm not sure what "the end of western civilization as you know it" actually means? Aren't civilizations always changing?<BR/><BR/>If you look at recorded human history<BR/>as a whole, haven't civilizations evolved into increasingly better (better meaning generally more free, governed by rule of Canadian War Machinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05522352142575339636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28344720.post-52185745070144659172007-11-26T20:25:00.000-07:002007-11-26T20:25:00.000-07:00mcjoe: very insightful. Who can say how many centu...<B>mcjoe</B>: very insightful. Who can say how many centuries mankind has been set back by the loss of the bodies of literature and scientific knowledge that followed the collapse of the Greek, Persian, Roman and many other empires throughout recorded history. Our own digital data is <I>far</I> more fragile than that maintained by these prior civilizations. I've seen a Greek urn that was Chip Overclockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11195242013008369733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28344720.post-50446465978732291442007-11-26T13:47:00.000-07:002007-11-26T13:47:00.000-07:00Will civilizations follow the rules of entropy and...Will civilizations follow the rules of entropy and hopelessly devolve into a uniform chaotic state or will they evolve into better and longer lasting institutions that last longer after each iteration (forgetting the sun blows up end scenario for the moment)? I agree with your 'it will end', but am curious to hear what you think will happen next, if even in a macro sense.Paul Moormanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10956138993995459655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28344720.post-48218941636750912192007-11-25T21:47:00.000-07:002007-11-25T21:47:00.000-07:00Having spent a few months in an environment as clo...Having spent a few months in an environment as close you could get to a Mad Max version of anarchy, I like your post. Seeing that puts a lot of things into perspective.<BR/><BR/>Reminded me of my high school peers with the circle-A 'Anarchy' symbols on their clothes. Unless you're a tough SOB, I mean really tough, you don't want anarchy.<BR/><BR/>Of course my theory is peak-oil will be the Demian L. Neidetcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15301687773415095331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28344720.post-9148019686407917892007-11-25T21:20:00.000-07:002007-11-25T21:20:00.000-07:00Something came to mind while reading the last line...Something came to mind while reading the last line of your post that I thought was worth mentioning. When the Roman Empire crumbled, the world lost a lot of technical knowledge that took a long time to regain.<BR/><BR/>These losses included advanced medical knowledge, mathematics (the far eastern civilizations saved our bacon a bit on that one), and engineering.<BR/><BR/>I mention this because mcjoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15263012642896337066noreply@blogger.com