Caterina’s Reviews > Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed > Status Update
Caterina
is 95% done
People often ask: What is the single most important environmental population problem facing the world today? A flip answer would be: The single most important problem is our misguided focus on identifying the single most important problem. That flip answer is essentially correct, because any of the dozen [previously discussed] problems if unsolved would do us grave harm, and because they all interact with each other.
— Mar 09, 2026 09:15AM
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Caterina’s Previous Updates
Caterina
is 52% done
Finished, the fascinating but ultra-depressing case studies of societal collapse; on to the success stories. Strangely, one of the success stories (surviving for 3200 years) is Tonga -which happens to be the setting of the stupendous new historical novel I'm immersed in -- The Wayfinder by Adam Johnson. A place I'd given approximate zero previous thought to --& it was an empire, an exploiter, not some garden of Eden.
— Feb 14, 2026 08:15PM
Caterina
is 14% done
Diamond said this is not an uninterrupted series of depressing stories but the first long, thoughtful story sure was depressing! To think that the "pristine" Big Sky State of Montana is so polluted by toxic mine waste that mine operators from all over the world visit to study what not to do. Plus many other serious problems that would have caused its collapse w/o outside money, causing a 2-tier rich/poor society...
— Jan 25, 2026 11:50AM
Caterina
is 2% done
This book is not an uninterrupted series of depressing stories of failure,but also includes success stories inspiring imitation&optimism. In addition,I don't know of any case in which a society's collapse can be attributed solely to environmental damage.There are always other contrib. factors.When I began to plan this book I didn't apprec.those complications, &naively thought the book would just be about envir. dmge.
— Jan 20, 2026 12:13PM
