Hacker News with Generative AI: Civilization

"Fragile, impermanent things": Joseph Tainter on what makes civilizations fall (thebulletin.org)
In the introduction to his seminal 1988 book, The Collapse of Complex Societies, anthropologist and historian Joseph Tainter explained that lost civilizations have a vise-like hold on the human imagination because of the implications their histories hold for our own, modern civilization.

History, Civilization, Anthropology, Sociology

15 points by pseudolus 2 days ago | 0 comments

Music and the Decline of Civilization (renovatio.zaytuna.edu)
In almost every description of a declining civilization we find the same tropes: an excess of liberty, a confusion of social norms, and the weakening of authority that soon descends into lawlessness.

Music, Culture, Civilization, Society

21 points by walterbell 32 days ago | 39 comments

Elon Musk wants to save Western civilization from empathy (cnn.com)

Elon Musk, Civilization, Empathy, Technology

15 points by archagon 48 days ago | 15 comments

Sid Meier's Civilization VII (civilization.2k.com)

Video Games, Strategy Games, Civilization

87 points by doener 74 days ago | 135 comments

Is software abstraction killing civilization? (2021) (datagubbe.se)
I recently stumbled upon a talk by game development guru Jonathan Blow, about how software abstraction will lead to the end of civilization.

Software Abstraction, Civilization, Software Development

219 points by yamrzou 76 days ago | 206 comments

Why Civilizations Collapse (palladiummag.com)
Why do civilizations collapse? This question bears not only on safeguarding our society’s future but also makes sense of our present. The answer relies on some of the same technē that humanity needed to build civilization in the first place: we have to evaluate the perceptions that mint facts and theory, not merely peruse the body of theories handed down to us.

History, Civilization, Sociology, Future, Society

11 points by MindGods 79 days ago | 2 comments

Civilization VII review: A major overhaul solves Civ's oldest problems (arstechnica.com)
Not all changes will be popular, but it's a great launching point for a new age.

Video Games, Reviews, Civilization

13 points by kristianp 80 days ago | 0 comments

Civilization 7 review: establishing your unique legacy (theverge.com)
Sid Meier developed the first Civilization game in 1991 and has contributed to every iteration since.

Video Games, Reviews, Civilization

4 points by Tomte 82 days ago | 0 comments

Civilization VII only needs 20 GB of free disk space (corsair.com)
Sid Meier’s Civilization franchise is one of the few videogame series’ that has stood fast against the test of time, evolving throughout the years, yet staying true to its roots.

Video Games, Civilization, Gaming

16 points by doener 87 days ago | 37 comments

Human Civilization at critical junction:authoritarian collapse or superabundance (eurekalert.org)
A new scientific study published in the journal Foresight concludes that human civilisation is on the brink of the next ‘giant leap’ in evolution. However, progress could be thwarted by centralised far-right political projects such as the incoming Donald Trump administration.

Politics, Civilization, Social Science, Technology, Future

31 points by clumsysmurf 117 days ago | 23 comments

Evolve: An incremental game about evolving a civilization (pmotschmann.github.io)

Game Development, Incremental Games, Civilization

4 points by HiPHInch 174 days ago | 0 comments

Her Majesty’s Rat-Catcher (2013) (laphamsquarterly.org)
Each great civilization is plagued by its own particular infestation—the point at which the balance between man and vermin shifts uncomfortably in the direction of the critters.

History, Culture, Vermin, Civilization

31 points by samclemens 186 days ago | 6 comments

Is this the civilization we want? (2017) (dynamicland.org)
Is this the civilization we really want?

Society, Technology, Future, Civilization

64 points by mpweiher 216 days ago | 68 comments

Ask HN: What if civilization's growth rate exceeds it's natural evolution? (ycombinator.com)

Civilization, Evolution, Technology, Society

7 points by vednig 248 days ago | 31 comments

Deep Adaptation opens up necessary conversation about breakdown of civilisation (2020) (opendemocracy.net)

Climate Change, Civilization, Sustainability, Social Change

5 points by Bluestein 250 days ago | 0 comments

New research on why Cahokia Mounds civilization left (scitechdaily.com)