# Societies Can Destroy Themselves by Jared Diamond > “Nowadays, I’ve gotten used to the fact that societies destroy themselves. But naively, if you don’t know that had happened and you don’t know the details of how it happened, it is counter-intuitive that societies would destroy themselves.” > **— Jared Diamond**, *Freakonomics, “Jared Diamond on the Downfall of Civilizations,” December 10, 2021* ## Sources and Context - **Original or near-original source and full passage:** [Freakonomics, “Jared Diamond on the Downfall of Civilizations,” December 10, 2021](https://freakonomics.com/podcast/jared-diamond-on-the-downfall-of-civilizations-and-his-optimism-for-ours/) — Diamond discusses ecological self-damage across historical societies; the claim is about societies rather than every individual. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] - **Article:** [[articles/Climate Systems as Human Resilience Platforms|Climate Systems as Human Resilience Platforms]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Human Animality|Human Animality]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Ecological Limits|Ecological Limits]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Nowadays, I’ve gotten used to the fact that societies destroy themselves. But naively, if you don’t know that had happened and you don’t know the details of how it happened, it is counter-intuitive that societies would destroy themselves.” — Jared Diamond, Freakonomics, “Jared Diamond on the Downfall of Civilizations,” December 10, 2021 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-jared-diamond-societies-can-destroy-themselves ```