In this episode, Samuel Arbesman speaks with Florian Jehn, a researcher who studies the nature of societal collapse and the author of the blog Existential Crunch. Existential Crunch examines and summarizes scientific work in this space, serving as a living literature review of research on societal collapse.
Samuel and Florian discuss the origins of Existential Crunch, the radically interdisciplinary nature of collapse studies, and how the field cuts across domains—from the statistical study of history and the rise and fall of civilizations to catastrophic and existential risk, and the mechanics of societal resilience. They also explore what collapse might feel like from the inside, and whether we could already be living through a slow-motion version of it.
