Collapse: The Easter Island Example
1) According to the article, it is mentioned that Easter Island had forests and many trees before
the arrival of humans. Once it was populated, the natural resources began to scarce and in a short
time the island no longer had any trees.
2) Easter Island had a collapse or as he calls it "ecocide", something that describes how humans
began cutting down trees in the forests and did not stop until no trees were left standing.
Something that could undoubtedly be the future of the world if we continue to exploit natural
resources in the same way that people did on Easter Island once they settled.
3) According to Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo, their argument is based on the fact that the "collapse"
of the trees was not due to humans since no evidence had been found that humans had set fire to
the trees to derive them despite that they had indeed cleared much of the forest. The real
argument is based on the fact that the tree, were destroyed by Polynesian rats, which are believed
to have infiltrated the canoes in which this civilization had traveled and when they found
themselves in a place with abundant food and without any predators they began to eat and
reproduce in excess. The fact that the forest and the trees completely collapsed on the island does
not differ in both versions, however Diamond's version tells that humans have started cutting
down trees and were the cause of this collapse while the "New version "pointed towards the
Polynesian rats as guilty of this event. It is believed to be a success story due to the fact that
humans had not disappeared but rather adjusted and adapted to the environment that had changed
with the disappearance of trees and some resources such as birds and animals, as well as some
plants. According to the article, it is also said that it had survived on the basis of rat meat and
some vegetables.
4) I think that mainly we must learn to take care of what we have and not to overexploit the
natural resources that we have today. Over the years these same ones are disappearing until we
reach the point of being completely extinct. We must learn to live with what we have and to care
for what we have to preserve it and make it last. I believe that if, today, many of the natural
resources that we have are being lost, many animals are becoming extinct due to poor care
towards their natural habitats. A clearer example is the ozone layer, with all this neglect of
natural resources (hunting for animals, cutting down forests, fires in forests, etc.) the layer had
worn down a lot, however with the recent crisis and the demand for people to stay in their homes
saw a notable improvement in the layer and as natural resources began to take a break and notice
an improvement. I think it is the clearest example that neglecting what we have and wasting it
will make us fall into ruins along with natural resources.
Discussion Board
1) Which interpretation of Easter Island do you think is most supported by the evidence?
The "old story" of Jared Diamond or the "new story" of Hunt and Lipo? Why?
In my opinion, the "new story" of Hunt and Lipo is a bit more supported by the evidence. I think
that even though the forest had indeed been largely cleared by humans, the fact that there is no
evidence that the trees have been burned is a bit clearer on the fact that the forest did not
completely collapse by fault of humans.
2) What lesson do you think the modern world can learn from what happened on Easter
Island? Is this case study applicable to the modern world at all? Why or why not?
I think that we must mainly learn to take care of what we have and not to overexploit the natural
resources that we have today, as the years go by, they disappear to the point of being completely
extinct. We must learn to live with what we have and to care for what we have to preserve it and
make it last. I believe that if, today, many of the natural resources that we have are being lost,
many animals are becoming extinct due to poor care towards their natural habitats. I think it is
the clearest example that neglecting what we have and wasting it will make us fall into ruins
along with natural resources. More than anything I believe that we must learn to protect and take
care of the environment so that it does not last, otherwise it would not last so long and we could
lose it forever.
