"We shall hear angels, we shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds." Seagull

In fact, one of the main lesson to be learned from the collapses of the Maya, Anasazi, Easter Islanders, and those other past societies (as well as from the recent collapse of the Soviet Union) is that a society's steep decline may begin only a decade or two after the society reaches its peak numbers, wealth, and power. [...] The reason is simple: maximum population, wealth, resource consumption, and waste production mean maximum environmental impact, approaching the limit where impact outstrips resources. On reflection, it's no surprise that declines of societies tend to follow swiftly on their peaks. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

To live alone one must be an animal or a God - says Aristotle. There is yet a third case: one must be both - a philosopher. Twilight of the Idols

Physiologists and molecular biologists regularly fall into the trap of overlooking this distinction, which is fundamental to biology, history, and human behavior. Physiology and molecular biology can do no more than identify proximate mechanisms; only evolutionary biology can provide ultimate causal explanations. Why Is Sex Fun?: The Evolution of Human Sexuality