Assessment Questions 13.7

Complex societies are considered problem-solving organizations because they face challenges, and their ability to devise effective solutions to these challenges is crucial for their sustainability.

Joseph Tainter summarizes causes for the collapse of civilizations as resource depletion, the discovery of new resources, natural catastrophes, insufficient response to circumstances, competition with other civilizations, attacks by intruders, mismanagement by the elite, and economic nonviability due to increasing costs.

The large, dense populations associated with civilizations contribute to resource depletion, as their intensive exploitation of the environment leads to the exhaustion of key resources, ultimately resulting in the collapse of the society.