Image source: Rapa Nui The story of Easter Island has always fascinated me, partly because of the huge, enigmatic statues, but also because Easter Island was (before European contact) a miniature analog to the Earth. It was a little world, isolated in the Pacific, which was colonized by human beings only about 1000 years ago. Within a 500-year period, there was a population explosion, environmental degradation and population collapse. I will retell that story very briefly here. Then I will consider some of its implications for human nature.
Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island
Image source: Rapa Nui The story of Easter Island has always fascinated me, partly because of the huge, enigmatic statues, but also because Easter Island was (before European contact) a miniature analog to the Earth. It was a little world, isolated in the Pacific, which was colonized by human beings only about 1000 years ago. Within a 500-year period, there was a population explosion, environmental degradation and population collapse. I will retell that story very briefly here. Then I will consider some of its implications for human nature.