4 thoughts on “The “Ecocide” Of Easter ISland”

1. Another interpretation is that a postdoctoral fellow in need of support is making a public challenge to a famous old white man while praising long-dead “indigenous” people and their stone tools. It’s another scene in the melodrama of the social sciences job market.

   The article describes Diamond as a “researcher and historian.” His PhD is actually in human physiology.

2. This apparently isn’t the first study to argue against Diamond’s ecocide theory–the Wikipedia Easter Island entry devotes some space to non-ecocide theories. So the non-ecocide theory has been out for a while; I don’t know if it’s now the preferred explanation or not.

   I’m a bit curious if Easter Island was still being occasionally visited in the 15th Century or if the Pacific Islanders of the time had written it off as been there, done that, not worth the trip.

3. Jared Diamond sounds like the Australian Tim Flannery. He predicted it would never rain again and the dams would not fill again ever. Wrong!
   He was an English major and his PhD was in tree kangaroos in New Guinea.
   He’s bought a couple of nice properties down by a river that isn’t far from the sea.

4. He’s also known as Flim Flammery.

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