The past 10.000 years saw a tremendous increase in the scale of human collaboration. Nowadays, each of us relies on the work of millions of others. However, such interdependence carries significant risks and it is often assumed that increased vulnerability is the price to pay for increased complexity. In this talk, I will present our work at the Complexity Science Hub that aim to collect and analyze data and knowledge about social crises ranging from prehistory to modern day. Our research shows the recurrence of crises regardless of whether living in small-scale groups or in states and empires of increasing size through history and thus the importance of the interplay of complex environmental, material and social factors.
With a Q&A-session after the talk.