Ben Landau Taylor is a writer, historian, and one of the minds behind the Bismark Brief, whose research is focused on understanding the life cycle of civilizations. Much of his work has been informed by the work of Caroll Quigley, who in the 1970s put together a seven part framework for how civilizations are born, mature, and eventually go extinct. His model was one of an economic instrument of expansion, where the tools of growth defined the success of the empire - a direct contradiction to contemporary Arnold Toynbee's perspective that it wasn't economics that drove civilization - it was some kind of spiritual commitment to a common cause. The economic model seemed more reasonable to Taylor, who then wanted to know - was it simply applicable to European history, or was this a more universal model? We talk about the ways that the rise and fall of civilizations generalizes across history, the place our own civilization is in the progression, and what the future might hold. READ QUIGLEY: https://amzn.to/3YSEMaF READ TOYNBEE: https://amzn.to/4hSdIB3 READ CIVILIZATION LIT: https://amzn.to/3OcHbbC (affiliate links) PATREON: get episodes early + join our weekly Patron Chat https://bit.ly/3lcAasB MERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci.myspreadshop.com/ AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98 00:00 Go! 07:08:00 The Economic Engine 00:17:07 Motivations Behind Historical Crusades 00:27:19 Spiritual and Economic Motives 00:37:12 Fragility and Stability in Civilizations 00:47:56 Evolution of Civilizations 00:56:42 Patterns in Civilizational Waves 01:03:52 Preservation and Historical Amnesia 01:12:29 Historical Narratives and Bias 01:21:11 Stagnation and Adaptation 01:30:49 Manorial Systems and Economic Expansion 01:41:38 Financial Capitalism's Role 01:50:02 Financial Hoarding and Redistribution 01:58:13 Metaverse and Digital Economies 02:04:18 Predicting Technological Advancements 02:11:12 AI Development and Potential 02:21:05 Designing Safeguards Against Institutional Control 02:29:26 Importance of Mythology in Society 02:39:38 Significance of Ancient Chinese Canal Systems #LegacyOfCivilizations #EconomicTheory #Crusades #Civilization #History #HistoricalAnalysis #RiseAndFall #CulturalEvolution #HistoricalTrends #EconomicExpansion #ChineseHistory #InstitutionalChange #SpiritualMotives #EconomicMotives #ChurchAndState #InnovativeSystems #Metaverse #Automation #AI #TechnologicalAdvancements #FutureOfSociety, #sciencepodcast, #longformpodcast Check our short-films channel, @DemystifySci: https://www.youtube.com/c/DemystifyingScience AND our material science investigations of atomics, @MaterialAtomics https://www.youtube.com/@MaterialAtomics Join our mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S PODCAST INFO: Anastasia completed her PhD studying bioelectricity at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting, reading, and guiding backcountry excursions. Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities. - Blog: http://DemystifySci.com/blog - RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss - Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaD - Swag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySci MUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671