My second pick from the extensive TED.com archives is a talk by the noted scholar Jared Diamond on “Why Societies Collapse.”  It’s a classic instance of brilliant content married to a faulty delivery. (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jared_diamond_on_why_societies_collapse.html)

Diamond describes five reasons why societies fail.  He uses as an example the European settlement on Greenland, that began in the 900s or so and died out roughly 500 years later.  First, Jared says, societies can have a destructive effect on their environment.  In this case, the Norse immigrants contributed to soil erosion through their destructive farming techniques, among other problems. 

Second, climates can change.  Unfortunately for the Norse, the world turned cold in the 1300 and 1400s.  Third, relations with friendly neighbors can weaken.  The ties to Europe faltered during the cold spells because of difficulty in traveling back east.  Fourth, relations with hostile neighbors can affect survival.  Here, the Inuits knew a good deal about survival during the colder era, but the Norse were unable to learn from them because of the two societies mutual incomprehension.  And finally, political, cultural and economic factors can prevent a society from seeing and responding to the impending collapse.  The Norse were heavily invested in their Christianity and in particular building cathedrals, and that effort was misguided to say the least in a land that was barely suited for hard-scrabble subsistence farming and raising sheep.

It’s quite cozy, in a slightly perverse way, to contemplate the unwise actions of a long-dead civilization.  But Jared smoothly makes the transition to our era, and we soon realize that we’re failing, too, on all five factors.  Just to make sure we don’t miss the point, Diamond lets us know that societies don’t decline gradually; rather, they collapse rapidly, within a few decades.  He notes that those in his audience who are under 50 will be witness to our collapse unless we manage to rise above history and change the ways things are going.  It’s a scary message. 

And what about the scholar’s delivery?  Diamond has a commanding presence that he throws away because of his natural introversion.  He swallows his voice, bringing it out reluctantly from the back of his throat half-strangled.  He does move from his notes at the podium out to the audience, but he doesn’t clearly define that end point well enough, and he tends to wander in between the two points like a lost sheep. 

His gestures are defensive; he constantly crosses his arms and brings his hand to his face.  But the worst aspect of his body language in terms of connecting with people is his head posture.  Naturally enough, as a scholar with a lot on his mind, he leads with his head, looking down and rarely connecting with the audience.  As he warms up, he begins to direct fleeting glances at his audience as if he’s surprised that anyone is still there, but they don’t last long enough to help. 

All in all, an arresting and thought-provoking message marred by a hopelessly introverted delivery.  The classic absent-minded professor restricts the reach of his message because he doesn’t know how to deliver it effectively.