[StanislavPetrov]

>every collapse can be recast as a 'diversifying' of the original society, even if the end state of the society has little in resemblance to the original.

The folks from Easter Island would beg to differ if they were still around!

[tathougies]

I can't tell if you're joking or not. Easter Island is yet another example of my general premise. The people who colonized it originally -- the rapa nui -- are still around, even if their current culture is very different from the civilization that erected the moai?