I downloaded the book, I'm halfway through it. As a Mayanist I would say her understanding of Maya archeology is facile. She suffers from the same problem so many of these theorists do.

She's a social theorist, not an archeologist and it shows. I have read a lot of Collapse Studies books and studies. Those that want to do cultural analysis of ancient societies are always on really shaky ground.

Also, I really don't agree with her concept of "supermemes". I know a lot on the topic of mimetics and neurobiology. I find her science very speculative.

Ms. Costa does a lot of jumping from "studies indicate" to "if we accept as fact" to "it's a fact". Which is ironic because that's one of the problems she identifies in the book.

Do you remember Faith Popcorn?

Ms. Costa reminds me of her. She's a "Futurist" and an "engaging and deeply knowledgeable trendist and thought leader".

She is not convincing me.

Anyway, putting that aside. You are correct in the observation that right now Climate Change is happening faster than our social ability to react to it.

In military terms, it has gotten inside our decision loop and is kicking our ass.

The OODA Loop and the Half-Beat

We can do better. We have to, otherwise the Collapse will be total (think Oryx an Crake 2003 bad) and much faster than you would think.

If aliens were invading do you think we would be capable of uniting to fight them off. If you do, then we are capable of saving ourselves.

Because that's the level of commitment it's going to take.