(2018-08-12, 07:16 AM)Typoz Wrote: I'm not sure about blending subjective and objective like this. On the one hand we know there have been various peaks in societies and cultures in the past, such as the Egyptian, and which are no longer in existence. But the reasons why these various civilisations no longer exist may be many and varied (and some of them not pretty). It seems, to me at least, very glib to suggest that the acquisition of too much knowledge, and too quickly, is somehow part of the reason. In some cases we do know broadly what happened - an existing culture didn't survive a meeting with a different culture, and military conquest ensued. Though these may be difficult to unravel since the narrative is usually controlled by the side which emerged as victors. In others, such as the Maya, there is no clear narrative to be followed, other than that which can be deduced from the archaeological record.
Of this there is a certainty. Knowing too much was never the reason for any civilizations collapse.