https://njb1966.github.io/Alas, EpicurusA long-view analysis blog exploring the rise, decline, and patterns of civilizations. 2026-06-28T05:16:22-05:00 Nick Burchett https://njb1966.github.io/ Jekyll © 2026 Nick Burchett /assets/img/favicons/favicon.ico /assets/img/favicons/favicon-96x96.png The Shadow Tradition: Why Every Culture Builds an Altar to Its Own Darkness2026-06-28T04:00:00-05:00 2026-06-28T05:16:05-05:00 https://njb1966.github.io/posts/shadow-tradition/ Nick Burchett Why 'dark side' philosophies recur across cultures—how dominant moral frameworks over-correct, accumulate a shadow surplus, and provoke counter-traditions, from Odin and Prometheus to Nietzsche, Jung, and the Sith. A culture-level reading of the same patterns that drive civilizational stress. What Tainter Says About Collapse: Complexity, Costs, and the Logic of Decline2025-12-01T11:00:00-06:00 2025-12-01T11:00:00-06:00 https://njb1966.github.io/posts/tainter-collapse-and-decline/ Nick Burchett An accessible walkthrough of Joseph Tainter’s theory of collapse—how societies use complexity to solve problems, why returns eventually diminish, and what that means for interpreting Rome, the Maya, and our own systems. From Campfires to Code: Understanding the Stages of Civilization2025-11-29T11:00:00-06:00 2025-11-29T11:00:00-06:00 https://njb1966.github.io/posts/campfires-to-code-stages-of-civilization/ Nick Burchett An accessible overview of how human societies evolved from hunter-gatherer bands to today’s digital networks. William Ophuls and the Two Ceilings: Ecological and Organizational Limits2025-11-29T05:00:00-06:00 2025-11-29T08:19:25-06:00 https://njb1966.github.io/posts/ophuls-eco-org-limits/ Nick Burchett A clear synthesis of William Ophuls’s diagnosis of biophysical limits and diminishing returns to organizational complexity, with historical cases and practical design implications. The Fate of Empires: Glubb’s Life Cycle in Light of Modern Scholarship2025-11-28T09:00:00-06:00 2025-11-28T12:19:16-06:00 https://njb1966.github.io/posts/glubb-life-cycle/ Nick Burchett A critical exploration of Sir John Glubb’s thesis about the recurring life cycle of empires, compared with contemporary research on state rise and decline.