[the invisib1e hand]

complexity tends toward instability. am I right?

[the invisib1e hand]

the fact that civilization, as fragile as it is, goes on, is a testimony to God's grace. --- theinvisib1ehand.

[the invisib1e hand]

OK one more thought -- fragile and surprisingly robust.

[sauropod]

Answer: yes.

[Valin]

Bump

[after dark]

Our civilization is vulnerable to destruction because people are to segmented and specialized.We are dependent on engineering and technology but few people are well educated in those areas. If the few people who are educated in engineering died , our civilization would go down the toilet.People are not taught survival skills such as agriculture and how to gather wild edible herbs and plants.We just assume the grocery stores will always be well stocked. Most of us could not survive if we ever returned to stone age existence. If civilization fell apart because of a cataclysm the San bushmen would have the best odds of surviving.

[Little Ray]

Ummm, yes?

"Boom, boom, boom! Out go the lights!"

You have to just love the infrastructure targets: power plants, substations, transformers, sewage processing stations, water pumping and purification plants, dams. Woo-Hoo. Hit a few of those and a city becomes uninhabitable.

[The Sons of Liberty]

One only need to look at the Convention Center in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to answer that question. Of course, a lot of those folks weren't civilized to begin with.