--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Many of our problems are broadly similar…" description: "\"“Many of our problems are broadly similar to those that undermined ... Norse Greenland, and that many other past societies also struggled to solve. Som..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07e/jared-diamond-2519_examples_many-of-our-problems-are-broadly-similar_2018867.png" --- # Many of our problems are broadly similar to those that… ![“Many of our problems are broadly similar to those that undermined ... Norse Greenland, and that many other past societies also struggled to solve. Some of those past societies failed (like the Greenland Norse) and others succeeded ... The past offers us a rich database from which we can learn in…” quote by Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07e/jared-diamond-2519_examples_many-of-our-problems-are-broadly-similar_2018867.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07e/jared-diamond-2519_examples_many-of-our-problems-are-broadly-similar_2018867.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07e/jared-diamond-2519_examples_many-of-our-problems-are-broadly-similar_2018867.png) > ““Many of our problems are broadly similar to those that undermined ... Norse Greenland, and that many other past societies also struggled to solve. Some of those past societies failed (like the Greenland Norse) and others succeeded ... The past offers us a rich database from which we can learn in order that we may keep on succeeding.”” [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Historical societies faced similar challenges; learning from their successes and failures can guide modern decisions. **In simple terms:** Past societies' problems mirror ours; study them to succeed. Key Takeaway Apply historical lessons to current issues. Themes history learning adaptation Mood analytical cautious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - policy making - urban planning - environmental strategy - education Key Concepts civilization collapse resource management Questions to Reflect On - Which past failure most closely mirrors today’s challenges? - How can we adapt ancient solutions to modern tech? A Different Perspective Historical contexts differ, limiting direct application. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Examples](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/examples/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Greenland Norse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greenland-norse-3645314/) [Greenland Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greenland-past-3645312/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Like Greenland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-greenland-3645310/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Problems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problems/) [Societies Failed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/societies-failed-3645311/) [Societies Struggled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/societies-struggled-3645313/) [Solutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solutions/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I've always been fascinated and stared at maps for hours as a kid. I've especially been most intrigued by the uninhabited or lonelier places…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-bird/i-ve-always-been-fascinated-and-stared-at-maps-for-hours-as-a-kid-i/) [Andrew Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-bird/) > [The main objective of our cinema is to entertain. If you can pass on a message at the same time, that is fantastic, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-bachchan/the-main-objective-of-our-cinema-is-to-entertain-if-you-can-pass-on-a/) [Abhishek Bachchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-bachchan/) > [“There are many examples to show that people will work more for a cause than for cash.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/there-are-many-examples-to-show-that-people-will-work-more-for-a/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) > [“These bizarre examples attempt to prove one conceptual point or another by deliberately reducing all but one underappreciated feature of some phenomenon to zero,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/these-bizarre-examples-attempt-to-prove-one-conceptual-point-or/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) > [God love Neil Patrick Harris - how great is that. People grew up with him; they go, 'Oh it's him, it's that little boy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-batt/god-love-neil-patrick-harris-how-great-is-that-people-grew-up-with/) [Bryan Batt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-batt/) > [Some examples can't change an opinion into a fact…but few samples do..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyanka/some-examples-can-t-change-an-opinion-into-a-fact-but-few-samples-do/) [Priyanka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyanka/) > [To lead by example is to offer your life as a living diarry for others to read. Never make your life pages blank; make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-lead-by-example-is-to-offer-your-life-as-a-living-diarry-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Life is like defusing a bomb, once you cut the wrong wire your whole life is ruined.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-zahy-hussain/life-is-like-defusing-a-bomb-once-you-cut-the-wrong-wire-your-whole/) [Mohamed Zahy Hussain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohamed-zahy-hussain/) > [The writers who reject tendentiousness and purpose in their work are the very ones who display it in every word they write. I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjornstjerne-bjornson/the-writers-who-reject-tendentiousness-and-purpose-in-their-work-are/) [Bjornstjerne Bjornson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjornstjerne-bjornson/) > [The best way to understanding is a few good examples.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/the-best-way-to-understanding-is-a-few-good-examples/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [Other places are also generators of far-flung violence beyond their own borders - Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are obvious examples - but none has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kinzer/other-places-are-also-generators-of-far-flung-violence-beyond-their/) [Stephen Kinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-kinzer/) > [Teachers don't tell us the truth about historical people. If we knew the truth, parents couldn't hold their lives up as examples.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hulce/teachers-don-t-tell-us-the-truth-about-historical-people-if-we-knew/) [Tom Hulce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hulce/) > [We create in people through our actions and example. In this way people around us become reflections of our own behavioral patterns and internal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-create-in-people-through-our-actions-and-example-in-this-way/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Amy Winehouse and Paul Weller are examples of poets, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jools-holland/amy-winehouse-and-paul-weller-are-examples-of-poets-i-think/) [Jools Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jools-holland/) > [I hate the stereotype of the pitfalls of the child actor. There are so many amazing examples - Natalie Portman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jodie Foster,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-bell/i-hate-the-stereotype-of-the-pitfalls-of-the-child-actor-there-are-so/) [Jamie Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-bell/) ## More by Jared Diamond > [Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/bird-taxonomy-is-a-difficult-field-because-of-the-severe-anatomical/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [What did the last Easter Islander say as he chopped down the last tree? The Easter Islanders didnt have anthropologists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/what-did-the-last-easter-islander-say-as-he-chopped-down-the-last/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“We come to conquer this land by his command, that all may come to a knowledge of God and of His Holy Catholic Faith;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/we-come-to-conquer-this-land-by-his-command-that-all-may-come-to-a/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“With the rise of chiefdoms around 7,500 years ago, people had to learn, for the first time in history, how to encounter strangers regularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/with-the-rise-of-chiefdoms-around-7-500-years-ago-people-had-to-learn/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [Human societies vary in lots of independent factors affecting their openness to innovation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/human-societies-vary-in-lots-of-independent-factors-affecting-their/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [No government is here forever. 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It was in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/i-decided-that-now-is-the-time-to-start-doing-the-things-that-really/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“As a result of that confined distribution, peoples who pride themselves on being civilized have always viewed writing as the sharpest distinction raising them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/as-a-result-of-that-confined-distribution-peoples-who-pride/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [Infectious diseases introduced with Europeans, like smallpox and measles, spread from one Indian tribe to another, far in advance of Europeans themselves, and killed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/infectious-diseases-introduced-with-europeans-like-smallpox-and/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [In fact, everywhere in the world there has been a flux between big and small societies. Big political units are constantly being formed, later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/in-fact-everywhere-in-the-world-there-has-been-a-flux-between-big-and/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) [Explore all 161 Jared Diamond quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) ## More Examples quotes > [I hate the stereotype of the pitfalls of the child actor. There are so many amazing examples - Natalie Portman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jodie Foster,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-bell/i-hate-the-stereotype-of-the-pitfalls-of-the-child-actor-there-are-so/) [Jamie Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-bell/) > [Amy Winehouse and Paul Weller are examples of poets, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jools-holland/amy-winehouse-and-paul-weller-are-examples-of-poets-i-think/) [Jools Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jools-holland/) > [We create in people through our actions and example. In this way people around us become reflections of our own behavioral patterns and internal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-create-in-people-through-our-actions-and-example-in-this-way/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Teachers don't tell us the truth about historical people. If we knew the truth, parents couldn't hold their lives up as examples.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hulce/teachers-don-t-tell-us-the-truth-about-historical-people-if-we-knew/) [Tom Hulce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hulce/) > [Other places are also generators of far-flung violence beyond their own borders - Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are obvious examples - but none has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kinzer/other-places-are-also-generators-of-far-flung-violence-beyond-their/) [Stephen Kinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-kinzer/) > [The best way to understanding is a few good examples.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/the-best-way-to-understanding-is-a-few-good-examples/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [The writers who reject tendentiousness and purpose in their work are the very ones who display it in every word they write. I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjornstjerne-bjornson/the-writers-who-reject-tendentiousness-and-purpose-in-their-work-are/) [Bjornstjerne Bjornson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjornstjerne-bjornson/) > [“Life is like defusing a bomb, once you cut the wrong wire your whole life is ruined.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-zahy-hussain/life-is-like-defusing-a-bomb-once-you-cut-the-wrong-wire-your-whole/) [Mohamed Zahy Hussain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohamed-zahy-hussain/) > [To lead by example is to offer your life as a living diarry for others to read. Never make your life pages blank; make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-lead-by-example-is-to-offer-your-life-as-a-living-diarry-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some examples can't change an opinion into a fact…but few samples do..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyanka/some-examples-can-t-change-an-opinion-into-a-fact-but-few-samples-do/) [Priyanka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyanka/) > [God love Neil Patrick Harris - how great is that. People grew up with him; they go, 'Oh it's him, it's that little boy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-batt/god-love-neil-patrick-harris-how-great-is-that-people-grew-up-with/) [Bryan Batt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-batt/) > [“These bizarre examples attempt to prove one conceptual point or another by deliberately reducing all but one underappreciated feature of some phenomenon to zero,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/these-bizarre-examples-attempt-to-prove-one-conceptual-point-or/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) > [“There are many examples to show that people will work more for a cause than for cash.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/there-are-many-examples-to-show-that-people-will-work-more-for-a/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) > [The main objective of our cinema is to entertain. If you can pass on a message at the same time, that is fantastic, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-bachchan/the-main-objective-of-our-cinema-is-to-entertain-if-you-can-pass-on-a/) [Abhishek Bachchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-bachchan/) > [The truth is very few of us are related to Napoleon or Cleopatra. Although, those are bad examples as I am actually descended from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-piddock/the-truth-is-very-few-of-us-are-related-to-napoleon-or-cleopatra/) [Jim Piddock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-piddock/) [Browse all 146 Examples quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/examples/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Many of our problems are broadly similar to those that undermined ... Norse Greenland, and that many other past societies also struggled to solve. Some of those past societies failed (like the Greenland Norse) and others succeeded ... 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