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Explore the collapse of complex systems through an information-theoretical and economic lens in this 50-minute conference talk from MRMCD2025. Examine historical examples of societal breakdowns from the Hittites to modern times, understanding how forced complexity reduction leads to the collapse of civilizations. Learn how complex societies function as information-processing systems that require organizational overhead consuming resources, initially motivating society members to work beyond their personal needs while creating elite castes of priests, nobles, military leaders, capitalists, or functionaries whose utility decreases over time and eventually becomes negative. Discover how this process reduces resilience, making societies vulnerable to influences they would normally handle, leading to crises announced by the slowing of everyday processes and resulting in the shedding of elite structures to reduce overhead and complexity. Understand how this collapse causes the loss of comprehensive problem-solving capabilities while increasing the importance of peripheral areas. Connect these concepts to modern digitalization, drawing parallels to works like Asimov's Foundation and The Expanse, while avoiding misleading concepts like decadence or singular catastrophe theories.
