I thought that we were well on our way toward demonstrating a new reason that a civilization could fail. However, the most recent data appears to refute my theory.
The theory was that when the technology reaches a certain point, the most creative portion of the population joins mailing lists. This should be the start of a positive feedback leading to the singularity, but instead the inherent sociodynamic laws of the universe cause the list participants to fall into an endless loop of repetitive argumentation on irrelevant subjects, finally leading to brain rot and ultimately to the destruction of the civilization.
Today, for the first time in weeks, most of the messages on the list were relevant and interesting. before signing on, I had decided that I would leave the list today, but now I'll give it a few more days.