Upheaval - Part 3

As I got into Part 3 of Upheaval by Jared Diamond, I was really struck by how he takes his crisis framework beyond just countries and applies it to global issues that need everyone to step up. The first two sections focused on personal and national resilience, but this final part zooms out to look at the massive challenges shaping our world today. 

Diamond dives into urgent problems like climate change, nuclear threats, and political polarization, using his twelve factors to assess how well humanity is handling these crises. One of his most interesting points is that, unlike nations, the world doesn’t have a single identity or leader, which makes it way harder to coordinate a response. If people can’t even agree on the problem, how can they work together to fix it? The stakes couldn’t be higher. 

One of the most eye-opening comparisons he makes is between the slow response to climate change and the fast action taken during the Cold War to prevent nuclear war. Both are global threats, but nuclear war felt immediate and impossible to ignore, while climate change—despite being just as dangerous—feels distant and abstract. That difference in urgency makes all the difference in how people react. 

What makes Part 3 so powerful is how it forces the reader to think about the future, not just the past. Diamond doesn’t just talk about past crises—he pushes us to consider our role in shaping what comes next. His main message? The same self-reflection, adaptation, and unity that help individuals and nations survive upheaval are just as critical on a global scale. The real question is: will we act in time? 

Reading Upheaval has really made me think about how individual and national decisions ripple out into global consequences. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that resilience isn’t just about getting through crises—it’s about learning from them before it’s too late. 

- AnthroManTalks