#92 – Why Civilizations Collapse

Episode 92 of the Breaking Trail podcast, hosted by Balakhilya and Ruben, titled "#92 – Why Civilizations Collapse" was published on July 13, 2025 and runs 46 minutes.

July 13, 2025 ·46m · Breaking Trail

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Summary

What actually caused the downfall of the great civilizations this Earth has seen? In 1934, social anthropologist J.D. Unwin made a vigorous scientific attempt to answer this question.  He studied 86 different cultures, including the Roman, Greek, Sumerian, Arabian, Babylonian and Anglo-Saxon civilizations. He had expected to find that monogamy had no real influence on these cultures. But by the end of his study, Unwin came to a much different conclusion. He found that throughout history in nearly every civilization, sexual license and the decline of monogamy lead to irreversible societal collapse within just three generations. Tune in to hear us break down his findings and explain them through the lens of the yoga wisdom. Highlights: (0:59) Why make decisions in life that are against the trend? Because it’s better for you. (8:59) Summarizing Unwin’s study; when sexual restraints disappear, so do rational thinking (22:45) Marriage is what holds the powerful force of lust at bay, but more and more people just want to be able to “lick the icing off the cake” and then move on (33:30) Balakhilya witnessed the sex and drugs revolution of the 60’s and saw the consequences of a “whatever feels good” mentality (46:10) The more knowledge we have, the better our choices will be—for the well-being of everyone Recorded on November 12, 2022. https://linktr.ee/breakingtrail

Episode Description

What actually caused the downfall of the great civilizations this Earth has seen? In 1934, social anthropologist J.D. Unwin made a vigorous scientific attempt to answer this question.

He studied 86 different cultures, including the Roman, Greek, Sumerian, Arabian, Babylonian and Anglo-Saxon civilizations. He had expected to find that monogamy had no real influence on these cultures. But by the end of his study, Unwin came to a much different conclusion.

He found that throughout history in nearly every civilization, sexual license and the decline of monogamy lead to irreversible societal collapse within just three generations.

Tune in to hear us break down his findings and explain them through the lens of the yoga wisdom.

Highlights:

(0:59) Why make decisions in life that are against the trend? Because it’s better for you.
(8:59) Summarizing Unwin’s study; when sexual restraints disappear, so do rational thinking
(22:45) Marriage is what holds the powerful force of lust at bay, but more and more people just want to be able to “lick the icing off the cake” and then move on
(33:30) Balakhilya witnessed the sex and drugs revolution of the 60’s and saw the consequences of a “whatever feels good” mentality
(46:10) The more knowledge we have, the better our choices will be—for the well-being of everyone

Recorded on November 12, 2022.

https://linktr.ee/breakingtrail