For the first time, we must study not only a culture that has vanished but the future decline of our very own society. From historical research, we moved to prediction. Faced with the current collapse, it is impossible to take a step back, unlike any collapse that occurred in the past.

The collapse can be inscribed in the thread of historical time, which aids in its interpretation. This is impossible in the case of the current collapse, which forces us to make conjectures about the future. As it looms, we can rely on nothing but our intuition and on precursors—certainly always more visible—of a general dysfunction.