How understanding ecological “resets” can help us build a more resilient future—together.
The world we know is shaped and sustained by some of its smallest inhabitants: insects. These tiny creatures, which make up over 80% of known animal species, are essential for pollinating our crops, recycling organic matter, and feeding countless other animals. But insects also undergo dramatic cycles of population booms and crashes, often triggered by environmental disturbances like fires or extreme cold.
Interestingly, human societies experience disruptions of their own—wars, economic crises, and political upheavals—that similarly “reset” our systems. Though these events can be painful and destructive, they can also pave the way for innovation, redistribution of resources, and renewed growth. However, unlike insects, we have the unique ability to plan and organize in advance, reducing the negative impact of these disturbances and building a more stable society. This requires shifting our focus from what benefits us individually to what’s best for the group as a whole.
Insect Populations and Ecological Disturbances
The Role of Insects in Ecosystems
- Pollination: Insects like bees and butterflies are responsible for pollinating an estimated 75% of global crops, contributing hundreds of billions of dollars to the agricultural sector.
- Decomposition: Species such as dung beetles and termites recycle organic matter, enriching the soil and enhancing its productivity.
- Food Webs: Insects are a critical food source for countless birds, mammals, and amphibians; in some temperate regions, insects can make up 60% of a bird’s diet.
While insects are crucial for sustaining ecosystems, their populations can grow uncontrollably if not kept in check, sometimes causing massive damage (e.g., locust swarms that devastate crops).
Disturbances in Insect Populations
- Ultralow Temperatures: Temperatures below -40°C can drastically reduce insect populations. For example, a sustained deep freeze can kill off more than 90% of mountain pine beetle larvae, preventing unchecked outbreaks.
- Fires: Natural fires reset local ecosystems by removing accumulated vegetation and debris. They also reduce insect populations that have grown too large for the available resources, creating a fresh “starting line” for regrowth and recolonization.
These periodic natural resets are vital for maintaining ecological balance. Without them, insect populations could consume resources to the point of collapse—paralleling how unchecked human behaviors can lead to resource depletion and societal turmoil.
Parallels Between Insects and Humans
Human Society as an Ecosystem
Just like insect communities, human societies rely on a balance of resources and social structures. We experience our own forms of “disturbances” that break down entrenched systems and force change. But while insects have little choice but to respond to nature’s cycles, we have the power to foresee and plan for potential disruptions.
The Role of Disturbances in Human Society
- Wars: Conflicts can redistribute resources, topple power structures, and spur technological breakthroughs. World War II, for example, accelerated advances in radar, antibiotics, and nuclear energy.
- Economic Declines: Financial crashes like the Great Depression of the 1930s or the 2008 crisis led to major reforms—such as the New Deal policies or the rise of FinTech—that reset the economic playing field.
Without periodic “shake-ups,” societies risk stagnation, widening inequality, and ecological overuse. However, because we can cooperate and strategize, we can attempt to reduce the severity of these disruptions—or at least manage them more effectively—rather than waiting for natural or catastrophic events to impose a reset.
Benefits of Disturbances
Maintaining Balance
- For Insects: Ecological events like fires and cold snaps keep populations from growing beyond their means, preserving biodiversity and preventing resource depletion.
- For Humans: Recessions or major conflicts can dismantle monopolies and challenge wealth concentration, granting opportunities for new players to enter the market and restoring equilibrium.
In an ideal scenario, humans would use long-term planning and collective action to address issues like resource distribution and economic fairness before a crisis forces us to do so.
Breaking Stagnation
- In Nature: After a volcanic eruption or hurricane, ecosystems often come back with greater plant diversity, which attracts new insect species and strengthens the entire habitat.
- In Society: Disruptive events can catalyze reforms and innovation. The Industrial Revolution, partially spurred by agricultural changes and a need for new production methods, gave rise to steam engines, mechanized manufacturing, and modern infrastructure.
However, unlike insects—which rely purely on external environmental cues—humans can preempt stagnation by proactively investing in education, healthcare, and infrastructure to ensure our societies evolve peacefully and sustainably.
The Effect of Disturbances on Inequality and Elites
Income Inequality
During prolonged stability, wealth and power can accumulate among a small elite. Disturbances, on the other hand, often redistribute resources:
- Historical examples: The Black Death in medieval Europe led to labor shortages that increased wages and weakened feudal hierarchies, offering a pathway for lower classes to improve their standing.
Elite Overproduction
When an elite class grows too large without sufficient outlets for its ambitions, tensions rise, sometimes leading to revolution or reform:
- The French Revolution (1789) was partly driven by an overabundance of educated elites lacking opportunities, challenging a rigid social order.
- Modern parallels can be seen in how market crashes or political upheavals may limit the power of dominant economic players.
Elites have a responsibility to society, to helping others, and should not be a burden. When elites are a burden, this can trigger a disruption from economic decline to revolution. When pine beetles eat entire forests it leaves dead dry fuel, making it likely a severe wildfire will reset the forest, destroying the vegetation and the beetles that caused the conditions for the fire to be extreme.
Unlike Insects, We Can Plan and Organize
Here lies the critical difference: Insects depend on disruptions (like fires, freezes, or other environmental shifts) because they cannot collectively plan. Humans, however, have the capacity to organize—to develop policies, build institutions, and coordinate on a global scale. By thinking not just as individuals but as a collective, we can aim to reduce the turmoil that often accompanies major disturbances.
- Group-Focused Solutions: Instead of everyone acting solely in their self-interest, societies can adopt policies that distribute resources more evenly, anticipate potential crises, and invest in long-term resilience (e.g., infrastructure upgrades, environmental conservation, robust healthcare systems).
- Optimizing for the Group: We can design economic and political systems that address inequality, protect the environment, and foster innovation. This reduces the risk of catastrophic disruptions—whether they be social unrest, resource crises, or global conflicts.
Conclusion
The parallels between insect population booms and crashes and the rise and fall of human societies are surprisingly close. Insects rely on natural events like fires and extreme cold to reset their ecosystems and prevent devastating collapses. Human societies face similar disruptions—wars, economic downturns, social revolutions—that can upend our structures and force renewal.
Yet unlike insects, we possess the power to plan, organize, and collaborate. By acting as a collective—rather than individuals optimizing for self-interest—we can mitigate the worst effects of these disruptions and transition to a more sustainable, equitable world. Ultimately, understanding the necessity of “resets” can help us harness their constructive power without incurring their most destructive costs, guiding us toward a more stable and vibrant future for all.
