▁civil ization , ▁built ▁up ▁over ▁two ▁thousand ▁years , ▁once ▁again ▁destroy ing ▁itself ▁in ▁a ▁nuclear ▁war ▁- ▁and ▁a ▁new ▁group ▁of ▁Catholic ▁cler gy ▁yet ▁again ▁setting ▁out ▁to ▁preserve ▁a ▁rem nant ▁of ▁civil ized ▁knowledge . ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁future ▁dep icted ▁in ▁October ▁the ▁First ▁Is ▁To o ▁Late , ▁a ▁ 1 9 6 6 ▁science ▁fiction ▁novel ▁by ▁ast ro phys ic ist ▁Fred ▁Ho yle , ▁the ▁protagon ists ▁fly ▁over ▁where ▁they ▁expected ▁to ▁see ▁the ▁United ▁States , ▁but ▁see ▁no ▁sign ▁of ▁urban ▁civil ization . ▁At ▁first ▁assuming ▁they ▁were ▁in ▁the ▁pre - 1 7 5 0 ▁past , ▁they ▁later ▁find ▁it ▁was ▁a ▁future ▁time . ▁Human ity ▁is ▁do omed ▁to ▁go ▁through ▁repeated ▁cycles ▁of ▁industrial ization , ▁over pop ulation , ▁collapse ▁- ▁followed ▁by ▁re building , ▁and ▁then ▁again ▁industrial ization , ▁over pop ulation ▁and ▁collapse ▁and ▁so ▁on , ▁over ▁and ▁over ▁again . ▁In ▁the ▁far ▁future , ▁a ▁civil ization ▁which ▁is ▁aware ▁of ▁this ▁history ▁no ▁longer ▁wants ▁progress . ▁ ▁Contempor ary ▁theories ▁One ▁of ▁the ▁most ▁important ▁recent ▁find ings ▁in ▁the ▁study ▁of ▁the ▁long - term ▁dynamic ▁social ▁processes ▁was ▁the ▁discovery ▁of ▁the ▁political - dem ographic ▁cycles ▁as ▁a ▁basic ▁feature ▁of ▁the ▁dynamics ▁of ▁complex ▁agr arian ▁systems . ▁ ▁The ▁presence ▁of ▁political - dem ographic ▁cycles ▁in ▁the ▁pre - mod ern ▁history ▁of ▁Europe ▁and ▁China