As a few folks might be aware by now, r/AskHistorians is operating in Restricted Mode currently. You can see our recent Announcement thread for more details, as well as previous announcements here, here, and here. While we will reopen soon, we urge you to read those threads, and express your concerns (politely!) to reddit, both about the original API issues, and the recent threats towards mod teams as well.

While we operate in Restricted Mode though, we are hosting periodic Floating Features!

The topic for today's feature is "Everything Was Forever, Until it was No More" - focusing on sudden collapses and major shifts that came out of nowhere.

I grew up somewhat south of Joplin, Missouri, and I have seen a tornado with my own eyes (I do not recommend this). When people speak of the skies turning green, it is neither an exaggeration nor an inaccurate description.

There are legends of floods in every major religion today, possibly related to the sudden filling and onrush of the Black Sea with saltwater from the Mediterranean, possibly related to the annual floodings of major rivers in the Middle East, possibly just a coincidence. In classical antiquity, Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried under volcanic ash in 79, and this sudden shift has been recorded both by contemporary accounts and much later archaeology. In 1899, the South Fork Dam failed, leading to a catastrophic flood in Johnstown, PA. On Boxing Day in 2004, the Indian Ocean was struck by a massive tsunami caused by an undersea earthquake.

There are of course person-made massive shifts that come out of nowhere: the tulip bubble in Holland, the Darien scheme; the collapse of the stock market in 1929; Enron, and so forth. The Luddites sprang up as a movement to protest the sudden automation of skilled work; someone more skillful than me could draw a parallel to the rise of automated "intelligence" to replace artists and writers.

And that's not even to say anything (yet) about the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it has (is) profoundly changing the nature of consumption, work, and how we live our lives.

In the time period you study, how did people deal with or understand sudden change that seemingly came out of nowhere?

As with previous FFs, feel free to interpret this prompt however you see fit.

Floating Features are intended to allow users to contribute their own original work. If you are interested in reading recommendations, please consult our booklist, or else limit them to follow-up questions to posted content. Similarly, please do not post top-level questions. This is not an AMA with panelists standing by to respond. There will be a stickied comment at the top of the thread though, and if you have requests for someone to write about, leave it there, although we of course can't guarantee an expert is both around and able.

As is the case with previous Floating Features, there is relaxed moderation here to allow more scope for speculation and general chat than there would be in a usual thread! But with that in mind, we of course expect that anyone who wishes to contribute will do so politely and in good faith.

Comments on the current protest should be limited to META threads, and complaints should be directed to u/spez.