ABSTRACT
The most plausible prediction regarding the nature of the coming globalized world is that the Forces of Modernity will proceed, though perhaps enlarged and altered in various possible ways. Since catastrophes of Culture and Nature are linked, it is likely that any close approach to a catastrophe of Culture, such as depicted in the worst-case scenario, will before that point trigger a catastrophe of Nature. Predicting the future course of civilization, culture, or humanity in general will always be beset by the problem of having to peer into areas of darkness where the light of reason cannot penetrate. The consequences of catastrophes of Culture, in the broadest sense of that term, also constitute risks to society that can, under certain circumstances, be no less dangerous to social wellbeing than the catastrophes of Nature.
