Collective Societal Wisdom: Why Civilizations Rise and Fall - And How We Can Choose the Wiser Path

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Max Parrella

Collective Societal Wisdom

Why Civilizations Rise and Fall - And How We Can Choose the Wiser Path

Max Parrella

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English

Maxwell Parrella
29 October 2025

Ethnic studies; Social theory; Social & cultural anthropology; Psychology

Designing a Collaborative Planetary Civilization

We are living through an age of unprecedented intelligence-and unprecedented confusion. Information has never been more abundant, yet trust, meaning, and coherence are breaking down. The same technologies that connect billions now amplify division; the same data that promises insight floods us with noise. From political polarization and misinformation to burnout and ecological crisis, humanity's greatest threat is no longer ignorance-it's fragmentation.

Collective Societal Wisdom confronts this crisis head-on. It argues that civilizations, like minds, survive not by what they know, but by how they learn-and that our global society must now evolve its own neural architecture of wisdom. Drawing on insights from neuroscience, history, philosophy, and systems design, the book traces the recurring pattern by which societies rise through curiosity and trust, and fall through fear and rigidity.

Through vivid storytelling-from Rome's bureaucratic collapse to Japan's Meiji transformation, from the Islamic Golden Age's networks of scholarship to the Enlightenment's ""Republic of Letters""-the book reveals how cultures have built (and lost) the capacity to think together. It then turns forward, offering a blueprint for renewal: how individuals, communities, organizations, and governments can rewire their habits and institutions to sustain empathy, foresight, and shared understanding in an age of chaos.

Practical, provocative, and deeply hopeful, Collective Societal Wisdom is both a field guide and a manifesto for rebuilding the mental infrastructure of civilization. It invites readers to see themselves not as isolated minds, but as neurons in a global brain-each capable of strengthening the connections that determine whether humanity fractures or flourishes.

By: Max Parrella
Imprint: Maxwell Parrella
Edition: 2nd ed.
Dimensions: Height: 203mm, Width: 127mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 331g
ISBN: 9798218843397
Pages: 334
Publication Date: 29 October 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Max Parrella, LCSW is an American psychotherapist, entrepreneur, game designer, business strategist, author, and musical artist based in Chicago. He is the founder of RISE Therapy Chicago, a premier psychotherapy practice providing mental health services for teens and young adults, Maximum Majesty Playing Cards, a luxury playing card brand, and Mythik TCG, a mythology-based historical card game.In addition to founding and running the businesses above, he has consulted with high-potential, high-impact companies who desire to bring positive change to the world on a national scale. His strategic expertise allows for executive teams to define the most prominent steps they need to take to scale their business in alignment with their vision and values.Max is also a writer and published author. He writes weekly articles on mental health and guides for parents of teens. In 2019, he published the first edition of Collective Societal Wisdom, a book that explores how shared knowledge shapes societies and strengthens individual resilience.In his free time, Max writes and produces music both for himself and for vocal artists around the country. He tries to merge elements from various genres to create entirely unique and dynamic songs. He currently releases music under the pseudonym Suited Connectors, within his record label, Triple3 Records.In every aspect of his life and his projects, Max integrates knowledge and perspectives from an increasingly wide variety of sources, with which he creates powerful new ideas that can be replicated and scaled for the greatest positive impact to the world.