Reply #72: Didn't mean agrarian societies

[tama]

but hunter-gatherers and (forest)-gardeners. AFAIK there are no proof of sustainable agrarian society, on the contrary the classical study "Civilisation and top soil" makes a convincing case that agrarian societies aka civilisations destroy "top soil", ie. fertility of the land by deforstation and erosian etc. and after that often go into imperialistic phase to rob and mine top soil from elsewhere - and then collapse. Sustainable agriculture is still something to be learned, not something that we know.

Hunter-gatherers can also cause mass extinctions and experience population expansions and collapses, but not all of them do. Most live perfectly sustainably, and according to anthropological studies, the social function of shamanhood is central in preserving sustainable nature relation in shamanistic hunter-gatherer-gardener societies.

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence of Buddhist methodologies working, and also EEG studies showing that meditation practices cause short term and long term changes, but I guess there is no "real proof" except seeing for yourself.