MENTAL MODEL · M5374

Catastrophism

DecideHigh supportDecision Science

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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

The view that Earth's history is shaped by a series of brief, violent, global catastrophes (such as floods or meteor impacts). These catastrophes cause mass extinctions and abrupt changes in landforms.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

A black swan view of history. While uniformitarianism explains the norm, catastrophism explains the discontinuities. In investment or life planning, one must acknowledge that some changes are not gradual but determined by a very few 'catastrophic moments' (key decisions, unexpected shocks). Uniformitarianism and catastrophism must be used together.

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An early geological theory holding that Earth's landforms were created by sudden, violent catastrophic events rather than slow uniform processes; later replaced by uniformitarianism, but revived in a new form in studies of extinction events and abrupt changes.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Practice this model in one real situation:

When explaining complex systems, consider both gradual changes and abrupt changes/threshold transitions
use 'catastrophism' to explain strata consistent with evidence of catastrophe (e.g., meteor impact extinctions)
avoid assuming uniformitarianism alone.

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Source support: Explicit

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en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CatastrophismZH · Explicit
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