The point of civilization is to be a unifying force for the better, or so my better considerations suggest. The fall of such a state of amalgam seems to forego the ends of edification, enlightenment, predisposing the return to dark ages of division and despair.
Darkness serves a purpose. Many ideas, like seedlings, shoot best in the shadows, too much early light making any growth weak and spindly. So from any forthcoming regression we can expect, in finality, a new surge of culture and advancement. History, rather than being a chain of ascending circumstances, would appear to be cyclical, revolving constantly in tune with, but not in time with, the rotation of our home sphere. The past is most decidedly assured to reoccur in future times, the present simply being a transition from the same to similar.
Hopes, disappointments, wishes, and regrets are but fleeting human reactions to a pattern unavoidably affixed in the natural phenomenon that is universes evolution. Quietly accept and enjoy, or noisily complain, the difference is meaningless.
