Multiply and fill the earth

[BryanW92]

Bryan,

Great post. All these worthwhile efforts you mentioned helped to extend our life expectancy, and in many parts of the world, the quality of life itself. But we also have to consider the negative effects of increased human numbers on the planet itself. More and more forests have to make room for cattle ranches, our oceans are being filled with plastic trash while at the same time fish stock is being depleted by giant factory sized trawlers, the air we breath is being polluted in many parts of the world, especially in China. There comes a point in time when we need to consider having smaller families and I think the time is now. How many of us is enough? 10 billion? 50 billion, 100 billion? You tell me.

Kutte

What does "enough" mean? Is that the point where we start killing the "surplus"? If we stopped raising cattle and started eating those who can't work, then we kill two birds with one stone. The truth is that we could stop efficiently growing food, producing electrical energy, and inventing new drugs and medical treatments and the global population would dwindle to 1 or 2 billion in a generation or two.

As I said, I have a family of 2--my wife and I. We did our part. Who should stop having babies? After all, some people are more useful than others. You see churches sending missions all the time to third world countries to build a school or dig a well. These people can't even build a building or dig a hole and line it with brick?? They add to the global human "overburden" and can't even take care of themselves. Would you tell them to stop reproducing to save Gaia from the human infection? Should we sterilize them?

When the AIDS epidemic was first ravaging Africa a couple decades ago, we sent condoms and told them that they could almost completely stop AIDS by using condoms when having sex with someone who isn't your spouse. They laughed at such a silly notion because that would defeat the purpose of the sex, which is enjoy it and to procreate. So, we spend billions trying to keep themselves from eradicating all the people on the continent. We can let AIDS go and reduce global population by 20%. Gaia would be proud of us for protecting her.

Now, all that is silly. The facts are that humans are smart. I used to live 1000 feet under the surface of the ocean. We have no armor, claws, fighting fangs, night vision, fast running speed, or incredible strength and we are the alpha predators on the planet. Because we see problems and think of answers! We see a need and we make it happen. A fish and a chimpanzee meet at the water's edge. The fish can't come out of the water and the chimp won't go in. Their world is defined by geography. We build a bridge to span the water, a canal to move the water inland, a scuba suit to swim under the water, and an aquarium to move the fish on to dry land.

40 years ago, we thought that the max population was 6 billion. "The Population Bomb" predicted food wars in the 1990s. But instead, we found better ways to grow food, purify water AND we found ways to cut the pollution in the air and water to a tiny fraction of what it was in 1970 (when I was a kid and you could smell the St Johns River from 20 miles away).

I predict that when population hits 10 billion, we'll find solutions. When it hits 20 billion, we'll find solutions. And when we run out of solutions, we'll find a way to reduce the population. Humans are not an infection on the planet. They are the reason why God made this world. God...not Gaia. Gaia is not real. God is.

 

[Kutte]

What does "enough" mean? Is that the point where we start killing the "surplus"? If we stopped raising cattle and started eating those who can't work, then we kill two birds with one stone. The truth is that we could stop efficiently growing food, producing electrical energy, and inventing new drugs and medical treatments and the global population would dwindle to 1 or 2 billion in a generation or two.

As I said, I have a family of 2--my wife and I. We did our part. Who should stop having babies? After all, some people are more useful than others. You see churches sending missions all the time to third world countries to build a school or dig a well. These people can't even build a building or dig a hole and line it with brick?? They add to the global human "overburden" and can't even take care of themselves. Would you tell them to stop reproducing to save Gaia from the human infection? Should we sterilize them?

When the AIDS epidemic was first ravaging Africa a couple decades ago, we sent condoms and told them that they could almost completely stop AIDS by using condoms when having sex with someone who isn't your spouse. They laughed at such a silly notion because that would defeat the purpose of the sex, which is enjoy it and to procreate. So, we spend billions trying to keep themselves from eradicating all the people on the continent. We can let AIDS go and reduce global population by 20%. Gaia would be proud of us for protecting her.

Now, all that is silly. The facts are that humans are smart. I used to live 1000 feet under the surface of the ocean. We have no armor, claws, fighting fangs, night vision, fast running speed, or incredible strength and we are the alpha predators on the planet. Because we see problems and think of answers! We see a need and we make it happen. A fish and a chimpanzee meet at the water's edge. The fish can't come out of the water and the chimp won't go in. Their world is defined by geography. We build a bridge to span the water, a canal to move the water inland, a scuba suit to swim under the water, and an aquarium to move the fish on to dry land.

40 years ago, we thought that the max population was 6 billion. "The Population Bomb" predicted food wars in the 1990s. But instead, we found better ways to grow food, purify water AND we found ways to cut the pollution in the air and water to a tiny fraction of what it was in 1970 (when I was a kid and you could smell the St Johns River from 20 miles away).

I predict that when population hits 10 billion, we'll find solutions. When it hits 20 billion, we'll find solutions. And when we run out of solutions, we'll find a way to reduce the population. Humans are not an infection on the planet. They are the reason why God made this world. God...not Gaia. Gaia is not real. God is.

Hi Bryan,

Nice note. Perhaps you will be correct that man will find a solution to every crisis developing, even when 15 billion people have to share the planet. While mentioning Africa, a place where we find a true population explosion, what is needed is education besides helping those people with condoms. It will be a tough job to overcome ingrained cultural habits.
Humans in part are an infection on the planet while plundering and polluting its resources. God made this world and He expects from us to be good caretakers.

You lived 1000 feet under the surface of the ocean? How was the weather down there? (Just kidding)

Kutte

 

[BryanW92]

Hi Bryan,

Nice note. Perhaps you will be correct that man will find a solution to every crisis developing, even when 15 billion people have to share the planet. While mentioning Africa, a place where we find a true population explosion, what is needed is education besides helping those people with condoms. It will be a tough job to overcome ingrained cultural habits.
Humans in part are an infection on the planet while plundering and polluting its resources. God made this world and He expects from us to be good caretakers.

You lived 1000 feet under the surface of the ocean? How was the weather down there? (Just kidding)

Kutte

Cold and wet. We broke a pipe once the ocean came in. Very cold!

The problem with overcoming ingrained cultural habits is that we no longer have the courage to tell people, "your culture is your problem" because we have embraced moral relativism as a virtue above all other virtues. So, they continue to explode a population that can't feed itself and we continue to wring our hands about overpopulation, even as those in what is traditionally called Western Civilization have the lowest birthrate in the world.

 

[Kutte]

Cold and wet. We broke a pipe once the ocean came in. Very cold!

The problem with overcoming ingrained cultural habits is that we no longer have the courage to tell people, "your culture is your problem" because we have embraced moral relativism as a virtue above all other virtues. So, they continue to explode a population that can't feed itself and we continue to wring our hands about overpopulation, even as those in what is traditionally called Western Civilization have the lowest birthrate in the world.

Hi Bryan,

You are exactly right. It is, what we call "wanting to be diplomatic" that prevents us from having the courage to be frank, not wanting to offend, wanting to show respect for other cultures. These are fine attributes but not always helpful. You are also correct that for instance, Germany, has a negative birth rate.

Kutte