Happy Thanksgiving. The world population is at 7 billion. Oddly, you don't hear as much talk about overpopulation as we did in the 1970s when we were approaching 4 billion. We have passed a number of doomsday deadlines since. Seven billion and more is a drain on resources and probably the biggest problem facing the world, but why aren't we in more trouble already?
An increase in the population of, say, squirrels increases the survival prospects of the whole species. Beyond a certain point, too many squirrels means too much competition for resources, followed by a demographic correction. The sustainable number of squirrels is dictated by predators too.
But humans are already well beyond a sustainable number of berry pickers and stick fisherman. Medicine, agricultural and industrial advances have made impossible numbers of humans possible. Humans have also managed their predators. So here's an interesting notion:
The probability of the birth of a person who will develop a technology that makes a larger population possible is made greater by a larger population.
This is different than squirrels, for whom breeding is the sole mechanism for maintaining the species. Humans are increasing the odds of finding the next survival-enabling genius by creating a huge pool of (mostly) consumers.
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