The perils of over population
Discussion
I listened to this podcast the other day.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct8js7?partner...
I must admit that I hadn't heard of John Calhoun, but I had read "The Human zoo" by Desmond Morris in my youth.
Both observed the behaviour of animals in over populated situations and how they became violent, sexually deviant and antisocial and predicted that humans would adopt the same characteristics in the same environment
It was a big topic of discussion in the 60s and 70s, but doesn't seem to be fashionable today.
Should we be paying more attention to population densities?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct8js7?partner...
I must admit that I hadn't heard of John Calhoun, but I had read "The Human zoo" by Desmond Morris in my youth.
Both observed the behaviour of animals in over populated situations and how they became violent, sexually deviant and antisocial and predicted that humans would adopt the same characteristics in the same environment
It was a big topic of discussion in the 60s and 70s, but doesn't seem to be fashionable today.
Should we be paying more attention to population densities?
I belive it will flat line in many countries over the next 50 years. China and Japan are seeing the young not wanting to have kids likely due to the crowded cities and lack of space when it comes to housing.
India still growing but much slower and expected to decline in the next 40 years.
Something needs to happen to cause the next major growth spurt. We are still riding on the coat tails of the industrial revolution. Maybe Ai will solve our problems....
India still growing but much slower and expected to decline in the next 40 years.
Something needs to happen to cause the next major growth spurt. We are still riding on the coat tails of the industrial revolution. Maybe Ai will solve our problems....
Slow.Patrol said:
Both observed the behaviour of animals in over populated situations and how they became violent, sexually deviant and antisocial and predicted that humans would adopt the same characteristics in the same environment
There are billions of humans cooped up in cities who seem to rub along adequately.The trajectory looks like the human population will reach an all time peak in the coming decades and it'll never be as high again.
If you'd told people in the 60s that the population today would be double, they'd assume we'd all be eating each other and flinging our droppings around but things aren't much more apocalyptic than they were back then.
gotoPzero said:
I belive it will flat line in many countries over the next 50 years. China and Japan are seeing the young not wanting to have kids likely due to the crowded cities and lack of space when it comes to housing.
India still growing but much slower and expected to decline in the next 40 years.
Something needs to happen to cause the next major growth spurt. We are still riding on the coat tails of the industrial revolution. Maybe Ai will solve our problems....
There's tons of space, you don't have to live in a city. India still growing but much slower and expected to decline in the next 40 years.
Something needs to happen to cause the next major growth spurt. We are still riding on the coat tails of the industrial revolution. Maybe Ai will solve our problems....
The issue is money. Give a young couple on the fence about having kids a million quid and see what happens.
I am reminded of the Rat utopia experiment. They were provided with every resource they needed except space.
The result was first a population explosion and then societal breakdown and then extinction. Extreme behaviours developed in both male and female rats. The female rats had fewer children and those they did have were usually neglected.
The result was first a population explosion and then societal breakdown and then extinction. Extreme behaviours developed in both male and female rats. The female rats had fewer children and those they did have were usually neglected.
Slow.Patrol said:
I listened to this podcast the other day.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct8js7?partner...
I must admit that I hadn't heard of John Calhoun, but I had read "The Human zoo" by Desmond Morris in my youth.
Both observed the behaviour of animals in over populated situations and how they became violent, sexually deviant and antisocial and predicted that humans would adopt the same characteristics in the same environment
It was a big topic of discussion in the 60s and 70s, but doesn't seem to be fashionable today.
Should we be paying more attention to population densities?
In most countries - in fact, almost all countries except sub-Saharan Africa, the birth rate has fallen/is falling below replacement levels. The rate is normally accepted as around 2.1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct8js7?partner...
I must admit that I hadn't heard of John Calhoun, but I had read "The Human zoo" by Desmond Morris in my youth.
Both observed the behaviour of animals in over populated situations and how they became violent, sexually deviant and antisocial and predicted that humans would adopt the same characteristics in the same environment
It was a big topic of discussion in the 60s and 70s, but doesn't seem to be fashionable today.
Should we be paying more attention to population densities?
grumbledoak said:
We have been told that "we" are the problem for decades. So we're having fewer kids, and later. And suddenly our ruling class want ten million Indians to come here this decade and have five kids per family. Anyone else thinking "wait, what?"
My gran (born 1903) was one of 8 (4 survived to adulthood)My dad was one of 4 - two died as infants.
I was 1 of 3- i pulled through after a spell in intensive care and it was apparently close.
I only had 2 kids- zero health issues but financially we didn't feel comfortable stretching to any more kids, despite talking about it.
Of our nct chums, none had more than 2.
I don't think uk society has been "told" not to have large families any more...it is more i think about what works for the modern family unit.
I have some Indian staff in my team who are lovely people and brilliant to work with - their families have 4 doctors and they bring a lot to the UK i think.
However, to me a 1st world country needs at least a decent proportion of 1st world educated workers to keep the wheels turning. Watering it down with an excessive / unnecessary/ dare I say uncontrolled amount of low skilled / low value but high dependency workers can only spell trouble economically.
The counter point to that is of course low skilled highly dependent indigenous workers - they seem to expect entitltment to 1st world living standards whilst not working - also spelling trouble economically.
However, the real problem is what can we do about it?
We are a liberal democracy - moving to a China points system of deciding who can or can't have kids would be unthinkable to our culture and history.
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