Is planetary population going from 7 billion to 9 billion a good thing?

I think this Ted talk makes a good argument why having large populations of people are valuable:

www.ted.com...

At the end of the video he makes a case that "culture" is worth investing in because it makes living fun.

I think the greater the Earth population the more interest artifacts are produced by culture. The more people there are the more chances of having someone invent something really worthwhile. You can never have enough "culture". I think the more people we have living on Earth the better. People create more fun things to do. Take Harry Potter for example. What a great a set of books. I think the more people we have the more chances we have to have something as great as Harry Potter.

Poverty hurts culture because people become less creative. We need to get people out of poverty so the culture becomes better and better.



Culture is the answer to all the World's problems because it makes life worth living.

a reply to: dfnj2015

The correct global population of this planet is right around 1 billion.

I do agree that more people equals faster advances in tech as long as people are educated and motivated, but what percentage of a 9 billion population is going to be educated and motivated?

I am not sure we need more tech...we need more God and morals.

originally posted by: dfnj2015


Culture is the answer to all the World's problems because it makes life worth living.

Oh really? That's a pretty bold statement. What if I told you my culture involves laying you down a flat stone, sacrificing you to my gods, and drinking your blood?

originally posted by: Talorc

originally posted by: dfnj2015


Culture is the answer to all the World's problems because it makes life worth living.

Oh really? That's a pretty bold statement. What if I told you my culture involves laying you down a flat stone, sacrificing you to my gods, and drinking your blood?

Did you even watch the Ted video? Or is this delusion something you are inventing?

originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: dfnj2015

The correct global population of this planet is right around 1 billion.

Gee, I heard it was about 10 billion. No matter. The first computer game I ever played was on a remote mainframe you accessed via a teletype machine--very basic all upper case. It was called "Foxrab" for "Foxes and Rabbits." The idea was to create a situation where there were just enough foxes and rabbits on this desert island to form a stable population. Too many foxes and they would eat all the rabbits and everyone would die. Too many rabbits and the would eat all the grain and everyone would die. The idea was to find an equilibrium that worked.

In that respect Earth is a self-regulating system. If there REALLY ARE too many people, according to Earth rather then human opinion, Earth will take care of it with a plague or a war or a famine. This will keep happening, along with random events like asteroid strikes to throw an element of surprise into the mix until equilibrium is achieved. But humans will likely STILL survive because humans are an incredibly versatile species. If you want proof, look around.

But IF you are interested in survival of the species, the we need to get off this planet first, and out of this solar system second. Of course, many humans are so full of self-loathing that they want us all to die, and for them, I hope the get their wish, but only for themselves. For the rest of us who are not so impaired, we have one thing we need to do as soon as possible, in our generation, and that is simple.

Get to Mars. We'll work the rest out later.

a reply to: Metallicus

Only 1 billion! Too boring.

And most people would probably agree people who are obsessed with God and morality are the most boring as highlighted in this video:



"It comes down to faith"

a reply to: Talorc

Culture is the answer to all the World's problems because it makes life worth living.

Oh really? That's a pretty bold statement. What if I told you my culture involves laying you down a flat stone, sacrificing you to my gods, and drinking your blood?

In a less charitable moment, in this particular case, I might wonder it if wasn't at least a small step in the right direction

Only if its the 3rd world populating, all first world countries are declining in population and rely heavily on immigration.

originally posted by: dfnj2015

originally posted by: Talorc

originally posted by: dfnj2015


Culture is the answer to all the World's problems because it makes life worth living.

Oh really? That's a pretty bold statement. What if I told you my culture involves laying you down a flat stone, sacrificing you to my gods, and drinking your blood?

Did you even watch the video? Or is this delusion something you are inventing?

I guess the only delusion is that you think you can make grand, sweeping statements (like what I quoted) and not have to answer for them.

How about explaining in your own words how "culture" can solve all the worlds problems? That's a start.

As for me, I think that technology will solve all the world's problems. No wait, I changed my mind, technology is evil and causes all our problems. Actually, I think religion will solve all the worlds problems. No, wait, that can't be it....

This is insanity. Look at how much trouble we already have trying to feed, employ and keep 7 billion people out of trouble. Now add two billion more while we are depleting our freshwater, topsoil, forests, fisheries, etc it's a guaranteed disaster.

We need to decrease our population by about two billion to keep our planet from being destroyed.

originally posted by: dfnj2015

originally posted by: Talorc

originally posted by: dfnj2015


Culture is the answer to all the World's problems because it makes life worth living.

Oh really? That's a pretty bold statement. What if I told you my culture involves laying you down a flat stone, sacrificing you to my gods, and drinking your blood?

Did you even watch the Ted video? Or is this delusion something you are inventing?

you posted at 1731, the video is about 20 minutes, he replied at 1745.

what do you really think happened here


i personally think high population and poverty are not mutually exclusive.
poverty is not a result of high population. the equivalent of human poverty occurs in all of nature with every species.

originally posted by: schuyler
Gee, I heard it was about 10 billion. No matter. The first computer game I ever played was on a remote mainframe you accessed via a teletype machine--very basic all upper case. It was called "Foxrab" for "Foxes and Rabbits." The idea was to create a situation where there were just enough foxes and rabbits on this desert island to form a stable population. Too many foxes and they would eat all the rabbits and everyone would die. Too many rabbits and the would eat all the grain and everyone would die. The idea was to find an equilibrium that worked.

In that respect Earth is a self-regulating system. If there REALLY ARE too many people, according to Earth rather then human opinion, Earth will take care of it with a plague or a war or a famine. This will keep happening, along with random events like asteroid strikes to throw an element of surprise into the mix until equilibrium is achieved. But humans will likely STILL survive because humans are an incredibly versatile species. If you want proof, look around.

Energy production is everything to equilibrium. Check out this video on the equilibrium issue and energy production with having a moon base. This 10 minute talk is amazing:

www.ted.com...

www.youtube.com...

originally posted by: schuyler
But IF you are interested in survival of the species, the we need to get off this planet first, and out of this solar system second. Of course, many humans are so full of self-loathing that they want us all to die, and for them, I hope the get their wish, but only for themselves. For the rest of us who are not so impaired, we have one thing we need to do as soon as possible, in our generation, and that is simple.

Get to Mars. We'll work the rest out later.

I used to think the same thing. But unless we solve our problems here bringing them into outer space doesn't make much sense. We need some other currency to drive the economy rather than trading time doing menial or meaningless work.

originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: dfnj2015

... but what percentage of a 9 billion population is going to be educated and motivated?

Not as many as we would like.

originally posted by: Talorc

I guess the only delusion is that you think you can make grand, sweeping statements (like what I quoted) and not have to answer for them.

How about explaining in your own words how "culture" can solve all the worlds problems? That's a start.

As for me, I think that technology will solve all the world's problems. No wait, I changed my mind, technology is evil and causes all our problems. Actually, I think religion will solve all the worlds problems. No, wait, that can't be it....

I don't think it was grand. I was following the conclusion of the video. The video show made a pretty good argument. I don't think I could represent it with 10 or 20 words. It's fine. Whatever you think is okay by me. Keep on trucking.

It sounds to me like you know really have a clear idea on what to think to solve the world problems. And I do from video. My claim is culture is a good way to solve the problems of the world in terms of having meaningful and enough work for everyone to make a good living. I would not have posted the video if had a blasé message like your comments. That's kind of the point. I'm not making the claim. I thought the video was making a good point of it.

originally posted by: TruthJava

originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: dfnj2015

... but what percentage of a 9 billion population is going to be educated and motivated?

Not as many as we would like.

I agree. More educated people the better. Better education leads to more interesting culture.

a reply to: odzeandennz

I would like our nation to have eliminating poverty a national goal and priority equal to defense spending.

originally posted by: imwilliam
a reply to: Talorc

Culture is the answer to all the World's problems because it makes life worth living.

Oh really? That's a pretty bold statement. What if I told you my culture involves laying you down a flat stone, sacrificing you to my gods, and drinking your blood?

In a less charitable moment, in this particular case, I might wonder it if wasn't at least a small step in the right direction

Wow, what an awful thing to say.

I thought all you Retardicans were anti-eugenics and anti-world government? Now you are all making comments like you are pro-eugenics.

originally posted by: dfnj2015
I thought all you Retardicans were anti-eugenics and anti-world government? Now you are all making comments like you are pro-eugenics.

Hahahaha, now look where things are headed and we're not even past the first page.

I don't have any idea what could possibly solve the worlds problems, that's the point. But I'm certain of this: neither does some statistician in some 20 minute YouTube video, and neither do you.

originally posted by: CB328
This is insanity. Look at how much trouble we already have trying to feed, employ and keep 7 billion people out of trouble. Now add two billion more while we are depleting our freshwater, topsoil, forests, fisheries, etc it's a guaranteed disaster.

We need to decrease our population by about two billion to keep our planet from being destroyed.

This is the global equivalent of saying "That 2,000 acre farm isn't enough for a family with 6 kids, breed less!" Sure, it's not enough if you're a damn idiot polluting your own well, on top of not knowing how to sustainably farm in the first place.

My farmer parents fed a family of 5 for the entire year with only a ONE acre personal garden (technically 3/4 acre, because 1/4 was in disuse for annual rotation soil rehabbing) And the occasional livestock slaughter for meat (for example, when our egg hens quite laying or our dairy cow was well past her prime, we ate them) Even if we didn't have the livestock, our garden churned out plenty of food at a consistent rate. I'm not sure how they managed to do it, but they did (and all organically) If they could figure out how to feed 3 kids & themselves on less than an acre of garden land for an entire year -- every year -- without fail, we can do this globally, too because it's evidently not rocket science.