| > As many as possible, in fact. How many? 20 billion? 50 billion? 1 trillion? That Star Trek: ToS episode "The Mark of Gideon" where the planet is so overpopulated that privacy does not exist and it's a rare privilege to be alone? > I should be happy not to have my siblings in my life How unhappy should I be that my parents decided to not have more kids, when I could have had more siblings? Should I criticize their decision to prioritize parental attention and the family's economic well-being over me being one of 12 kids like my grandfather? The US state where I was born and raised has 3x the population now as compared to when I was born. Wild, isolated places I enjoyed have been replaced by row upon row of houses. Roads that were empty and fast are now white-knuckled congestion. I would love to give that gift of wilderness to someone else. You are proposing a world where everything is dedicated towards human habitation. Your view only makes sense from the POV of someone who doesn't care about natural places, or being the lucky chosen one who can afford their own reserve. > We've solved harder problems. You are mistaken. We've delayed harder problems. As Norman Borlaug ("father of the Green Revolution") said in his Nobel Prize speech in 1970: "The green revolution has won a temporary success in man's war against hunger and deprivation; it has given man a breathing space. If fully implemented, the revolution can provide sufficient food for sustenance during the next three decades. But the frightening power of human reproduction must also be curbed; otherwise, the success of the green revolution will be ephemeral only" He was an optimist. "Since man is potentially a rational being, however, I am confident that within the next two decades he will recognize the self-destructive course he steers along the road of irresponsible population growth and will adjust the growth rate to levels which will permit a decent standard of living for all mankind." |