From: Henri Kluytmans (hkl@stack.nl)
Date: Mon Jul 06 1998 - 11:34:42 MDT
> >4. Won't extended lifespans cause overpopulation problems?
>
>Probably not.
It is not extended lifespans that cause overpopulation but
ONLY THE EXPONENTIAL GROWTH THROUGH REPRODUCTION.
Here are some arguments against overpop caused by immortality :
1) When there is exponential growth this will result in
overpopulation anyway, WITH or WITHOUT immortality of
the preceding generation, because in both cases the growth
will remain exponential. So in both cases a population limit
on Earth will be reached, however in the first case only some
30 years earlier.
2) There is still sufficient living room on the Earth. The present
limiting factor is not lack of room but the production of food
and raw materials. New technologies will result in ever more raw
materials (and also food) per head in the future. In the future,
in principle there could be room on Earth for more than a 100
billion people.
Overpopulation is only a function of technology.
3) Emigration to outer space will be utilized in the future.
In space the human population could continue exponential growth
for a long time.
4) In general it holds that when populations are getting more
prosperous its reproduction rate decreases.
=======================================================================>
>Hkl ------> Technology & Future at http://www.stack.nl/~hkl
Transcedo --> Dutch Transhumanist Society http://www.dse.nl/~transced
Because the future is where we will spend the rest of our lives ...
You see things and ask "Why?" ; I dream things and ask "Why not?"
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