Population, when unchecked, increases in geometrical progression of such a nature as to double itself every twenty-five years. – Thomas Malthus, British scholar and author of “An Essay on the Principle of Population,” who died on 29 December 1834. Thanks to the unexpected advent of the fossil fuel era and the industrial and technological marvels it helped produce, the dire predictions of Thomas Malthus have been dismissed and even ridiculed for well over a century. However, with oil past peak, human population at or near seven billion, the green revolution wilting, and a global economy based on the principle of unsustainable growth faltering badly and destroying the environment, the genius and prescience of Malthus grow yearly more impressive. “The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function.” – Albert Allen Bartlett, emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a contemporary heir to the Malthusian intellectual tradition. In the words of one writer, “Bartlett regards the word combination ‘sustainable growth’ as an oxymoron, since even modest annual percentage population increases will inevitably equate to huge exponential growth over sustained periods of time. He therefore regards human overpopulation as ‘The Greatest Challenge facing humanity.’ In his words, ‘Can you think of any problem in any area of human endeavor on any scale, from microscopic to global, whose long-term solution is in any demonstrable way aided, assisted, or advanced by further increases in population, locally, nationally, or globally?’” Please watch Professor Bartlett’s edifying, thought-provoking, and deeply disturbing lecture, and then take some time to ponder the potential consequences for our species of continuing to ignore his arguments. https://youtube/watch?v=sI1C9DyIi_8
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 13:42:05 +0000