Comment A relief, but not suprising (Score 1) 343
Well, there is one thing I haven't seen mentioned yet, so I'm going to step out of History 101 and into Biology 101.
It's a relief to see that the human race is subject to the same very basic rules that apply to populations of any other species: that any population will eventually reach a state of equalibrium between birth rates and death rates.
The only really suprising thing is that its not what we'd expect of another population because its the areas where resources are abundant that we're seeing the population stop growing, while aready overpopulated areas with fewer resources and more difficult living conditions are seeing more growth. This is the opposite of what you'd expect to see in any other species, but as a whole its really not suprising. We are becoming balanced (I recently read an article, but can't quote the source, that said that rate of increase in the world population was declining).
Because of this weird twist to basic evolution, though, I think there's a good chance things will get worse before they get better. There may be a lot of elderly people, a lot of retirees, etc., so this could mean a larger burden on the working class, but a declining population should logically rebound with a higher birth rate. Meanwhile, if current trends are accurate, those huge markets in developing areas will slow their birth rates (and death rates) as quality of life raises. Still, I like to think it will all work out, and especially like the idea that I could be alive to actually see us reach equilibrium. I imagine things will get tougher as the population increases, but it sounds like it won't be as bad as this trend is traditionally portrayed as being (but hey, a scoop's a scoop).
It's a relief to see that the human race is subject to the same very basic rules that apply to populations of any other species: that any population will eventually reach a state of equalibrium between birth rates and death rates.
The only really suprising thing is that its not what we'd expect of another population because its the areas where resources are abundant that we're seeing the population stop growing, while aready overpopulated areas with fewer resources and more difficult living conditions are seeing more growth. This is the opposite of what you'd expect to see in any other species, but as a whole its really not suprising. We are becoming balanced (I recently read an article, but can't quote the source, that said that rate of increase in the world population was declining).
Because of this weird twist to basic evolution, though, I think there's a good chance things will get worse before they get better. There may be a lot of elderly people, a lot of retirees, etc., so this could mean a larger burden on the working class, but a declining population should logically rebound with a higher birth rate. Meanwhile, if current trends are accurate, those huge markets in developing areas will slow their birth rates (and death rates) as quality of life raises. Still, I like to think it will all work out, and especially like the idea that I could be alive to actually see us reach equilibrium. I imagine things will get tougher as the population increases, but it sounds like it won't be as bad as this trend is traditionally portrayed as being (but hey, a scoop's a scoop).
