Malthusianism is, fundamentally, a failure of economic understanding

fightaging.org

3 points·reasonattlm··2 comments

Malthusianism is fundamentally correct - if population increases exponentially, the point at which we don't physically fit on the Earth (let alone feed ourselves) is only a constant number of years away.

Of course, (almost) no one believes this will actually happen. Instead, it will be either contraception or war/famine/disease that will end the growth. There are no other possibilities, so let's hope it is the first of the two. :)

If I had to put money on it, I'd bet on lower birth rates being the solution. I should point out you're ignoring pie-in-the-sky solutions such as colonizing the galaxy and mind uploading.

Here's a crazy idea: The amount of enjoyment parents get from raising a child has stayed about the same for thousands of years, and it doesn't look like it will increase any time soon. The amount of enjoyment provided by video games, movies, music, and other media is increasing. Not only are artists and designers improving their craft, but new, more immersive technologies are being invented for entertainment. Nobody died from playing Pong. The same is not true for modern games such as World of Warcraft.

So maybe video games will become addictive enough to save us all from a Malthusian catastrophe.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com