146 replies to this topic

[Sakari]

I put this in Nature, as the question pertains more to nature, and the environment, then to anything else.

So, do you think there are too many people for this world to support under current and future situations?

Not just the environment, but greed, crime, employment, etc.

We keep seeing invasive species articles, and this is what sparked me to start this topic.



Are we over populated?

Does anyone see their grand children, or their grand children having a " natural world " ?



Personally, I think we are a cancer at this point.

[pitchp]

if your ego is planning to be a super hero and try and save this world. Don't bother. There many worlds like these. This is not the only one. The universe created all of us for a reason. For sure we all set up our own destruction. But that is just how this universe is. It creates itself and destroys itself. Take a look around you brother were not the only creatures that populutes this world. Yes the universe has it's own ways of destroying itself, go look up blackholes. A treamendous force, designed only for one thing.... to destroy this universe. So before your ego get the best of you, do your research and ask yourself, what the hell is the point to all of this.... Spiritual evolution. That's all it is dude. You will live many lifetimes after this be it be a man or a woman perhaps even an animal. What ever it is, they are all part of your spiritual evolution. Oh and this is not the only universe. Try and contemplate that in your mind. We are all designed to procreate, every day a typical man has over 300 million souls in his balls, all wanting to experience life in this planet. Now ask yourself do you want to be part of the greater plan and procreate. Or are you like me that has had enough of these lifetimes and illusions. And no longer want to be any part of it. All the best to your awakening. I hope you learn what you need to learn

[Sean93]

There's plenty of space yet, we're just crammed into smaller area's together, (Cities)

[Bildr]

Quote

I will use what I call my bathroom metaphor. Two people live in an apartment and there are two bathrooms, then both have the freedom of the bathroom. You can go to the bathroom anytime you want, and stay as long as you want, for whatever you need. Everyone believes in the Freedom of the bathroom. It should be right there in the Constitution. But if you have 20 people in the apartment and two bathrooms, no matter how much every person believes in the freedom of the bathroom, there is no such thing. You have to set up times for each person, you have to bang at the door, "Aren't you through yet?" and so on.The same way democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more and more people into the world, the value of life not only declines, it disappears. It doesn't matter if someone dies. The more people there are the less one individual matters.

  -Isaac Asimov

[shrooma]

I once flew from chicago to new orleans, at night, and it was just hours of darkness punctuated by the occasional lights of a city, so I kinda agree with the previous post, that there's still loads of room left for expansion, we just need to properly utilise the space instead of all bunching up, but at the current rate of population growth, then in a couple of hundred years time, with the space needed for agriculture and livestock, we could be in serious trouble.....

[DieChecker]

Depends on if you want sustainability. If you don't care about tomorrow, then today is doing OK. If we want tomorrow not to suck, we need a lot less people... world wide.

The US has only like 300 million people. Try India with a third the land and three times the people.

The US has a population density of 16 people per square mile. But worldwide the number is 43 people per square mile. So imagine the US with three times as many people and that is the world average. Imagine three times as many people in LA. Imagine three times as many people in New York. And you get the idea of how many people there really is out there.

Answer: We're getting there QUICK.

[Sakari]

shrooma, on 24 February 2013 - 03:11 AM, said:

I once flew from chicago to new orleans, at night, and it was just hours of darkness punctuated by the occasional lights of a city, so I kinda agree with the previous post, that there's still loads of room left for expansion, we just need to properly utilise the space instead of all bunching up, but at the current rate of population growth, then in a couple of hundred years time, with the space needed for agriculture and livestock, we could be in serious trouble.....

I am not talking the space to build houses, and to put people. I am talking the resources, and how we are destroying things.

Shark fins.

Poisining the oceans.

non-native species being introduced.

Over fishing.

Jobs / employment / work

Land mass versus people is not the question, the resources needed to survive are.

DieChecker, on 24 February 2013 - 04:06 AM, said:

Depends on if you want sustainability. If you don't care about tomorrow, then today is doing OK. If we want tomorrow not to suck, we need a lot less people... world wide.

The US has only like 300 million people. Try India with a third the land and three times the people.

The US has a population density of 16 people per square mile. But worldwide the number is 43 people per square mile. So imagine the US with three times as many people and that is the world average. Imagine three times as many people in LA. Imagine three times as many people in New York. And you get the idea of how many people there really is out there.

Answer: We're getting there QUICK.

I agree.....

[Mnemonix]

Yes.

I don't plan on having any children, even if it doesn't help anything.

[Michelle]

shrooma, on 24 February 2013 - 03:11 AM, said:

I once flew from chicago to new orleans, at night, and it was just hours of darkness punctuated by the occasional lights of a city, so I kinda agree with the previous post, that there's still loads of room left for expansion, we just need to properly utilise the space instead of all bunching up, but at the current rate of population growth, then in a couple of hundred years time, with the space needed for agriculture and livestock, we could be in serious trouble.....

Pretty much the same when flying from Heathrow to Dublin. Besides the west coast the east side of the US is one of the most populated areas.

But hey, I didn't contribute to over population by having kids. If I had my way, every child born would be fixed at birth and have to get a license to have a child and get the procedure reversed.

Edited by Michelle, 24 February 2013 - 04:49 AM.

[Michelle]

Mnemonix, on 24 February 2013 - 04:11 AM, said:

I don't plan on having any children, even if it doesn't help anything.

Don't forget to use protection, because otherwise it is completely out of your hands. I wouldn't count on someone to say that they have taken care of it.

[Cryptid_Control]

We aren't quite over populated now, but at the rate we're going we sure as hell will be in the future. Sure there is room for expansion in the world space wise, but think about the resources each person uses, there is a finite number of those and we over use them.

[Michelle]

The thing that infuriates me the most are people that preach about over population and yet they have kids. I can truthfully say I walk the walk and talk the talk. They will blame it on being young or having no control over a situation, but we all make consious choices. It's not like they weren't informed. I wouldn't believe anyone over the age of 14 if they said they didn't know what the consequences of having unprotected sex were.

Edited by Michelle, 24 February 2013 - 05:15 AM.

[Cryptid_Control]

Michelle, on 24 February 2013 - 05:15 AM, said:

The thing that infuriates me the most are people that preach about over population and yet they have kids. I can truthfully say I walk the walk and talk the talk. They will blame it on being young or having no control over a situation, but we all make consious choices. It's not like they weren't informed. I wouldn't believe anyone over the age of 14 if they said they didn't know what the consequences of having unprotected sex were.

But really you can't expect everyone to abstain from sex, and even while taking all of the right precautions accidents happen. I don't know anyone that would preach about over population and yet go unprotected.

[Render]

The world isn't at a standstill, neither is evolution and adaptation. Society adapts to situations, including more population.

Ppl have to learn to not think in terms of today. The future does not equal today + billions of extra people. It will be a different situation then and of course it will be sustainable. Just like in older times their were fewer people on this earth and now population has expanded and overall condititions for living have improved massively. The same will continue through time.

[DieChecker]

Render, on 25 February 2013 - 09:48 AM, said:

The world isn't at a standstill, neither is evolution and adaptation. Society adapts to situations, including more population.

Ppl have to learn to not think in terms of today. The future does not equal today + billions of extra people. It will be a different situation then and of course it will be sustainable. Just like in older times their were fewer people on this earth and now population has expanded and overall condititions for living have improved massively. The same will continue through time.

Though it is true that the ability to sustain a higher population continues to increase, there is a finate amount of space and resources. There are 3 times as many people alive today as there was in 1950. Just 60 years ago. There are already overcrowded nations with people routinely starving to death. That these populations will starve down to a sustainable level is natural, and perhaps that is what you are talking about... self correction?

I think that stacking people up into taller and taller cities is not considered sustainable. I think it qualifies as a symptom of overpopulation. When people have to live closer, and closer together, it eventually will cause issues.

Also most of the growth is in nations that have lower standards of living. To be sustainable, these people will need to move/migrate into more sustainable... higher standard of lving, areas. This could happen. Witness the movement of various Muslim groups into Europe, and Mexican/South American groups  When the Have-Nots become unsustainable, they move or start wars.