What will we do as a civilization when we double our population?

[Svnla]

We will run short on clean water, healthy foods (especially fishes), clean air, good roads, and so on. What else can go wrong.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Lack of jobs is probably going to be a big problem that will cause people to not want to have kids due to being able to afford it but it will be a while for that effect to fix the population. The 1% will be rich but the 99% will be poor. There will be no more middle class. Automation and outsourcing will have taken over a huge chunk of jobs.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Large populations of single, disaffected men

what could possibly go wrong?

A lot of men can't get married.

China has a lower murder rate than the USA and a roughly comparable rape rate. Obviously there are a lot of factors that go into that, but it's not like the place is erupting with Elliot Rodgers. Male suicide is a more likely factor, and that's a way for overpopulation to self-correct.

EDIT: Actually, sexual assault numbers are notoriously unreliable in less-developed countries so I wouldn't be surprised if China suffers from more of that. That's not really relevant to the whole collapse of civilization thing this thread is about though.

 

[disappoint]

Large populations of single, disaffected men

what could possibly go wrong?

We will run short on clean water, healthy foods (especially fishes), clean air, good roads, and so on. What else can go wrong.

War. War never changes.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

The economist in me says food/housing prices will rise thus removing the ability to have large families.

 

[Auric]

Capitalism is about the Yolo lifestyle. Who wants to live forever?

YOLO... so be careful.

China has a lower murder rate than the USA and a roughly comparable rape rate. Obviously there are a lot of factors that go into that, but it's not like the place is erupting with Elliot Rodgers. Male suicide is a more likely factor, and that's a way for overpopulation to self-correct.

EDIT: Actually, sexual assault numbers are notoriously unreliable in less-developed countries so I wouldn't be surprised if China suffers from more of that. That's not really relevant to the whole collapse of civilization thing this thread is about though.

Less developed... more rape, slavery, and cannibalism!

 

[DrunkenSano]

War will keep the population down to survivable levels. The chances of war occurring is much higher when resources become scarce.

 

[JTsyo]

Still, the UN predicts...



Not that I really trust the UN to get anything correct

They are probably assuming current life spans. What happens when life spans are increased into the mid 100s?

 

[soulcougher73]

Birth rates have been declining consistently for more than 60 years. CBR has dropped from 37+ in 1955 to to around 19 today and is expected to keep falling.

And those that want to cite Malthus, or Paul Ehrlich or any of the other Henny Penny doom mongers, science has been laughing at those guys for decades and will laugh even louder at any nutjob that uses those now dis-proven theories as a source for why the Earth is supposedly in trouble. As population growth continues to decline food production continues to increase. We're squeezing out half as many rugrats as 50 years ago and growing 25% more food. If the world didn't starve to death then, we're sure as shit not in any danger of it happening now. We're already at something like a 20% food glut, the world produces 20% more food than it currently needs and each year the food to person ratio gets better, not worse.

So if the global population is declining as you say why is it going up? Hmm

 

[Murloc]

I think most credible projections have us naturally tapering off at about 10 billion.

This.
Europe's population would already be declining if it wasn't for immigration. Just look at Russia.

Africa will follow suit at some point. Let's hope sooner rather than later....
Christian churches and their preachings in africa certainly don't help.

So if the global population is declining as you say why is it going up? Hmm

he's not saying that. He's explaining that demographic transition is a thing and that it will come to an end everywhere at some point.

 

[notposting]

WAR!

*humming*

What's it good for?
err, keeping population down...wait, that doesn't rhyme...

But yeah, war and general asshattery.

 

[notposting]

Africa will follow suit at some point. Let's hope sooner rather than later....
Christian churches and their preachings in africa certainly don't help.

Yep. Get rid of that nonsense about monogamy, planning a family including a size appropriate for your means, and just get everyone banging away like deranged rabbits with no regards to consequences should work.

Condoms are 100% effective and are always used properly, as well. /s

I suppose the ongoing spread of HIV throughout the population will certainly check the population there, right? That the plan?

 

[SMOGZINN]

China has a lower murder rate than the USA and a roughly comparable rape rate. Obviously there are a lot of factors that go into that, but it's not like the place is erupting with Elliot Rodgers. Male suicide is a more likely factor, and that's a way for overpopulation to self-correct.

EDIT: Actually, sexual assault numbers are notoriously unreliable in less-developed countries so I wouldn't be surprised if China suffers from more of that. That's not really relevant to the whole collapse of civilization thing this thread is about though.

The problem is not going to be crime, it is going to be political activism. You are going to have a lot of men that are generally unhappy with their lives, and they are going to blame the governments (because young men alway do).
So, when you have an excess of single, unhappy, young men what do you do?

War. China is already seeing a need to acquire oil resources, and it is going to solve it's disinfected youth problem and it's oil problem all at the same time. The question is who will it fight against? Good money is on India. With India's population they are going to be needing huge amounts of those oil resources soon as well, and it is China that they will be competing with for them.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

So if the global population is declining as you say why is it going up? Hmm

WTF said global population is decreasing? Try to pull your head out of your ass for a couple of seconds a day, it will make life easier for you and make you less annoying to the rest of us.

The birth rate is slowing moron. It's still above the break even point, but it's HALF of where it was 50 years ago. Half. And it's going to keep slowing until it eventually reaches stasis. As it stands now, most of the civilized world is at or very very close to the the replacement level where births cover deaths and the population never really changes. Almost all of the population growth is in the poorest, least developed countries and history has proven repeatedly and unequivocally that as nations modernize the birth rate slows.

 

[BurnItDwn]

at 14 billion people, we will improve farming technology to produce more food per sq food of arable land. Vertical farming and other creative farming techniques will get more popular.

There will be a surplus of food, but, poor wont have access to it, and the rich will throw half their food in the garbage.

It will be just like today, only slightly more futuristic.

 

[Mai72]

hmm...

More resources is going to mean a greater chance of war.

 

[soulcougher73]

WTF said global population is decreasing? Try to pull your head out of your ass for a couple of seconds a day, it will make life easier for you and make you less annoying to the rest of us.

The birth rate is slowing moron. It's still above the break even point, but it's HALF of where it was 50 years ago. Half. And it's going to keep slowing until it eventually reaches stasis. As it stands now, most of the civilized world is at or very very close to the the replacement level where births cover deaths and the population never really changes. Almost all of the population growth is in the poorest, least developed countries and history has proven repeatedly and unequivocally that as nations modernize the birth rate slows.

Well i would assume when someone is talking about the population they would be talking about global population as were a global economy now, that only makes sense. As per the chart in the OP it does not look the the growth is 50% less. If anything we humans are compound interest by the looks of the chart. And i would think any increase in food production would just lend to that increase of people.

No need to get angry and name call over a discussion geez.

 

[Auric]

War. China is already seeing a need to acquire oil resources, and it is going to solve it's disinfected youth problem and it's oil problem all at the same time.

Or it could pit its disinfected youth against its disaffected youth, sort of like mods versus rockers.

It will be just like today, only slightly more futuristic.

You mean sex robots, don't you? :sneaky:

 

[Red Squirrel]

There will be a surplus of food, but, poor wont have access to it, and the rich will throw half their food in the garbage.

That's the sad truth. Even today probably more than half the food produced ends up wasted because of bullshit like liability and other retarded reasons like that. Ex: restaurants or any kind of venue is not allowed to give food to poor because of liability, grocery stores can't give slightly expired food away etc. So all of that ends up in the garbage.

If the concept of liability was completely removed from society there would be so much less bullshiterry in general.

 

[BUTCH1]

Life saving meds and techniques will be outlawed. Have cancer? No therapy for you, wither away and die please. Born with a heart murmur? Sorry kid, you were born in the wrong time period. Legs got cleaved off in a tractor accident? Hope you clot quickly,.. on your own.
P

In a way there is a grain of truth to this. When the plague came around most everyone was exposed to it, those with the less powerful immune systems died off. I had Scarlet fever as a kid, in the olden days your chances were not so good but I was in no real danger due to antibiotics and sulfur drugs. The 7 weeks of isolation sucked though.

 

[Crono]

at 14 billion people, we will improve farming technology to produce more food per sq food of arable land. Vertical farming and other creative farming techniques will get more popular.

There will be a surplus of food, but, poor wont have access to it, and the rich will throw half their food in the garbage.

It will be just like today, only slightly more futuristic.

This is exactly what will happen.
Just look to the past. Was the world better off when we had only 1 billion people? 500 million? What about a measly 100 million?

There's enough empty land and an overproduction of food in places like the United States. It's corruption, inefficiencies, and greed that keep super rich warlords and oligarchs well fed and living on platial grounds with thousands of acres upon acres in some countries in Africa and Asia while the poor slowly starve.

It's not a population problem today any more than it was 200 years ago. Saying it is just gives creedance to ignorant statements from those wanting to use population control and eventually eugenics to weed out undesirables (look back to the first half of the 20th century if you don't believe that's where the philosophy ultimately takes you). Instead we should continue to focus on better distribution and food production, wasting less water and making things like desalination more practical.

You know, positive stuff that doesn't involve counter-productive policies like one-child which ultimately hurts economic growth and the strength of a nation.

I think humanity could colonize other planets before the earth is ever truly overpopulated.

 

[Auric]

That's the sad truth. Even today probably more than half the food produced ends up wasted because of bullshit like liability and other retarded reasons like that. Ex: restaurants or any kind of venue is not allowed to give food to poor because of liability, grocery stores can't give slightly expired food away etc. So all of that ends up in the garbage.

If the concept of liability was completely removed from society there would be so much less bullshiterry in general.

Liability is a sadly common misconception, since actually exempt when donated in good faith.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Emerson_Good_Samaritan_Act_of_1996

It was covered in this documentary:
Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story (2014)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3597400/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkASAZGIuu0

More:
http://californiawatch.org/health-a...-problem-farms-grocery-stores-and-restaurants

 

[MongGrel]

I'd predict inside of 20 years the guys worried about AI will be right.

But probably in the way of nano tech and biological implants, I all ready see so may people glued to smart phones.

My wife even annoys me that way.

I miss working with one of the more advanced tech engineers I worked with at Honeywell, we'd just be walking around inside of the place and he would see a "Suit" talking to himself and he'd say "look there's one of the borg"

Give it another 20 years it will probably be literally true.

Frig I was working with DARPA and Draper Labs out of MIT at the time.

Probably will be a bunch of biological robots runing about in the near future, can be justified as being enhancements instead of a lose of humanity.

As I've heard way too many times in the past, it is all a matter of perspective.

Seems to be another bullshit phrase for a long time these days to justify BS.

Anyone can utter that phrase and do anything, is just a management catch phrase for i can do whatever I want.

 

[Slew Foot]

That's the sad truth. Even today probably more than half the food produced ends up wasted because of bullshit like liability and other retarded reasons like that. Ex: restaurants or any kind of venue is not allowed to give food to poor because of liability, grocery stores can't give slightly expired food away etc. So all of that ends up in the garbage.

If the concept of liability was completely removed from society there would be so much less bullshiterry in general.

First thing we do is kill off the lawyers

 

[MongGrel]

First thing we do is kill off the lawyers

That's probably gotten old, used to be a thing.

Bankers and investment guys have gotten worse over the years.

Of course those guys have lawyers.