Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffC
why are human beings the only species that appear able to increase population in spite of declining resourses. [U]other species adjust their procreation accordingly, or else they go extinct.
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Other species' procreative activities are purely instinctive and can be heavily influenced by the state of their environment; whereas human procreation is largely voluntary (the sexual
drive is instinctive, but the
act is not), and completely divorced from the state of the environment.
However... there are plenty of other species that will continue to procreate in the face of declining resources. It isn't until the resources start to directly impact them (through starvation, for example) that their numbers actually decrease... and often it is due to stillbirths and the births of weak children that do not survive the environment, or the predators, for long.
This is, of course, another area where humans beat the odds because of their natural lack of predators, and their ability to prolong the lives of weaker members of the species.