Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffC
why are human beings the only species that appear able to increase population in spite of declining resourses. other species adjust their procreation accordingly, or else they go extinct.
The arguments of Malthus become more true each year.... |
I've often pondered the question. My answer is because of humanity's creativity backed by the intelligence to set things in motion. Homo sapiens being naked and slow, it had to invent ways to survive in the competition against naturally better adapted species.
The problem we face is that the reinforcement to keep getting stronger is compounded by the fact that we are losing contact with our natural limits. The "back to earth" movement of the seventies was a good step in that analysis but not quite effective enough. Today's Earth dweller is living at an abnormal speed and it is deturning his judgement as to what are proper natural values. Just as the breeds of animals we grow, most of us would not survive in a natural setting, and we are the ones who decide every day what course of action our lives, dependances and the planet we live on should take.
We need to increase our sensitivity, have a bigger dose of humility and face nature as a singleton once in a while to feel the awe that will keep a true motivation. The values we live by, as a society, are derived from a past where we had to survive as a group to protect ourselves from the hardships facing the power of nature. Those values are outdated.
If you examine populations by region, you will notice that those living in riches and comfort have a lower nativity rate. Is it natural? I believe it has become so because the declining nativity has come through a slow process that left leeway for adaptation. The higher growth rates of today are in regions facing natural hardships. When those regions are suddenly benefited by the scientific improvements of life preservation and riches, natural elimination is pushed aside and populations boom. As life expectancy lenghens artificially, so should fertility. This is the dilemma, and it is hard to change the cultural ways that offered protection against nature to a community.