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> How then do we deal with population growth when people don't die of old age? That's not nearly as much of a problem as people think it would be. About 60 mi
by zyxley 10y ago
> How then do we deal with population growth when people don't die of old age?
That's not nearly as much of a problem as people think it would be.
About 60 million people die per year, and about two-thirds of that comes from age-related causes.
Something like 75 million babies are born each year, and that number is gradually but constantly shrinking as standards of living rise and people have fewer children.
The most likely result in a world of reliable anti-aging treatments would be a gradual slowing of new births to a trickle long before the reduced death rate ever became a real logistical problem.
- xyzzyz 10y agoI don't see it the same way. Being immortal and fertile all the time could completely change the baby-making dynamics. What if people have fewer children because they can focus on their career earlier in their lives? Were they immortal, they could start making children while they're 100 years old and settled.
- danieltillett 10y agoI suspect that we would see a decline in the number of children born rather than an increase. If you could put off indefinitely having children many would do so until they died of some non-ageing related cause.
- sooheon 10y agoI can also conjecture about the plausible couple who, having had their beloved son and daughter leave the nest, and with visits and calls growing less frequent, decide to go for round two.