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What I gather is that he came out just around the time global population growth changed from ~exponential to ~linear. This was a big topic on many minds back i
by dualogy 9y ago
What I gather is that he came out just around the time global population growth changed from ~exponential to ~linear.
This was a big topic on many minds back in the late-60s to late-70s, because if growth would have continued exponentially, we'd all be very much more screwed today. What else falls in the time window, popular attention to "The Limits to Growth", "Peak Oil", and introduction of China's one-child policy.
As often, historical context I think aids perspective =)
- tnecniv 9y agoTo add, the winner of the Hugo award that year was Stand on Zanzibar [1], although Brunner successfully guessed the population growth rate. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_on_Zanzibar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_on_Zanzibar
- stcredzero 9y agoThis was a big topic on many minds back in the late-60s to late-70s, because if growth would have continued exponentially, we'd all be very much more screwed today. Pretty much the same kind of mistake Malthus made. Exponential growth will eventually change the conditions that enabled the exponential growth. One of these changes in a human societal context will be the formation of an opportunity for people to get rich by solving the problem. Malthus didn't take this into account.