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Came to say this. There's every indication that as humans get healthier, more educated, wealthier and live longer (more post-scarcity, in other words) they swi
by andygates 13y ago
Came to say this. There's every indication that as humans get healthier, more educated, wealthier and live longer (more post-scarcity, in other words) they switch from "breed more backups" to "nurture one or two offspring", and steady-state popultion comes out of that.
The sectors of wealthy economies which are still breeding fast are generally the poor (scarcity again) or people from social groups that were used to breeding lots, who are slowly getting the memo.
- Daniel_Newby 13y agoProsperity does cause humans to move towards relatively fewer offspring, but only relatively. If the birth rate exceeds the replacement rate by even a tiny fraction in any demographic, the result is exponential growth. And there are prosperous, well-educated demographics with ultra-high birth rates, such as Mormons.
- notahacker 13y agoThat assumes the birth rates of other demographics don't fall sufficiently behind the replacement rate to compensate in the short term, and that demographics' birth rates are immutable in the long term. Will the offspring of Mormons maintain their parents' birth rates? Well they're already falling...