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Estimated World Population to Pass 6,666,666,666 Today
suso writes ""The estimated population of the world will pass 6,666,666,666 today. No doubt an interesting number for people everywhere (not referring to any religion connotations). 5,555,555,555 was passed about 14 years ago. You may not realize that only 80 years ago, the population of the Earth was only around 2 billion. This shows how the population of the world has increased at an alarming rate in recent times, although the growth rate is almost half what it was at its peak in 1963, when it was 2.2%. Unrelated but also an interesting coincidence, the estimated number of available IPv4 addresses is getting very close to 666,666,666. It should cross over today as well.""
Didn't that put a dent in things? I don't want to be crass but the disaster in Burma isn't even countable. I know they can do estimates and such but major events like Burma should be accounted, are they? What about Iraq?
Besides, whats the fear? Its not like this planet cannot support double that if not more. Do people realize just how much arable land is not in use? Hell on my recent 1600 mile trip to and from Ohio I can tell you this, this country is empty in many spots and I am sure it is in others. Hell I know there are substantial areas of Europe that are essentially empty. Yeah there are villages and towns nearby but its not like we even try to exploit the lands we have. Look at Africa! How much of that is still like America of a hundred if not two hundred years ago?
One thing I have learned in my short time on this planet. Every doomsayer's predictions of over population and food shortages comes to nothing. We always shift how things are done and accommodate it. If we didn't we would not be here today. Food shortages are all the rave now but forever in our history some groups have been short of food but this is how we progress. If the population cannot create more food then it supports less people. Its a horrid fact of life but it happens. We actually do very well in this day and age from allowing nature to takes its course.
It all comes down to need. When the need arises we always step up.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
First thing I thought about while reading that story on Fox news was the movie Idiocracy. It's becoming more of a reality (horror) movie than a comedy/scifi/adventure movie.
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...many people will die soon as the energy crisis hits. Energy usage and world population have a very close correlation. Do not forget that the energy we use (fossil fuels) was produced millions of years ago. It is essentially free, we just have to use it. Any other method which requires us to produce energy will be more expensive (unless something marvellous happens, but I do not think so).
Less energy means smaller population. The future does not bode well for us.
Government cannot make man richer, but it can make him poorer. - Ludwig von Mises
Someone named "Ethanol-Fueled" complaining about fucking up our living space? That's rich! Nothing causes more *entirely pointless* environmental damage than the barely-disguised corn subsidy of requiring ethanol in gas. I can only hope you were referring you *yourself* as ethanol-fueled, which would be entirely respectable.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
According to Robert Heinlein in "The Number Of The Beast" it is actualy 6^6^6 which comes to 2,176,782,336 and we passed that figure a while back.
I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
I've been eating vegetarian a lot lately. I still eat meat 2 or 3 meals a week, but a lot more not meat. I don't really miss meat, and a well prepared vegetarian meal can be just as satisfying (if not moreso) than a meal with meat. I really don't understand why people have a need to eat so much meat. I used to eat meat at every meal, but recently (mostly for health reasons) I've decided to eat less meat. I can't say I really miss it.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
The one child per family rule in China has caused many problems. Firstly the problem of babies being thrown away if they aren't the correct sex. Then the ones that do survive end up being completely spoiled, from being raised as an only child. A co-worker of mine who was from China said this was a big problem, and that there was an entire generation of people who grew up as only children. Obviously the only-child stereotype doesn't affect absolutely everyone, but it didn't become a stereotype without reason.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Well, I for one would miss it dearly. I want my food to have been able to howl, grunt, moo, snort or what the hell.
And besides, not eating meat doesn't solve all that much of the problem. Cows don't eat crop. They eat grass. That's the stuff we usually don't eat. That's the stuff that grows even where wheat doesn't. Sheep eat... well, damn, everything! They can produce food digestable by humans through stuff that isn't digestable. Humans call it processing, nature does it since forever and a day.
Meals containing no animal fats just don't sate me and I'm willing to bet I'm not alone. Considering that I can go one day on one good steak with a filling side dish, while I get hungry in mere hours from the side dish alone... I am a carnivore. I know that. My body has made that completely clear.