Would please elucidate your positions on human overpopulation?
Dr. Martin Luther King: “The modern plague of overpopulation is soluble by means we have discovered and with resources we possess. What is lacking is not sufficient knowledge of the solution but universal consciousness of the gravity of the problem.”
While I’m not affiliated with Rethink Priorities, I’ll point to a couple of posts that lay out what I think is the most common view on overpopulation by people in the EA community:
In a sense, King was right: We have the means and resources to sustain many more people on Earth than are alive today, thus “solving” concerns about there being too many of us. We just need to apply technology we already have, and promote the kind of growth that makes this technology widely available (e.g. helping developing countries implement alternatives to coal).
Would please elucidate your positions on human overpopulation?
Dr. Martin Luther King: “The modern plague of overpopulation is soluble by means we have discovered and with resources we possess. What is lacking is not sufficient knowledge of the solution but universal consciousness of the gravity of the problem.”
While I’m not affiliated with Rethink Priorities, I’ll point to a couple of posts that lay out what I think is the most common view on overpopulation by people in the EA community:
We’ve worried about overpopulation for centuries, and we’ve always been wrong
We can’t solve our climate change problems by having fewer babies
In a sense, King was right: We have the means and resources to sustain many more people on Earth than are alive today, thus “solving” concerns about there being too many of us. We just need to apply technology we already have, and promote the kind of growth that makes this technology widely available (e.g. helping developing countries implement alternatives to coal).