Unsustainable Growth in local and global populations coupled with unsustainable per capita consumption of the Earth's finite, vital, resources.

[SBBM]

G'day,

I'm an ol' fart and have been depressed for many, many years. I consider suicide every day. My depression is caused by two elements. The first is contained in the Title of this post and my depression, without a solution IMO, is because I despair for my children and their children.

I, along with others of my ilk, have an unquestionable, irrefutable understanding that there are no solutions to the population growth and the per-capita consumption of the Earth's finite and vital (to humans and other species) resource issues other than a culling of human populations, almost certainly brought about by wars, starvation and disease in the not too distant future. The culling has already begun in many places throughout the world.

The greatest cause of my depression is the knowledge that my offspring, will have to attempt to deal with the aforementioned issue of unsustainable growth or as some reliable, realist commentators now refer to it -"The Collapse" of human civilization as we've known it -  as will I, should I live long enough.

My second depressive element is less important and can be resolved with adequate work on my behalf. It is that i'm not enjoying/handling the deterioration in my physical and mental health as a result of my aging. Something we'll all have to deal with should we live long enough.

So.... there you have it. I see no solution to my first, depressive, issue. As the late Professor Albert A Bartlett stated. " The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function."

Any suggestions, anyone?

Oo roo,

The Selfish Big Brained Mammal (SBBM)

[Neil_1]

Dear SBBM

Welcome to Beyond Blue and thank you for coming here and sharing your post.

You raise quite the conundrum with your first major issue - how will we as a human race sustain ourselves as the years roll by?   I know there's a lot of study out there about that very issue and working on the wherefores and the hows and whys about it all.  A lot lot more cleverer people than me.  What they'll come up with is anybody's guess, BUT I have no doubt at all that this thing called Earth and the human race will survive well into the future.

Why?   Because of the advancements made in technology and the skill base of people to become better in so many different professions and areas of life.

And yes, more babies are popping out and the population keeps on growing, but at the same time, there is still the ever present, natural attrition of the human race as well - in whatever format that takes - and so, and so, and so now I've got a bit of a headache as I've never actually thought that deeply about this issue and now that I have I think I need a bit of a lie down.

Very interesting post though and I do hope others aren't frightened off by the length of your subject heading - because it's actually something that is well worth a good discussion about.

Kind regards

Neil

[Girl_Anachronism]

Hi SBBM,

Welcome to BB and thankyou for the interesting topic. I hope you find yourself welcome here. 

Having a degree in the science sector, I have studied this conundrum. While I am no expert and not the one to fix the problem, or at least not alone, it does present us with significant challenges.  The rate at which the population is growing and average lifespans extending due to expansion in technology poses us the problem of surpassing the population capacity for this planet. Technology is advancing at a fantastic rate, but I think that technology might also provide the answer. 

Yes there are some major threats out there, both from the political warfare sector and more imminently from threats such as antibiotic resistant super bugs which we are not yet prepared to fight and may in there way, reduce the population to an affordable level of living. Particularly when you combine these threats with a more conscientious world view with greater care for our environment which will allow us to live at a smaller damage bill with a more reasonable standard of living for all, not just for those in third world.

GA

[Girl_Anachronism]

PS: Have you read on Stand On Zanzibar by John Brunner.

[Bridge]

Hi BBM

(You may well be an SBBM, but until I see evidence of the S bit, Im going to leave it off. Hope this is ok?)

Umm, I don't have the answer.  But it is a nice meaty topic to explore.

I have just turned the TV on and there is a program on about the Taliban and the children that work(?) as suicide bombers for them. 

Its not uplifting.

It is, though, a good example of the pruning of human communities,( that would be a bit of  'The Collapse" taking place).

God help us all. (god In whatever guise you prefer).

I must agree, its  a pretty depressing picture, and truthfully, I agree with you.  I think that eventually humans will wipe themselves out.  We  just cant seem to help ourselves!  we seem to have as much ability to regulate ourselves as mice.  ( I do think it will take a long time though, as we are a pretty resourceful bunch. It might be your great great great great great great great great grandchildren who are dealing with it.  )

However, its a strange thing, but the fact we have the self control of mice is strangely comforting.  it makes us kind of human!  so eventually mankind probably will do enough dumb things to either make the planet  unlivable for us, or we'll all kill eachother because we cant agree whose god is the proper one, or we want all the oil, or all the power, or possibly a bit of everything, and mankind will cease.  And that will be a sad thing.  But hopefully, and very likely, another species will start, and grow and flourish and we will have made space for them.  Sort of like sucession of father to son, but on a species level, and over thousands and millions of years instead of decades, or hundreds.

this may well  not make you feel a lot better.  But it sort of does me, somehow.  I think the demise of the human race is really not such a disaster- everyone has their time.  The important thing is to make the most of what you have I guess. and to celebrate what we have.

(eurovison is on the other channel.  its much easier to take and Very Silly.)

I don't know if any of that makes any sense. I do waffle on.  I hope I haven't made you any sadder.  perhaps I should have your S.

S Bridge