Overpopulation. Resources running out. What do we do about these things?

[Kuranesno7]

put really old and/or terminal folk into a Matrix-like system. when they eat steak or something, they'll just get a nutrient-drip, bare essentials. they won't crowd the world if they're all asleep like this, and maybe you can work out a system wherein they could do white-collar computer work while their in there, in between the orgies and mind expansion.

 

[Flac00]

2 options
Condoms, or soylent green. I prefer the 1st one, but at least soylent green tastes better than tofu.

 

[TheTurtleMan]

World War 3?

Kill every fourth child in families?

Rapture?

Eventually natural selection should trim the fat off of the human populace or a meteor will hit and kill half the life on the planet.

 

[Wheeleybird]

Eugenics! we shall chemically sterilize the members who dont contribute to society and bring in a set of legal requirements (stable income, has a home, isnt a 17 year old girl smoking in ugg boots). This wont just help stabilize the population it'll also help clean out the gene pool.

 

[fgdfgdgd]

*puts up hands* Over population on one hand and lack of food on the other...I think these problems solve one another.

 

[Grand_Arcana]

*puts up hands* Over population on one hand and lack of food on the other...I think these problems solve one another.

Congrats, you've put two and two together! More than can be said about most, I'm honestly complimenting you.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

For those wanting to apply a 1 child rule, see what happens when you are old and you want to retire but there are too few workers to support you.

The other problem with the 1 Child rule is that everyone wants a boy.

In China, because it's a cultural thing...

OT: Massive global war. War is the answer, in this situation, Hundreds of millions die, and we have another 35-40 years until it has to happen again.

 

[soapyshooter]

Actually the fertility rates are so low nowadays with a couple of generations the population will drop on its own. Its already happening in Japan. As for food, we just need better planning and resource managment but as long as there are corrupt politicians and corporate farms nothing will get done

 

[witness51]

Seriously: An IQ requirement on reproduction. It would solve everything.

 

[infohippie]

This came up at the turn of the 20th century. People were worried about mass starvation due to population increase. As it is we had the green revolution where advancements in agriculture meant we could produce far more food with similar amounts of space.

For those wanting to apply a 1 child rule, see what happens when you are old and you want to retire but there are too few workers to support you.

Human advancement and ingenuity will stop us ending up living like Mad Max.

We will need to come up with a new economic system since the old one can't keep working without constant population growth. And we are not going to have a choice about reducing the Earth's population. We're already past the long-term carrying capacity of the planet. If we don't start planning a gradual reduction in numbers, we will eventually be faced with a catastrophic reduction.

 

[SilentVirus]

Turn every newborn baby into a bloodthirsty gladiator. Take glory in watching a newborn baby being tied to the mercy of a Sit 'n Spin

 

[theultimateend]

Today, mortality rates have gone down, medicine is becoming more advanced and effective than it used to be, and less people are dying overall. But now we have the issue of housing and sustaining more and more people everyday, and our Earth might not last forever. Do we have any solutions to these very troubling problems?

Just build a large solar array and you can resolve basically all the issues you can possibly think of.

Water can be purified in any quantity (effectively), air can be purified, populations will stop rising once synthetic nitrogen runs out (and probably tank a bit).

Most of our issues are ones of capitalistic greed, if you take out the bad intentions you don't have much left.

The issues of the world are far less dramatic than people think, at least when it comes to fixing them, all you need to do is have a 0 tolerance policy for political corruption.

Not saying that's a small thing, few things are much larger and more difficult, but that's effectively your only hurdle.

We will need to come up with a new economic system since the old one can't keep working without constant population growth. And we are not going to have a choice about reducing the Earth's population. We're already past the long-term carrying capacity of the planet. If we don't start planning a gradual reduction in numbers, we will eventually be faced with a catastrophic reduction.

Gonna need data to back up the apocalypse. Because it's not intuitive.

The amount of people is not a problem, how people act with the amount of people present is the problem.

Change actions and population becomes less of a problem. There are entire US states that are pretty much empty of people, its that everyone condenses into the same few points that makes everyone think we are 2 babies away from pushing one another into the sea.

 

[kortin]

We should go into space, find a nice moon that is teeming with life, meet the natives, realize that they have a huge amount of ore that would be worth billions underneath their sacred tree. Then we'll wipe them out.

 

[Grand_Arcana]

In China, because it's a cultural thing...

OT: Massive global war. War is the answer, in this situation, Hundreds of millions die, and we have another 35-40 years until it has to happen again.

That's assuming that there will still be as many countries as there are now. The surviving losers of that war will be at the brink of destruction; foodless, homeless, and leaderless. If disease doesn't cull their population, power hungry warlords and armed prophets will.

 

[CaptainKoala]

1. Get a hot air balloon.
2. Get a cattle ranch.
3. ????????
4. Profit!

 

[Grand_Arcana]

Today, mortality rates have gone down, medicine is becoming more advanced and effective than it used to be, and less people are dying overall. But now we have the issue of housing and sustaining more and more people everyday, and our Earth might not last forever. Do we have any solutions to these very troubling problems?

Just build a large solar array and you can resolve basically all the issues you can possibly think of.

Water can be purified in any quantity (effectively), air can be purified, populations will stop rising once synthetic nitrogen runs out (and probably tank a bit).

Most of our issues are ones of capitalistic greed, if you take out the bad intentions you don't have much left.

The issues of the world are far less dramatic than people think, at least when it comes to fixing them, all you need to do is have a 0 tolerance policy for political corruption.

Not saying that's a small thing, few things are much larger and more difficult, but that's effectively your only hurdle.

We will need to come up with a new economic system since the old one can't keep working without constant population growth. And we are not going to have a choice about reducing the Earth's population. We're already past the long-term carrying capacity of the planet. If we don't start planning a gradual reduction in numbers, we will eventually be faced with a catastrophic reduction.

Gonna need data to back up the apocalypse. Because it's not intuitive.

The amount of people is not a problem, how people act with the amount of people present is the problem.

Change actions and population becomes less of a problem. There are entire US states that are pretty much empty of people, its that everyone condenses into the same few points that makes everyone think we are 2 babies away from pushing one another into the sea.

I'm worried about raw materials than paper pushing banks; metals and lumber to be precise. Water, food, and fuel can be accounted for because they are capable of being renewed. The same can't quite be said for metal, unless we mine asteroids.

 

[inFAMOUSCowZ]

Colonize planets, and launch people toward the sun....FOR SCIENCE!!!

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

In China, because it's a cultural thing...

OT: Massive global war. War is the answer, in this situation, Hundreds of millions die, and we have another 35-40 years until it has to happen again.

That's assuming that there will still be as many countries as there are now. The surviving losers of that war will be at the brink of destruction; foodless, homeless, and leaderless. If disease doesn't cull their population, power hungry warlords and armed prophets will.

And that is how we are set, the left over losers destroy themselves, and that's even less food that's needed!

 

[defult]

In the future there is only war

 

[theultimateend]

I'm worried about raw materials than paper pushing banks; metals and lumber to be precise.

In the case of most metals they have a nearly 100% recycling turn around. Create trash systems that filter out most (if not all) of the metal and you net yourself all your precious metals back.

Alternatively in the future just collect them from nearby planets or passing meteors but that's a bit scifi at this point.

Lumber on the first hand can be fully sustained with tree farms at current requirements, the tree farms now might not be big enough but they could be grown to demand. Alternatively finding new things that can replace lumber, perhaps bamboo or a plant that grows rather pandemically. Just be careful not to recreate the corn problem in the US (this really, of modern world problems, is the biggest on plaguing the US).

Basically all the world's ills come down to a very small population abusing mechanics in order to profit more than necessary.

Well alright...not ALL the world's ills. Problems like cancer and aids are multifaceted and terrible, though of those two aids could probably be wiped out with more advanced forms of screening and proper drug education and decriminalization.

I'm not saying we don't have problems, but almost none of our problems are unsolvable and I'd be willing to bet that basically none of them is a direct result of population and that the population at its current levels is overwhelming and impossible to manage.

Basically it's population x problem = end of the world. If you can divide the problem by a large enough amount you will effectively wipe out your issue.

And again I don't see the population continuing to grow once synthetic nitrogen dies out, heck I will be shocked if in my own lifetime we don't see it Plateau or even begin to free fall naturally.

Warning: Not an expert, just read enough to be very skeptical about doomsaying.