How Many People Share Our World?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the implications of global population growth, individual experiences related to population statistics, and potential solutions to overpopulation. Participants explore various perspectives on birth rates, economic sustainability, and societal impacts, with references to personal anecdotes and external resources.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants share personal statistics about their birth order and the global population at their birth, expressing feelings of insignificance.
  • There are references to videos discussing overpopulation, with some arguing that the issue is not about space but economic sustainability.
  • Proposals for a two-child policy are mentioned as a potential solution to overpopulation, with some humorously questioning the feasibility of such a cap.
  • Concerns are raised about the implications of reducing birth rates, including the potential for an aging population and economic consequences.
  • Some participants discuss the effectiveness of financial incentives versus mandatory birth control in controlling population growth.
  • There is mention of declining birth rates in some developing countries, challenging the notion that all third-world nations have high birth rates.
  • Participants express skepticism about the practicality of controlling global population growth through policies or interventions.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion features multiple competing views on how to address overpopulation, with no consensus reached on the best approach or the implications of proposed solutions.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the effectiveness of various population control measures and the complexities involved in implementing them globally. There are also references to the historical context of population growth and its societal impacts.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in demographic studies, social policy, and the implications of population growth on economics and society may find this discussion relevant.

rootX
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-15391515

My results:
You were the 5,087,705,009th person
Your country's population is 34,016,593
Average life expectancy is 78.2 years

262 people (,I don't know what 262 means)
 
Physics news on Phys.org
rootX said:
262 people (,I don't know what 262 means)
It says "the amount the population has grown while you've been on this site"And you are a fellow Canuck.
 
When I were born, I was the:

3,233,157,102nd
person alive on Earth

77,058,447,815th
person to have lived since history began

I feel like a number.
 
The number of significant figures they provide is hilarious.
 
lisab said:
I feel like a number.

Me too!

.. and that made me bit sad :shy:
 
This video by National Geographic is very good. Overpopulation, it's not about the space. We can't economically/feasably sustain this many people. Think about it.

 
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Greg Bernhardt said:
World cap of two children a family. Problem solved.

I only had one. Can I sell my other share :biggrin:?
 
  • #10
lisab said:
I only had one. Can I sell my other share :biggrin:?

I had none*. Can I get a refund?

*biologically, anyway
 
  • #11
DaveC426913 said:
I had none*. Can I get a refund?

*biologically, anyway
You make up for the sperm donor that has over 1,000 kids.
 
  • #12
lisab said:
I only had one. Can I sell my other share :biggrin:?

Those who have 1 or no children get $20,000. Right now it's the other way around, the more babies you have, the more money you get (in the US).
 
  • #13
Evo said:
You make up for the sperm donor that has over 1,000 kids.
Hrm. Not sure if that math works out.

Interesting problem...

As long as the mother has only one child by sperm donor, then the numbers work out.

With 1 man and 1000 women, you get 1000 children.
If he donates 1 million, you get 1 million children. But you never get more children than parents.
 
  • #14
DaveC426913 said:
Hrm. Not sure if that math works out.

Interesting problem...

As long as the mother has only one child by sperm donor, then the numbers work out.

With 1 man and 1000 women, you get 1000 children.
If he donates 1 million, you get 1 million children. But you never get more children than parents.
A lot of these women, for some reason, already had kids, sometimes several. And no, I'm not going to go dig up everything I've read in the last few years on artificial insemination stats, I don't understand why a woman with children would need to artificially have more. Look at octomom. So consider it unreliable.
 
  • #15
Greg Bernhardt said:
Those who have 1 or no children get $20,000. Right now it's the other way around, the more babies you have, the more money you get (in the US).
Yeah, this is something that needs to be fixed.
 
  • #16
Greg Bernhardt said:
Those who have 1 or no children get $20,000. Right now it's the other way around, the more babies you have, the more money you get (in the US).

It's not the US but the third world countries that concern me. I doubt you can put any kind of caps on them.
 
  • #17
rootX said:
It's not the US but the third world countries that concern me. I doubt you can put any kind of caps on them.
What do you think they'd do if you offered them $20,000?
 
  • #18
DaveC426913 said:
What do you think they'd do if you offered them $20,000?

If some "government" had that much of free money, 7 billion population wouldn't have been a concern.
 
  • #19
And no having triplets either.
 
  • #20
Jimmy Snyder said:
And no having triplets either.

prison for sure!
 
  • #21
How do they determine the order of birth on a specific day? It didn't ask for time of birth, and I wasn't the only male born in the US on 11/11/1983.

Edit: Nevermind, just found this; "It is one possible value based on global population figures and estimates of growth rates over time."
 
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  • #22
When you were born, you were the:
3,080,736,737th
person alive on Earth
76,771,155,855th
person to have lived since history began

The average life expectancy is about 13 years longer here in the U.S. since the last time I glanced at that statistic!
 
  • #23
Greg Bernhardt said:
World cap of two children a family. Problem solved.
Not really. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/chinas-one-child-rule-turns-time-bomb-223258406.html"
 
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  • #24
dipungal said:
Not really. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/chinas-one-child-rule-turns-time-bomb-223258406.html"
When you cut back on new births, of course there is going to be basicaly a *one time* period where there will be a large elderly population, then things will normalize and be for the benefit of all.

In the US we are about to enter that phase as we had a *baby boom* after WWII, and then the population began to normalize, the baby boomers are now approaching retirement. After the baby boomers are gone, there will no longer be a disproportionate elderly population. Sometimes you have to suffer a bit to get better.
 
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  • #25
Evo said:
When you cut back on new births, of course there is going to be basicaly a *one time* period where there will be a large elderly population, then things will normalize and be for the benefit of all.

In the US we are about to enter that phase as we had a *baby boom* after WWII, and then the population began to normalize, the baby boomers are now approaching retirement. After the baby boomers are gone, there will no longer be a disproportionate elderly population. Sometimes you have to suffer a bit to get better.
But the problem is sometimes when we fix one thing, we break three more.
 
  • #26
dipungal said:
But the problem is sometimes when we fix one thing, we break three more.
Once the elderly *hump* is over things will improve. But only if the laws are not abused.
 
  • #27
rootX said:
It's not the US but the third world countries that concern me. I doubt you can put any kind of caps on them.

With the exception of sub-saharan africa all third world countries have declining birth rates. Brazil for example got smaller birth rates than the US.
Although third world is a terrible term since it includes both countries like Brazil and countries like Somalia.
 
  • #28
Evo said:
When you cut back on new births, of course there is going to be basicaly a *one time* period where there will be a large elderly population, then things will normalize and be for the benefit of all.
Are you advocating abortion and mandatory birth control?
 
  • #29
Evo said:
When you cut back on new births, of course there is going to be basicaly a *one time* period where there will be a large elderly population, then things will normalize and be for the benefit of all.

In the US we are about to enter that phase as we had a *baby boom* after WWII, and then the population began to normalize, the baby boomers are now approaching retirement. After the baby boomers are gone, there will no longer be a disproportionate elderly population. Sometimes you have to suffer a bit to get better.

dipungal said:
Are you advocating abortion and mandatory birth control?

"Cutting back on new births" through either "abortion-mandatory birth control" or "financial incentives" etc only work out theoretically but not in practice IMO.

I think it is too hard to control the world's population. Further that if something that can control the population is either nature or widespread education. It might be unacceptable or too harsh but I think cutting down on humanitarian missions and funding to poor nations might bring our global population to the level that we can sustain.
 
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  • #30
dipungal said:
Are you advocating abortion and mandatory birth control?

Her statement does not advocate that, no. Benefit of the doubt suggests she was simply speaking matter-of-factly.

However, that does not mean she won't subsequently offer her opinion explicitly.
 

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