How to save the world, or not.

[Asmodean]

I'm sure someone said it (or something along those lines) before, but something tells me that you are refering to a specific quote which eludes me at this time..?

Also, making faster, stealthier, more slippery and accurate missiles, for instance, can indeed have implications for cool civilian gadgetry. Exoskeletons are another thing worth mentioning.

[Bad Penny II]

I'm not refering to anything specific, there's a claim war drives tech progress, it's put on the plus side for war.
What has happened in the last thirty years, without the desperation of total war, just the profit motive and a hell of a lot more educuated people?

What happens the other side of a war, when it has to payed for?

[Asmodean]

What happens on the other side of war is a complex question. There are intricacies and interweavings to the dynamics and the outcome of any conflict which can be judged towards both sides of the benefit scale.

[gentle_dissident]

Yea, I can't deal with militants. Sorry.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

So population control would be a nice project.  You could eliminate a couple billion in Asia and no one over here would notice.  Start with India and Middle East, China, take all of North Korea.  I'm not suggesting genocide, just don't replace the ones who die. Couple of generations down the road and we have a couple billion fewer.  The poor we will always have with us, but not so many, please. Please.

[Tom62]

An idea could be to put nano-robots in their drinking water, that shuts down their reproductive organs.

[Asmodean]

Well, yes.

China actually did an admirable job with population control. One can also argue that getting the standard of living up, getting a good social services system and shifting people's priorities from family towards career and such is a very good way of reducing numbers. Just look at Europe, Japan, Australia or Canada.Those countries are population-stable or have a declining population if we do not account for immigration. That's a long game though, and it loops into the whole resources problem. I suppose that could have been avoided if we in the high consumption parts of the world were willing to settle for less, but unless we absolutely have to, I don't see that happening. We'll put them nanobots in someone else's drinking water first.

Yea, I can't deal with militants. Sorry.

Thing is, I'm not. I'm just not willing to label something as bad, undesirable or the like just because I personally have no taste for it. Not without examining the potential upsides and evaluating them against my priorities.

[Bad Penny II]

The plastics and poisons in the eco were supposed to screw with the reproductive process, I thought that was promising but it doesn't seemed to 've cut in yet.

[Asmodean]

Yeah... We are also quite adept at making boner pills, so... Yeah.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

It's the poor who keep pumping out more poor.  That sounds brutal, but some aspects of the gene pool are better if they are eliminated.  We can't educate and provide for all of them. They are filling up the planet.  There's no political or economic system that can support them.  Nature will eventually take care of the problem, but the population really needs to be cut by 30% just so life can be sustained at an acceptable level.  But our "humanity" tells us to save everyone.  I don't think it can be done.  We sure haven't done it to this point.  Then human migration brings the poor into developed nations, and it cannot be sustained.  I'll just sit back and watch.  I think I can survive long enough to not suffer too much before my time.  But I pity the next few generations.  Sorry for the pessimism. 

[Asmodean]

The above, I agree with completely.

[Icarus]

Over all the western world has a fertility rate of slightly less than two.  The middle eastern societies have, in general, a fertility rate of four to six. The math is really simple given geometric progressions and all that it implies. 

[Recusant]

. . . Paki . . .

I know you're from the US where this abbreviation doesn't really have any particular meaning, but in other countries (mainly Britain) it's an ethnic slur. Just sayin'

[Ecurb Noselrub]

. . . Paki . . .

I know you're from the US where this abbreviation doesn't really have any particular meaning, but in other countries (mainly Britain) it's an ethnic slur. Just sayin'

Ooops, didn't know. I've changed it in the post.  Sorry.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

So population control would be a nice project.  You could eliminate a couple billion in Asia and no one over here would notice.  Start with India & vicinity, Middle East, China, take all of North Korea.  I'm not suggesting genocide, just don't replace the ones who die. Couple of generations down the road and we have a couple billion fewer.  The poor we will always have with us, but not so many, please. Please.