Why do we need so much help...

[jimallyn]

those of us in the affluent West have no idea of adversity, and never will

Oh yes we will, and it probably won't be all that long from now. We are changing the climate in ways that will bring adversity, in great quantities, to all of us. Some sooner than others, and some worse than others, but we're all going to get it eventually. We also have the possibility, as a species, of extincting ourselves with our nuclear weapons. One of the basic problems with Planet Earth is that there are too many humans on it. There are currently 7.4 billion of us, and the planet can't sustain that many, at least not with the life style the "developed" world enjoys. Many scientists have made estimates of how many people can live sustainably on the Earth; most estimates run in the half billion to 2 billion range, although I have seen estimates as low as 100 million.

Humanity (and other species) are like the yeast in a wine bottle. They create an environment that eventually kills them. Or, in the absence of predators, they overpopulate and die off, as was shown on St. Matthew Island with the introduction of reindeer in 1944:

http://dieoff.org/page80.htm

[richyrich]

One of the basic problems with Planet Earth is that there are too many humans on it. There are currently 7.4 billion of us, and the planet can't sustain that many...

Whoa there ! If you gave everyone in the world a 1000 sq ft house, the whole world would fit in Texas !

[austin.texas]

Whoa there ! If you gave everyone in the world a 1000 sq ft house, the whole world would fit in Texas !

The key word is "sustain". How much arable land does it take to sustain that many? And at what standard of living?

[richyrich]

Haha, First we would have to agree on who's definition of "sustain" we would be talking about. The so called Elite want about 500,000 people on the earth . . why ? so they can have it all for themselves ? Do a search on the Georgia Guidestones and read what the Elite's definition of "sustain" is. And what would happen to the other 7 billion ? Start a war maybe ? perhaps ?

[austin.texas]

The so called Elite want about 500,000 people on the earth .

Which edges this discussion closer to a whole 'nother level... How appropriate (or inappropriate) would be mandatory limits on procreation? Or even genetic engineering?

[Citizen229]

Please note this on your calender. I have NEVER agreed with Jim on anything until now. The bible as literature thing, not the genocide thing.

[jimallyn]

Please note this on your calender. I have NEVER agreed with Jim on anything until now. The bible as literature thing, not the genocide thing.

If I disagreed with someone who is nearly always right, I don't think I would want to advertise it. And I don't recall saying anything about genocide.

[jimallyn]

Whoa there ! If you gave everyone in the world a 1000 sq ft house, the whole world would fit in Texas !

That would hardly support a person. People eat, for starters. Where would their food come from? They wear clothes. Where would they get the fibers needed to make clothes?

[richyrich]

Lotsa deleting going on . .

You missed my point Jim; compare the size of Texas to the arable land mass of the whole world. (Yes including frigid Canada, lol) There might even be room to breathe . .

The Elite control the entire western media, and we are being fed a lie ! And all the while the truth is being withheld and even squashed . .

Our planet has been poisoned to the point of no return, mark my words, it's been only 6 years since Fukushima Daiichi, wait another 5-10, when the radioactive elements rise through the food chain . . and have you read the news lately, about the Orca that was found with the highest concentrations of PCBs in any animal in history ? From the ocean ? I was always told that PCBs were being completely burned in specially built incinerators. If those scientists are correct, somebody has been dumping toxins and poisons into the Oceans for, I can only wonder, how many years ?

Heard about the millions of tons of plastics found in the Arctic ocean ? What does LA or NYC do with their garbage ? (and that is just two mega-cities)

No wonder Steven Hawking is now telling the world that we have to escape the planet within a 100 years or face extinction.

And guess who has control of the boarding passes . .

[CaptainKirksChair]

We can learn to help ourselves as long as we do it intelligently and not let biased beliefs get in the way.

[jimallyn]

We can learn to help ourselves as long as we do it intelligently and not let biased beliefs get in the way.

Not sure what intelligence has to do with Michael Crichton. His bias against science is what will kill hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of human beings. His denial of science is his religion. Sad that anybody would take anything he says seriously. By the way Crichton was an author of fiction.

[CaptainKirksChair]

His bias against science...

Crichton had no bias against science. He believed in the scientific method. Which is, real word tests that give reproducible results (as opposed to computer models) and the requirement that before any hypothesis can become a theory, it must be capable of being proven false. Because it just might be.

Yes, he wrote fiction because he found it was something he like to do and it paid his bills. And he would always research his subjects thoroughly. Here and Here

It is interesting to note that when he was a believer in global warming, he was a great writer. When he researched the subject and found the data to be woefully inadequate to the hysterical claims (page 21), he became persona non grata. By the way -- John Michael Crichton, MD - Harvard, 1969. Also taught anthropology at Harvard after graduating from Harvard in 1964 and before entering medical school.

[vladtepes]

Whoa there ! If you gave everyone in the world a 1000 sq ft house, the whole world would fit in Texas !

The Texans might have something to say about that....

[austin.texas]

Whoa there ! If you gave everyone in the world a 1000 sq ft house, the whole world would fit in Texas !

The Texans might have something to say about that....

I am just not saying it out loud...

[richyrich]

Haha, busted !
I was waiting for you to chime in austin.texas . . too bad some of the replies got deleted, you would have been able to follow the thread.

It was something about the 7.4 billion people in the world being way too many, and that number being totally un-sustainable. I used Texas (it's size) as an example to try to make a point, I guess I could have used Saskatchewan, and given the people a bit bigger house, but then I would have confused/lost everyone in the audience . . lol

[Arch_Enemy]

. . . although your abilities intrigue me, you are quite honestly inferior. Mentally, physically. In fact, I am surprised how little improvement there has been in human evolution. Oh, there has been technical advancement, but, how little man himself has changed.

- Khan Noonien Singh

There's constant change! Just look around you.

They keep getting dumber...

[richyrich]

They keep getting dumber...

hahaha , and believing anything and everything that infamous boob-tube tells them.

[Arch_Enemy]

His bias against science...

Crichton had no bias against science. He believed in the scientific method. Which is, real word tests that give reproducible results (as opposed to computer models) and the requirement that before any hypothesis can become a theory, it must be capable of being proven false. Because it just might be.

Yes, he wrote fiction because he found it was something he like to do and it paid his bills. And he would always research his subjects thoroughly. Here and Here

It is interesting to note that when he was a believer in global warming, he was a great writer. When he researched the subject and found the data to be woefully inadequate to the hysterical claims (page 21), he became persona non grata. By the way -- John Michael Crichton, MD - Harvard, 1969. Also taught anthropology at Harvard after graduating from Harvard in 1964 and before entering medical school.

I don't want to get off track of the topic, but let's leave it at the same "Earth Scientist" who started ringing the Global Warming bell is the same person who told us in the 1970's we were going to freeze. I guess after he found the temperature rising he had to change his statement.

Bear in mind: his goal all along has been to put the oil companies out of business.

There have been 3 prior episodes of GW, with CO2 levels as high as they are now. Each has ended in an ice age that lasted ~60,000 years.

Isn't science wonderful?

[richyrich]

Each has ended in an ice age that lasted ~60,000 years.

Isn't science wonderful?

Well . . by the scientific method, that is an assumption !

[jimallyn]

the same "Earth Scientist" who started ringing the Global Warming bell is the same person who told us in the 1970's we were going to freeze.

And who would that be? The reason I ask is because there was never any scientific consensus that the earth was going to get drastically colder. There were a few articles in the popular press, but little or nothing in the scientific literature.