Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!samsung!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!tektronix!sequent!crg5!szabo
From: szabo@crg5.UUCP (Nick Szabo)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: Why bother? (was Re: Terraforming, sun shield)
Message-ID: <21320@crg5.UUCP>
Date: 11 Mar 91 05:46:32 GMT
References: <1991Feb22.164032.16901@zoo.toronto.edu> <1991Mar8.185043.21138@linus.mitre.org> <7573@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>
Reply-To: szabo@crg5.UUCP (Nick Szabo)
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc
Lines: 16

In article <7573@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) writes:

>But there are other alternatives.  We can expand before we have the supposed
>utopian solution, and not require humanity to achieve what I frankly hope is
>never done.  

As I pointed out previously, the human race will _not_ expand, because
the natural equilibrium population growth rate with reliable birth control 
is c. -50% per generation.  This is regardless of any technology except
that related to radically reducing the costs of having children in terms of
money and women's health.  


-- 
Nick Szabo			szabo@sequent.com
"What are the _facts_, and to how many decimal places?"  -- RAH