Re:Should we care about people who need never exist?
by pessimizer on Monday January 02, 2023 @03:02PM
(#34222900)
Nobody is talking about lone humans. They're talking about the difference between 8 billion and 16 billion. It's not likely that any significant economies of scale that have somehow not managed to emerge at 8 billion people will emerge when you double that.
Re:Should we care about people who need never exist?
by BurningFrog on Monday January 02, 2023 @04:15PM
(#34223773)
Perhaps. But going from 4 billion to 8 billion in the last 50 years, the living standard for the average person has improved spectacularly.
Re:Should we care about people who need never exist?
by jemmyw on Monday January 02, 2023 @04:32PM
(#34223953)
We don't know if it would have improved more or less if the population stayed at 4 billion, so there's no argument there either way.
Re:Should we care about people who need never exist?
by thefz on Monday January 02, 2023 @04:28PM
(#34223917)
Average,yes. But just because the top has become wealthier.
Re:Should we care about people who need never exist?
by BurningFrog on Monday January 02, 2023 @05:55PM
(#34224870)
Not at all. There has been enormous improvements for the poorest.
Tons of data here. Look for yourself: https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty-in-brief
Re:Should we care about people who need never exist?
by thefz on Monday January 02, 2023 @04:27PM
(#34223908)
We've been surviving for thousands of years in very small, sparse groups.
Re:Should we care about people who need never exist?
by BurningFrog on Monday January 02, 2023 @06:03PM
(#34224960)
Sure. But we've only flourished under industrialism during the last 250 years.
The most important resource for us people is other people!
A lone human typically doesn't survive the winter. Big populations allow division of labor which is what has given us the, to people of the less populated past, unthinkable prosperity and long healthy lives.