On over population

I keep seeing the opinion that over population is a concern should we lift the entire world up to 1st world standards or somehow prevent aging.

Research indicates the opposite. There is a very good/ well-researched book on many of the social subjects discussed in Futurology- Common Wealth by Jeffrey Sachs.

However, I will summarize. The prosperity of a society is inversely related to birth rate. The societies with the highest education, strongest social safety nets and lowest non-age-related mortality rates have the lowest birth rates. The single largest factor in birth is average education level for women. This can seem counterintuitive but is evident by simply pulling up a birth rate chart and looking at which countries have the highest. Population replacement rate is 2.3.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_fertility_rate

I won’t go into why as the book explains it thoroughly. However, a quick look at the list will allow you to conclude it is not race, culture, weather, etc but development and stability that determine fertility/birth rate.

So the actual immediate solution to our consumption, environmental and population problem is to develop the world while expanding renewable resources and moving away from destructive practices like over-fishing and plastic use.

We haven’t solved aging yet, and there is no guarantee of it in our lifetimes. So if we lift the entire world out of poverty, disease and famine, we would be population negative. The actual numbers tell us that leaving our fellow humans to suffer and die young dooms us all. It is nice when all the moral imperatives and science line up cleanly.