[ExI] Radical Life Extension and the Problem of Malthusian Hells

[Will Steinberg]

Ah, why can't people look on the bright side of things?  Faced with the
threat of said Malthusian hells, people will finally put the im in their
petus to find cheaper, larger scale agriculture and food production methods.
 Diseases will have to be reigned in in order to prevent catastrophes
associated with even denser populations.  Water retrieval methods will
improve, and perhaps the monopolistic control of water and food dispersal
will fade in the face of necessity.  And of course, most important of all,
there will be a very good reason for interplanetary colonization!

History has shown that necessity induces progress.  The agricultural
revolution was spurred by need for higher production.  Don't forget that
this pretty much started the industrial revolution--it wasn't that people
said "Hey!  Science!  Let's use this to farm better!"  They only took up new
farming tools and methods because they *needed *them to keep up.  You know:
NITMOI, NITMOI!
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