[ExI] Lethal future was Watson on NOVA

[BillK]

On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 7:16 PM, Keith Henson  wrote:
> Evolution had good reason to build in a strong drive to have sex.  And
> in the pre birth control era that resulted in reproduction.
>
> It's also fairly clear to me that there is a drive directly for
> reproduction, especially in women.  You only need to consider what one
> member who used to be on this group did to have an example.
>
>


No. There isn't.
If you look at the groups who have falling birth rates they correlate
*very* strongly with women's rights and the empowerment of women. As
soon as women get the power to choose they stop having children. Some
might have one child, but this is below the rate required to sustain
the population.

You can also correlate falling birth rates with first world countries,
or 'civilization'.
Which also correlates with women's rights.

I agree with Eugene's claim that there are sub-groups and third world
nations that to-date still have high birth rates and growing
populations. But it is to be expected that these high birth rates will
only continue while their women remain subjugated under male
domination. How long that will last is questionable.

That is why I disagree strongly that advanced civilizations will be
breeding like rabbits. The 'advanced' part means low reproduction by
definition.

If a civilization is busy breeding furiously and fighting for survival
with other breeders, they have no spare capacity to get 'advanced'.
Too many mouths to feed.


BillK