throopw@dg_rtp.UUCP (Wayne Throop) (09/08/86)
> janw@inmet.UUCP (Jan Wasilewsky) > Our ancestors survived by diversity and competition: individual > groups died [...] but others were not affected [...] One of my main reasons to fear further increasing the population of the earth is that the last few hundred years of increase has been acompanied by drastic *decreases* in diversity, and this change seems likely to continue, and perhaps accelerate. Taking just one example from the "green revolution" that Jan seems so sure will keep outpacing population increase, we discover that more and more people are depending directly on fewer and fewer distinct strains of agricultural species. The reason seems simple. To feed ever increasing populations, only the "best" products can be used, else underproduction and starvation results. Population pressure dictates that less productive (but perhaps more robust to unforseen hazards) strains cannot be used. Thus diversity decreases. There are other underpinnings of our society that have undergone similar diversity decreases under population pressure. Because of this (and other reasons), while I am not nearly so universally pessimistic as Ehrlich, neither am I so optimistic as Jan seems to be. > (4) The biotech industry is starting to produce artificial > genetic variations that should diminish our dependence on those > naturally occurring. It seems certain that any currently projected technology does *not* diminish our dependence on naturally occuring variations. Gene-splicing does *not* imply genetic design. In summary, it seems to me that, while I agree with Jan that increased diversity is a Good Thing, increasing population does *not* automatically lead to increasing diversity. In fact, the reverse is often true in important respects, and population increase is to be feared on these grounds. ( Please note that I am *not* saying what (if anything) Ought To Be Done About It. There are many reasons to suppose that population control by the state may be worse than the problem it purports to solve, not the least of which is the fact that usually state invervention *also* reduces diversity. But I certainly don't find reason to embrace population increase as a solution to lack of diversity. ) -- No problem is so big or so complicated that it can't be run away from. --- Linus Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. --- Jim Horning Failure in the past increases the probability of success in the future. --- Harold Brown We have met the enemy, and he is us. --- Pogo -- Wayne Throop <the-known-world>!mcnc!rti-sel!dg_rtp!throopw