Tram Town
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
| Category: WHWTMSITW During my walk yesterday I listened to last week's Ockham's Razor from Radio National. If you ever want evidence of people hating amongst intellectuals here it is. Science, people believe, will find solutions to the problems that seem to preoccupy Greenies and other doomsayers. Well, I am a scientist, and I have to say I am more than somewhat sceptical about the ability of science to rescue humanity from its own folly.So, he's a scientist. I guess we have to listen to him. He believes we have to reduce population in short order and he even canvasses the means thus: War, Pestilence, and Famine, three of the horsemen of the apocalypse, can bring about a reduction in the human population. But these kill on a scale of tens of millions, which is not enough to solve the problem of over-population. And they are most brutal in the ways they kill. Consequently, let us consider the alternative.And get this: The next most human way to reduce the population might be to put something in the water, a virus that would be specific to the human reproductive system and would make a substantial proportion of the population infertile. Perhaps a virus that would knock out the genes that produce certain hormones necessary for conception.I did say he is a scientist not a humanitarian but every sentence seemed to make me feel more ill... A triage approach will be necessary so that scarce medical resources go to those who can contribute most to the long-term viability of the planet. Consequently, many middle-aged-to-elderly people will die uncomfortable deaths. Not every problem is solveable.Read it all, Jack, but be prepared to be disgusted! UPDATE: Tim Blair (and many others) had been alerted to this article and the comments on his post make for interesting reading, too! His argument is something like trying to prevent another World War I by putting the youth of each country into trenches and having them shoot at each other. |
