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Originally Posted by synaesthetic
Space development is the only solution.
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Inevitably it will be. Forge the Sun imploding 5 billion years from now. Well before that, resources will be spread too thin between too many people.
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If we don't expand beyond Earth, we may well become extinct or be forced to enact massive depopulation measures--either officially sanctioned or through terribly destructive wars--in order to prevent going extinct.
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Until space technology is developed and technology is created to cause other planets like Mars into habitable places, more efficient use of resources will need to happen. And the human population will either be capped or culled. I have been thinking of a culling happening for a long time. It's not like there aren't countries that haven't done that before. Methods I could see being used are:
1. A lottery. Luck of the draw.
2. The rich/influential/those with proven relative worth are allowed to live while 'the surplus population' is exterminated.
3. War by the biggers countries to take things by might. U.S. vs China vs India vs Russia is rather plausible.
4. Death games made into entertainment, Team Fortress 2 style.
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We're basically doomed if we don't expand, but if we do and we do it well, we're virtually ensured existence in perpetuity.
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As long as we don't run into 'The Borg.'
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Originally Posted by synaesthetic
Yeah, about that... there's a problem with wars.
People die in them.
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War is usually the biggest source of techonogical progression. But the costs always outweigh the benefits unless you're an arms dealer. And the thing is people haven't really learnt their lesson from last century. You just get the feeling a third big war is coming. As soon as one major power gets into crisis, it will happen.