The Human Overpopulation Crisis -- Eric R. Pianka



FS 301. The Human Overpopulation Crisis


Eric R. Pianka



Traffic Jam in China (161 miles long!)

Watch Domino Effects

Why are humans in such a state of total denial ("temporal blindness") about what we are doing to this planet?

People are becoming aware of some of the many consequences of overpopulation, but most still refuse to recognize the underlying causes: an economic system based on perpetual growth, and too many people. Just as the pharmaceutical industry targets symptomatic relief for man-made ailments rather than addressing underlying root causes, widespread attention to the many spin offs from growthmania and overpopulation diverts attention away from the real problem.



Watch Cosmos video"Evolution" movie (50 seconds)

Watch Nina Paley's cartoon The Stork (3 minutes)

Watch Ernest Cline's Dance, Monkeys, Dance (3.5 min.) Link: "The Monkey Trap"

Watch NASA's "Average Temperatures 1884-2012" (45 seconds)
New York Times Link: Antarctic Ice Melts
New York Times Link: Galapagos Climate Change
New York Times Link: Easter Island Rising Sea Levels

Watch Class Video The Human Overpopulation Crisis (8 minutes)

Watch ERP Ecopoetry 1: Kurt Vonnegut's "Requiem" (68 seconds)

Watch ERP's Domino Effects (6.5 minutes)

Watch ERP Ecopoetry 2: James Dickey's "For the Last Wolverine" (6 minutes)

Watch ERP on The Human Overpopulation Crisis (26.5 minutes)

Watch Nate Hagens' The Converging Energy and Environmental Crises:
A Pep Talk for those Paying Attention
(90 minutes)





Exponential population growth is threatening to destroy Spaceship Earth (perhaps a "Lifeboat" is a better metaphor) and its life support systems (see also Can humans share spaceship earth?). This course examines the human crowding dilemma from a wide diversity of perspectives, primarily from a scientific point of view, but we will also briefly consider the impact of religious mythology. First, we will recognize and study the path to ruin we are presently on (see also Kaplan "The Coming Anarchy"). Then, after developing a thorough understanding of natural selection and population biology, we will critically evaluate the multitudinous side effects (symptoms) of overpopulation.


Finally, we will ask what, if anything, can be done to mitigate the mess we have made. We will stop denying what can happen and confront reality head on. We will examine possible future scenarios, including prospects for colonization of space, the inevitable collapse of civilization (anarcho- primitivism), and, ultimately, our return to a hunter-gatherer mode of existence, if indeed, humans don't go extinct.


A Texas hognosed snake Heterodon in a threat display.

Why should I take this course?


Professor: Eric R. Pianka erp@austin.utexas.edu

Office: Patterson 125 (471-7472)

Office Hours: Mondays and Fridays 1-2 PM (or by appointment)

Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday, 8-930 AM, Patterson 141SL


The same hognosed snake Heterodon feigning death.


Download Syllabus

Texts (available in paperback):


Leopold, A. 1949. A Sand County Almanac.
Oxford University Press. " . . . perhaps our grandsons, having never seen a wild river, will never miss the chance to set a canoe in singing waters . . ."




Brown, L. R. 2005. Outgrowing the Earth. Norton.


Supplementary Texts:




Pianka, E. R. 2000. Evolutionary Ecology,
6th ed. Addison-Wesley Longman.




Morrison, R. 1999, The Spirit in the Gene:
Humanity's Proud Illusion and the Laws of Nature
Comstock. Download excerpt1, Download excerpt2



Heinberg, R. 2003. The Party's Over. Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies. New Society Publishers. Synopsis




Dowthwaite, R. 1999. The Growth Illusion. New Society Publishers.
Download excerpts



Catton, W. R. 1982. Overshoot. The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change. University of Illinois Press.
Excerpt
Download more excerpts




Wells, S. 2010. Pandora's Seed: The Unforeseen Cost of Civilization. Random House.
Google




Flannery, T. 2002. The Future Eaters. Grove Press. Summary




Cohen, J. 1995. How Many People Can Earth Support? W.W. Norton Amazon




Meadows, D., J. Randers, and D. Meadows. 2004. Limits to Growth. The 30-Year Update. Chelsea Green Publishing Company.




Ruddiman, W. F. 2010. Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum. Princeton University Press.





Oreskes, N. and E. M. Conway. 2014.The Collapse of Western Civilization. A view from the future. University of Columbia Press.




Pianka, E. R. and L J. Vitt. 2019. Our One and Only Spaceship: Denial, Delusion, and the Population Crisis. Available from Barnes & Noble




Supplemental Reading

Grades:

A knowledge of High School algebra and geometry is assumed. You will be expected to be able to understand 3-dimensional graphs and be able to interpret and manipulate simple equations. You will be expected to learn basic ecology and evolution that everyone should know. You will also be encouraged to think.

This class has a substantial writing component. After thoroughly researching background material, you will write a polished original synthetic essay on some aspect of the human population dilemma (
some suggested possible topics/themes). After your name is removed, your paper will be read and evaluated by the entire class. You will read and evaluate papers by all other students as well. Your grade will be based on your performance in class discussions, exams, and your paper(s).

How to earn straight A's







Outline of Subjects to be covered in this Course

The Human Overpopulation Crisis

Professor Eric R. Pianka



ERP "On Human Nature"
Creation Mythology (Intelligent Design?)
Scientific Methods and Human Knowledge
Basic Thermodynamics
Fundamentals of Population Biology

Natural Selection
Life History Theory
Optimal Reproductive Tactics
Population Growth and Regulation
Earth's Life Support Systems (EoE_Link)
Gravity
Oxygen and Temperature
Cities are unsustainable
Food, Water, and Shelter
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
Symptoms of Overpopulation (EoE_Link)
Impact of Humans on the Environment
Atmosphere
Climate
Oceans
Air Pollution
Global Warming (or the politically correct "Climate Change")
Water, Ocean Fisheries
Land
Soils
Cities
Agriculture
Food
Energy
Unburnable Fossil Fuels
Money
Insane Economics
Technology
Plastics
Sewage
Economic Collapse
The Weakest Link
Human Nature
Vanishing Book of Life
Humans: The Scourge of Planet Earth
Reg Morrison's "Evolution's Problem Gamblers"
Noam Chomsky: Security and State Power
Noam Chomsky: Prospects for Survival
Watch "MegaSlums" (50 minutes)

Solutions to Overpopulation

Famine
Plague
War
Abortion
Birth Control
Changes Needed
Space Travel?

Our Future
Spaceship Earth
The Age of Consequences
Let's put everybody in Texas!
When Civilization Collapses
Can Human Instincts be Controlled?
Selection for Uncaring Humanoids
Return to the Hunter-Gatherer Mode
Packing Your Survival Kit

Class Lecture notes


Go to Pianka Lab Homepage

Last updated 23 July 2008 by Eric R. Pianka