The Human Overpopulation Crisis -- Eric R. Pianka

FS 301. The Human Overpopulation Crisis

Eric R. Pianka

Traffic Jam in China (161 miles long!)
Domino Effect
LA Times 5 part story on overpopulation

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 Nina Paley's cartoon The Stork (3 min.)

Watch Ernest Cline's Dance, Monkeys, Dance (3.5 min. turn up volume).

Watch ERP on The Human Overpopulation Crisis (26.5 min.).

Watch Class Video The Human Overpopulation Crisis (8 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 (George Carlin video). First, we will recognize and study the path to ruin we are presently on (see also Kaplan "The Coming Anarchy") and read this LA Times story). 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.

A Texas hognosed snake Heterodon in a threat display.

Why should I take this course?

Professor: Eric R. Pianka pianka@mail.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 . . ."