Pete Alcorn on the world in 2200

http://www.ted.com In this short, optimistic talk from TED2009, Pete Alcorn shares a vision of the world of two centuries from now -- when declining populations and growing opportunity prove Malthus was wrong.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

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[librophile]

False Right Wing Propaganga ...

"WE HAVE THE BEST HEALTH CARE IN THE WORLD"

This is Total Bullshit !!

The USA has the BEST SPECIALISTS but our Health Care System sucks & is ranked as the Low 37th on a World Scale !!

It's like saying "OUR ATHLETES WON THE MOST GOLD MEDALS IN THE OLYMPICS ... SO WE HAVE THE MOST ATHLETIC POPULATION IN THE WORLD !!

When in reality we have an OVERWEIGHT & SICK ...(cancer~heart diseases~diabetic)... POPULATION, compare to other nations.

[librophile]

PUBLIC HEALTH PLAN:

ALL Americans are now paying in HIDDEN TAXES the cost for medical care for the "UNINSURED" who must use the Emergency Room.

With President Obama's Health Plan ALL AMERICANS will be covered. These HIDDEN TAXES will disappear.

WHY is a ... "PUBLIC GOVERNMENT PLAN" ... good enough for all REPUBLICAN SENATORS in Congress ... but NOT good enough for ALL AMERICANS who choose this option over a Private Plan??

AGAIN we see the blatant REPUBLICAN LIES & HYPROCRISY !!

[crudhousefull]

@afthefragile The birth rate is high in newly industrialized countries? Lol. Sri Lanka pop growth reduced from 3.2% per year in 1970 to 1.1% in 2000 as our literacy rate rose from 70% to 95%. Our population will start declining from 2040...and my guess is that it will decline before that. Our per capita PPP is just USD 4,500, rising at 7% per year, which means that the declining point might be sooner

[jaymthegenius]

Just look at what regions have the highest population growth. And you want to romanticize the future why? Have fun romanticizing a post-civilization third world hellhole.

[950horsepower]

Refreshing to hear from someone who is at least trying to take to long view. After all, the Fukushima clean up contract will be in force for about 50,000 years. Some basic planning would be nice.

[astat1]

Too short

[Pianofy]

@joncl1 I think you are totally misunderstanding his point.

With the current growth, and current decrease of growth in world population. The future curve for human population is expected to be at its peak at around 2050/2060.

[LolCaramelz]

This guy has a very annoying lisp.

[Slidingby]

Ray Kurzweil would probably say that by 2200 we will be computers and have computers for our computers walking our nano-computer animals, which fly computers. He would also say that the population is going to increase past 2200, I would agree with him only on that point. ; )