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7,000,000,000 People

2011-10-26 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:49 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Global development · mode: News analysis · tags: timely hook, community lore, self promotion

As world population reaches 7 billion, Hank argues that calling population 'the problem' is useless and objectifies people; the real problems are distribution of food and water, and the trends (birth rates, poverty, disease, education) make him hopeful.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — 'Love Earth' brought to you by the number 7 billion; contact-signing psychosis; Hank's shirt and mask

  • ★★ Hank admits it is a little silly to discuss the pressing issue of global population while suffering from 'contact-signing psychosis'. (playful) — 00:00:00

00:00:29 — The 7 billionth person may be born while you watch; counting people is hard, so it is all statistics

  • ★★ Hank says the 7 billionth person may be born while viewers watch this video, though nobody will know who that person is. (hedged) — 00:00:29
  • ★ Hank says it is all statistics at this point, because it is very difficult to count the number of people in the world. — 00:00:29
  • ★ Hank jokes that there is 'like a 10% chance' of a 7 billionth person, then a death, then another 7 billionth person. (playful) — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — Hank's two problems with calling population the problem: the only way to reduce it is death, and it treats people as problems instead of forces for good; food for 11 billion yet a billion hungry

  • ★★★ Hank says he has a problem with talking about population as the problem; EcoGeek commenters always say 'this wouldn't be necessary' if only the population were smaller. — 00:00:58 · EcoGeek
  • ★★★ First, Hank says wishing for a smaller population is as useless as wishing to eat air: the only way to reduce the existing population is for people to die. — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ Second, each of the 7 billion is a person; seeing them as problems or mouths to feed rather than powerful forces for good objectifies them and hampers real solutions. — 00:01:27
  • ★★★ Hank says the world produced enough food last year (2010) to feed 11 billion people, yet of its 7 billion people a billion struggle with hunger. — 00:01:27

00:02:11 — Problems (half the food fed to livestock, scarcer fresh water) and good news (birth rates, contraception, disease, poverty, education)

  • ★★ Hank says about half of that food was fed to cows, chickens and pigs, which he calls a problem. — 00:02:11
  • ★★ Hank says fresh water is the most important ingredient of human health and happiness and is becoming more and more scarce. — 00:02:11
  • ★★★ Good news, per Hank: birth rates are down to 2.5 babies per woman, near replacement; contraception use is up dramatically; disease and poverty rates are lower; education is higher. — 00:02:11 · global health, extreme poverty, education
  • ★★★ Hank says humanity is doing surprisingly well compared with what was expected 40 or 50 years ago, and he is very hopeful: immense challenges, but immense resources. — 00:02:11 · progress, optimism

00:02:48 — Hopeful conclusion: an exciting, vibrant and dangerous era he is privileged to live through; sign-off; end screen begins with the Halloween goatee

  • ★★ Hank predicts the coming era will probably be one of the most exciting and vibrant in human history, and also potentially violent and dangerous. (hedged) — 00:02:48
  • ★★ Hank feels privileged to be one of the seven billion people who get to live through this era. — 00:02:48

00:03:18 — End screen: guess his Halloween costume; links to Dr. Noise's song, HankGames (Swindon Town, Super Mario Bros. Wii with Katherine) and Truth or Fail; DFTBA

  • ★ On the end screen Hank says his goatee is prepared for Halloween, his costume will be revealed in his next video, and viewers can guess in the comments. (playful) — 00:03:18
  • ★ Hank's end-screen picks: a song by Dr. Noise (watch to the epic end), HankGames videos (Swindon Town, Super Mario Bros. Wii with Katherine) and last week's (week of 17 October 2011) Truth or Fail on October holidays. — 00:03:18 · HankGames, Katherine Green

In the description and comments

  • ★★ Hank's description: world population is about to hit an arbitrary landmark, but its growth and the explosion in resource use in the developing world are not insignificant issues; overall he is optimistic. — video description · optimism

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: human overpopulation · optimism · progress · world population

Also: People: Bill Martin · Katherine Green

Projects: EcoGeek · HankGames · Truth or Fail

Works: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Organizations: Swindon Town FC

Concepts: birth control · dehumanization · education · Environmental impact of meat production · extreme poverty · global health · hunger · total fertility rate · water scarcity

Events: Halloween (holiday)

Also centred on human overpopulation: Are Poor Countries Doomed?

Also centred on world population: The General Crisis

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