Time for a change in philosophy. (Correspondence).

As people are becoming aware, there are signs that Earth is demonstrating finite capabilities to support the continued existence of life. The atmosphere appears to be heating, the oceans appear to be declining in their ability to support life, and many species of wildlife are becoming extinct.

The prevailing thought in the social sciences seems to be that the planet has infinite capacity to support the continued existence of life. All theology and all philosophy related to governments and cultural habits were developed on the basis of the belief that the planet had infinite capacity to support life, but this was ages ago, when the planet's resources truly appeared to be endless.

The philosophies now being followed largely determine how people judge right from wrong and, although most people may not realize it, motivate couples to have large families. As a consequence, the world population is growing exponentially larger. The world population grows in number similarly to the way bacteria grows under favorable conditions. Every generation is larger than the generation preceding it.

Without a major change in the philosophies of the world population, which motivate people as a whole to behave very destructively toward their own survival interests, life on this planet will have a limited future.

Joe Kinney
Engineering graduate
Plainfield, Indiana
E-mail: [e-mail]