The Malthusian-Darwinian dynamic and the trajectory of civilization
See: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1723&context=usgsstaffpub
Two interacting forces influence all populations: the
Malthusian dynamic of exponential growth until resource
limits are reached, and the Darwinian dynamic
of innovation and adaptation to circumvent these limits
through biological and/or cultural evolution. The specific
manifestations of these forces in modern human
society provide an important context for determining
how humans can establish a sustainable relationship
with the finite Earth.
Malthus, Darwin, and population dynamics
In 1798 Thomas Malthus laid out the concept of exponential
population growth that became the foundation of demography
and population biology. He noted that the ‘increase of
population is necessarily limited by the means of subsistence.’
Population growth can thus continue only as long as
environmental conditions remain favorable. As numbers
increase, sooner or later environmental limits cause birth
rates to decrease and/or death rates to increase, ultimately
leading to an end to population growth. These concepts
profoundly influenced Charles Darwin half a century later:
because more offspring are born than can survive, only the
fittest individuals reproduce and pass their superior traits
on to their offspring. The result is adaption or innovation in
the form of either genetic or cultural evolution.
The Malthusian dynamic pushes a population to increase
until it reaches its environmental limits. The Darwinian
dynamic pushes against these limits by incorporating new
traits and technologies that enhance survival and reproduction.
There are restrictions to this Malthusian-Darwinian
Dynamic (MDD), however: it is logically, physically, and
biologically impossible for exponential growth to continue
indefinitely within a finite world.
Click here to read the full paper: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1723&context=usgsstaffpub
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