Sources:
The Seguin Gazette and
The Drudge ReportEric Pianka says that mankind is doomed.
Or maybe he's saying he wants us all to be doomed.
Or maybe it's both.
University of Texas professor says the Earth would be better off with 90 percent of the human population dead.
"Every one of you who gets to survive has to bury nine," Eric Pianka cautioned students and guests at St. Edward's University on Friday. Pianka's words are part of what he calls his "doomsday talk" -- a 45-minute presentation outlining humanity's ecological misdeeds and Pianka's predictions about how nature, or perhaps humans themselves, will exterminate all but a fraction of civilization.
Though his statements are admittedly bold, he's not without abundant advocates. But what may set this revered biologist apart from other doomsday soothsayers is this: Humanity's collapse is a notion he embraces.
Yeah, there's always a "nut" in every group. While I don't promote genocide, and I don't laugh every time someone dies, what the man is saying does make sense. After all, look what happened to the dinosaurs.
That is, if you believe they existed and weren't a tool of the devil.One day, possibly soon, we will face extinction.
Indeed, his words deal, very literally, on a life-and-death scale, yet he smiles and jokes candidly throughout the lecture. Disseminating a message many would call morbid, Pianka's warnings are centered upon awareness rather than fear.
So what's at the heart of Pianka's claim?
6.5 billion humans is too many.
In his estimation, "We've grown fat, apathetic and miserable," all the while leaving the planet parched.
The solution?
A 90 percent reduction.
That's 5.8 billion lives -- lives he says are turning the planet into "fat, human biomass." He points to an 85 percent swell in the population during the last 25 years and insists civilization is on the brink of its downfall -- likely at the hand of widespread disease.
"[Disease] will control the scourge of humanity," Pianka said. "We're looking forward to a huge collapse."
Pianka, a 38-year UT educator, maintains he's not campaigning for genocide. He likens mankind's story to an unbridled party on a luxury cruise liner. The fun's going strong on the upper deck, he says. But as crowds blindly absorb the festivities, many fail to notice the ship is sinking.
"The biggest enemy we face is anthropocentrism," he said, describing the belief system in which humans are the central element of the universe. "This is that common attitude that everything on this Earth was put here for [human] use."
To Pianka, a human life is no more valuable than any other -- a lizard, a bison, a rhino. And as humans reproduce, the demand for resources like food, water and energy becomes more than the Earth can sustain, he says.
Ken Wilkins, a Baylor University biology professor and associate dean, agrees the inevitability of a crashing point is unarguable.
"The human population is growing," he said. "We will see a point when we reach the carrying capacity -- there aren't enough resources."
But resources aren't the only threat, Pianka says. It's the Ebola virus he deems most capable of wide scale decimation.
"Humans are so dense (in population) that they constitute a perfect substrate for an epidemic," he says.
He contends Ebola is merely an evolutionary step away from escaping the confines of Africa. And should an outbreak occur, Pianka assuredly says humanity will quickly come to a "grinding halt."
Of course, he has his critics, as do all "doomsayers". One argues that "young minds with a thirst for knowledge may develop into enthusiastic supporters of a deadly disease, advocating the fall of humanity."
I doubt that hordes of students will start lining up to chant, "Death to all! Go Ebola!" However, the guy's message is creepy. We don't like to think of millions dying in order to preserve humanity.
But one day, it may come to that.
Tags:
[Eric Pianka],
[University of Texas],
[doomsday],
[doomsayer],
[Ebola],
[civilization is on the brink of its downfall],
[the lizard man]
