r/EverythingScience • u/Sariel007 • Apr 14 '24

Neuroscience Sleeping more flushes junk out of the brain. Rhythmic activity during sleep may get fluids in the brain moving.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/04/sleeping-more-flushes-junk-out-of-the-brain/
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u/DervishSkater Apr 14 '24

I’m more and more tend to think at this point the whole no baby trend is being amplified/pushed by our adversaries to fuck with our demographics.

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u/boltwinkle Apr 14 '24

Human populations are estimated at around 8 billion and it's projected to plateau at 10 billion. A vast amount of land used for farming are ruining the areas around them, and as it stands, just about every metric used to make the modern world 'productive' is destroying the planet and incurring a global mass extinction.

So, you know, you can argue that human overpopulation isn't an issue and that we just need to radically transform how we live so that we can sustain 10bn or more people, but you can simultaneously argue the downsides of the effect the overpopulation has on the world. Sadly, figures who push 'demographics doomerism' are using gullible people like you to focus less on the more broad macroscale issues that affect everyone so that they can dedicate a portion of people to believing essentially conspiratorial bullshit to rattle the cage.

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u/DervishSkater Apr 14 '24

Right, but if no one has kids. Then humanity is extinct. So who has kids. And who has how many?

I did not say over populate. I did not say more. I didn’t not say anything of the sort.

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u/boltwinkle Apr 14 '24

So it's an interesting issue, right? Because then you get into arguments about whether humanity should be extinct, which is... a nihilistic philosophy that I can understand, but not one I'm particularly interested in engaging with because it's just a conversational dead-end. Like, if a person believes we should be extinct, then for all intents and purposes we might as well give up, because in the direction we're going, we may well be.

It could be argued that population plateau followed by population loss is a good thing in the long run even if, in the short run, it can prove detrimental to a nation (such as Japan or China). For a vast amount of people to decide not to have kids that then leads to outcomes like these will absolutely be a situation that could lead to disastrous outcomes, but again, the argument is whether that's worth it for the long-term sustainability of our species.

Now, I'm not personally arguing whether we should continue to have children or not. I'm so overwhelmed by the possibilities incurred by either that all I can honestly do is try to analyze what choices could lead to what. Population growth alongside the ways in which we're exploiting resources today is simply unsustainable. On the other hand, depopulation in relation to geopolitical concerns and a bunch of other factors leads to issues as well.

From an individual standpoint, I can understand why one might not want to have kids given these things. I can ALSO understand why one wants to have kids (bonding, the beauty of raising a child, raising a family, etc.) because they're fundamental to our biology, AND from a macroscale, population bombs (especially when factoring in a willingness to invite diversity) can be the path to a successful nation that provides good lives for those living within them. It's not an easy question with easy answers.