Weird3 min(s) read
A prediction made by a 20th-century physicist about the end of the world could yet come true, if a 1960 paper is to be believed.
More chillingly, the prediction could come true in the next few weeks.
Heinz von Foerster's decades-old prediction has resurfaced on social media, with the date fast approaching.
A 1960 paper published in the journal Science details that von Foerster and his colleagues calculated that human population growth would reach a point of no return.
In fact, this extreme point is predicted to befall mankind on November 13, 2026, a date which coincidentally falls on a Friday the 13th.
While many have conspiracy theories about the end of time, this particular "Doomsday" prediction was made through detailed mathematical modeling.
So, could this really be a cause of concern?
Analysis from Von Foerster delved into population trends, and it came to the conclusion that unchecked exponential growth could push humanity beyond our planet's carrying capacity.
This would result in collapse through environmental breakdown, resource exhaustion, and even societal conflict.
The mathematical model further claimed that if growth kept increasing at historical rates, Earth's population would eventually reach infinity around November 2026, meaning that out kind would 'squeeze itself to death.'
But if you were to take a minute and have a Google it, you'd see that there are 8.3 billion people on our planet, which admittedly is up from the 3.02 billion who inhabited Earth in 1960.
Global population growth has also decreased significantly, according to modern demographers, thanks to declining birth rates, improved education, and family planning.
But von Foerster's work remains a warning to humanity, acting as a reminder of what unsustainable growth can result in, highlighting the importance of proactive resource management.
According to experts, it stands more as a cautionary tale than anything that may come true - there's a long way from 8.3 billion to infinity.
But the theory does spark conversations about climate change, sustainable development, food security, and the balance between population and the limits of our planet.
This isn't the only argument about 'Doomsday', as astrophysicist Brandon Carter conceived another idea in 1983.
Known as the doomsday argument or Carter catastrophe, it aims to predict the number of humans who will ever live.
The premise of the argument suggested that if the total number of human beings who will ever exist is fixed, which it isn't, then the likelihood of a random person existing at a particular time in history would be proportional to the total population.
So, the idea is that someone alive today should change their expectations about the future of humanity, as their existence will provide information on the all-time population of humans who have and will ever live.
This idea implies that the total number of humans to have ever lived is unlikely to be larger than the number of people born so far.
