What a lovely short history of humanity, Colin.

The first paradox - the advent of agriculture, which enabled sedentary lifestyles and supported much higher population densities, eventually occupying all arable land, to the extent where individuals barely had enough land to support their families, and to the extent that any drought or predatory/pathogenic organism could have absolutely devastating consequences for millions.

The second paradox - the technological revolution, which enriched our lives greatly, but has also facilitated sprawling cities and massive energy consumption, and which has left us perilously placed when our cheap fossil fuels are no longer cheap or easily attainable.

The world's third and ugliest paradox - the advent of western medicines which saved the lives of millions of infants in third-world countries…. and facilitated population explosions in places that had perhaps escaped the first two paradoxes, leading to miserable lives for millions.

And still the vast majority of us worship technological and medical advances, pay lip-service at best to real sustainability issues, and think that there is something really wrong with even talking about birth control or population stabilisation.

What else can I say, but Homo stupidus indeed.

Wholeheartedly agree with your potted history Colin. I hope we manage to at least leave a livable planet for the gentle bonobos to inherit.

We no longer live in balance with our environment and while we continue to squabble over wealth and power can hardly claim to be civilised.

Are we talking about re-balancing the use of resources, de-populating or both?

Are you guys suggesting we promote policies and technologies that increase infant mortality rates and reduce longevity? When I catch a cold, am I living "out of balance" with nature to lie in bed with a cup of chicken soup, or should I go stand out in the rain. It's the "way too many of you, just the right amount of me" view of humanity that is fundamentally narcissistic - rather than endeavouring to live in harmony with mankind, to muddle through, the narcissist wants to put himself above us all. Perhaps someone wants to be top of the family tree!

RealityCheck, we are talking about striving to reduce the global birthrate to something below replacement level, so that the total population will gently reduce.

It is not a matter of the redistribution of resources, it is a matter of greatly reducing average per-capita usage, or total usage if you like.

But gravely, I think we are so far gone with the population blowout and unsustainable resource use that even with the most optimistic gains, the only thing we can really achieve is to extend the pain and hence the damage to the planet.

Here’s a fourth almighty paradox (following the 3 in my first posting); our only real saviour is a pandemic – and one of such magnitude that it takes out three-quarters or more of the world’s population

The challenge isn't to find a way to cull humanity's numbers Chumley, more a case of readying ourselves for a hard landing. Not something we'll see in our own lifetimes but our grandkids might.

The self-satisfied 20% will continue to gobble up 80% of the world's resources simply because they can. Already there is comprehensive evidence humanity has leached out of the planet more than it can bear - air pollution, limited potable water, declining fish stocks, salinity, soil erosion, and that's just in Australia. Like it or not the world economy and hence it's measure of well-being is based on the expanding economy, where practitioners know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

A lot is heard about the development of technologies and scientific discovery that will help save the planet. This points out there's no magic bullet, no easy way to deal with something so huge and say "I'm orright Jack." There's a certain poetic justice that we will be forced to deal with the problem sooner or later. It's just maddening to know homo sapiens is so removed from, so superior to, and so complacent about the environment that supports it