Depopulation, not overpopulation, will be humanity’s biggest crisis.
Billionaire Elon Musk says that depopulation, not overpopulation, will be the biggest crisis facing humanity and that “civilization is going to crumble” if birth rates in the west continue to rapidly decline.
Musk made the comments during the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council earlier today.
Despite the planet nearing a population of 8 billion people, the father of six said there was still “not enough people” on Earth.
“I think one of the biggest risks to civilization is the low birth rate and the rapidly declining birthrate,” said the Tesla head, adding, “If people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble, mark my words.”
Musk countered claims that “the population is growing out of control,” a refrain often made by environmentalists, asserting that the truth is “completely the opposite.”
The SpaceX chief also took a swipe at transhumanism, asserting that the trend amongst elites to try to live forever would create negative outcomes for human ingenuity.
“I think it is important for us to die because most of the times, people don’t change their mind, they just die,” said Musk. “If they live forever, then we might become a very ossified society where new ideas cannot succeed.”
Musk said this was particularly important for people in “very important” security positions so they could maintain “sufficient presence of mind and cognitive ability.”
Some may question Musk’s opposition to transhumanism given that he is developing the ‘Neuralink’ brain chip, which represents another lurch towards the singularity that would also lead to life-extending technology for the ultra rich.
