From: naddy@mips.inka.de   
      
   On 2025-11-17, Bobbie Sellers  wrote:   
      
   >>> The novel is set on Earth in the year 2381, when the population of the   
   >>> planet has reached 75 billion people.[4] Population growth has   
   >>> skyrocketed due to a quasi-religious belief in human reproduction as the   
   >>> highest possible good.   
   >>   
   >> Going from 8 billions now, that reflects a modest population growth   
   >> of 20.5% for each 30-year generation.   
   >>   
   >   
   > 	Remember that attrition occurs.   
      
   That's subsumed under the overall x% growth figure.   
      
   > Plus generations were reckoned   
   > at 20 years but that was 70 years ago when I was in school.   
   > 	Maybe the 30 year figure is based on data?   
      
   I just picked 30 years.  "Three generations per century" we were   
   taught in school some forty years ago and 0.63% yearly growth is   
   harder to intuitively make sense of.  You can fiddle with the   
   figures, but won't get a more plausible result.  It's a standard   
   compound interest calculation.  If you deposit 8 (billion) bucks   
   now and get payed out 75 (billion) in 356 years, the yearly interest   
   is 0.63%.   
      
   --   
   Christian "naddy" Weisgerber                          naddy@mips.inka.de   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)