The Curious Autodidact

It was said that Halloween marked the day that the world population reached seven billion.

Many people I surveyed had no idea how to get their heads around that number and didn’t have any idea how many zeros that really was. We can comprehend ten, hundred, and thousand easily and routinely but then the numbers get to move into more zeros they are less familiar.

Population control is one of those taboo topics I have always been interested in, along with prison reform and end of life choice. There was an excellent New York Times opinion piece by NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF this week called the “Birth Control Solution” urging us to look more realistically at controlling family size vs. listening to religious people many of whom have taken a vow of chastity.

If you are interested in exploring various countries and their birth rates here’s a link that will ring your bell.

If you would like to see an estimate where you fall in the population of the world based on your birthday give this a whirl.

Take a moment this week to talk about population by posing the question to your friends and family if they know how many zeros there are in a billion and use it as a starting point to discuss the world’s resources and the growing strains population puts on Mother Earth.